Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "British"
The plain Mr Jinnah
By Saad Hafiz: Muhammed Ali Jinnah who founded Pakistan in 1947 was a refined, anglicised and secular Indian Muslim and lawyer. To Indian Muslims he was a man of sterling personal qualities, the Quaid-e-Azam, ‘Great Leader’. To many Indians, Jinnah was an anti-Hindu demagogue and a political shyster, an unyielding humour-less man with a vainglorious nature. To the colonial masters, Jinnah was a worthy adversary who respected British constitutional and liberal political traditions. Jinnah has been described as a highly conventional politician, who can take no credit for original political thinking at any point. His ‘-isms’ were nationalism and liberalism. He began his career thinking within an ‘Indian’ framework, in the sense of nationalist opposition to British rule. Later, he renamed India’s Muslim community a ‘nation’ and continued his opposition from a narrower … Read entire article »
Filed under: Jinnah
Dialogue with Yasser Latif Hamdani
From the Analyst World What is your idea of Pakistan as lay man? And as a Member of the Bar and a Law Man? YLH : I have tried but I cannot distinguish between my idea of Pakistan as a layman and as a member of the bar. As I understand it the idea of Pakistan arose out and as a result of the following: The inability of British Indians to evolve a common nationality and this itself has three factors: a. The insecurity of Muslims – having taken to modern education and British rule much later than the Hindu Majority (a gap of 80 years almost b/w Ram Mohan Roy and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan) b. The unwillingness of the Hindu majority to meet the Muslims half way and allay their fears … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Hamid Mir, Nasim Yousaf and distorting the image of the founding father
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Pakistanis like to claim a lot of nonsense about Jinnah. Most recently Hamid Mir of Geo has claimed that Jinnah had willed that Shabbir Ahmed Usmani would lead his funeral prayers. What can one say to such patent nonsense? I suppose Jinnah told his butler, “I have decided that Usmani old boy would lead my funeral prayers” while holding a cigar in one hand, a class of single malt in the other and his pet dog resting in his lap. Ludicrous. There is absolutely no evidence of any kind – primary or otherwise- that seconds such a ridiculous claim. As a counter-question, one may also ask why then a separate Shia funeral was held at the Governor General’s residence? Was that also willed? It goes without saying that … Read entire article »
Taliban, Pushtun Nationalism and Militancy
By Yasser Latif Hamdani There is a tendency amongst the apologists for Pushtun Nationalists to claim that Taliban were somehow imposed on them externally and Pushtun nationalist tradition was non-violent and secular. Anyone who dares to point out facts contrary to this is automatically called an ISI agent. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
The Pakistan Resolution – an alternative view
Excerpts from Wali Khan’s ‘Facts are Facts’ contributed by Rashed Aurakzai The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, told the leaders of the Muslim League that the Government of Great Britain would not tolerate negative politics. This view was conveyed to the Muslim League Working Committee through Sir Sikander Hayat. Therefore, various sub-committees started preparing a concrete plan of action. The Viceroy wrote to the Secretary of Slate for India that Choudhry Khaliquzzaman had suggested to Lumley, the Governor of Bombay, that India should be divided into three dominions. It seems that Khaliquzzaman wanted to create one dominion each for Hindus, Muslims, and Rulers of Princely States. The Governor of North West Frontier Province, Sir George Cunningham, wrote to the Viceroy that upon his return from the Muslim League Convention, Sardar Aurangzeb reported to him: “The … Read entire article »
Cripps Mission and the Muslim League
Excerpts from Wali Khan’s ‘Facts are Facts’ contributed by Rashed Aurakzai When the Congress resigned from eight provinces, pursuant to Section 93, the Governor’s rule was established. Jinnah requested the Viceroy to appoint political, unofficial advisers in each one of these eight provinces. This meant that the Muslim League would assume an advisory role in each one of the provinces vacated by the Congress Government. According to Jinnah’s proposal, “Hindu provinces” should also have been handed over to the Muslim League. Not only did the League have no official status in any of these provinces, it had never won a single election! Therefore, by making this demand, Jinnah finally incurred the displeasure of the British. The Viceroy wrote on 10 July 1940: I hope that Jinnah will not continue to press his extravagant claim. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Politics
Future of Pakistan’s Western Frontier
By Prof Farakh A Khan (This is continuation of my last article.. It was felt that this subject requires greater depth since people in Pakistan have distorted view of our Fata issue. The origin and evolution of Jihadi Wahhabi movement has to be put in proper perspective) Conflict in society is the oldest human response inherited from our evolutionary animal past. As human society graduated from sticks and stones as weapons of aggression to high explosives and air war the level of carnage increased dramatically. We are now entering phase of robotic war lased with nuclear technology where power of destruction has escalated to a new level. The level of misery caused by modern wars is not acceptable anymore. War in Afghanistan either by foreign forces intervention or internal conflict for the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Politics
Attention “Professor Emeritus” Ishtiaq sb
By Yasser Latif Hamdani In a discussion on a public forum, Professor Ishtiaq Ahmed wrote the following – a claim that was extremely astonishing as having read most of Jinnah’s cases I have never come across any evidence of it. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Jinnah
Karachi at the End of the Raj
Karachi as seen by a British soldier sometime between 1942 and 1947: lively … Read entire article »
Sex is no laughing matter in Pakistan
SHAZIA MIRZA April 18, 2010 IN ALL the countries that I have travelled to to perform stand-up comedy – the US being a regular destination – I have never been held up or interrogated at customs. Or I hadn’t, until I arrived in Pakistan. I spent six hours at Lahore customs, as I did not have a visa in my British passport to enter the country. The people who organised my gig had mistakenly assumed that because my parents were born in Pakistan and I, too, am brown, they would automatically let me in. The customs officer asked: “Are you Pakistani?” Yes. “Where were you born?” England. “That makes you a foreigner.” He looked through my passport, which is filled with US visas. He said: “Are you a spy?” No, I’m a stand-up comedian. … Read entire article »
Roving Report – Ayub Khan Era
This is the most interesting documentary on Pakistan’s First Military Ruler and his government. I saw some of it a few months ago but after watching the second part, I feel this ought to be shared with people on PTH for comment and discussion. -YLH [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iPtL0jgC0o] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLgMJqFyQGs] … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Report documents widespread frustration, alienation of Pakistan’s youth
By Ali Ismail by WSWS 9 December 2009 A new report commissioned by the British Council reveals widespread dissatisfaction and frustration among Pakistani youth. Based on interviews with 1,500 18-29 year-olds from across Pakistan, the report also sheds light on the bleak socio-economic prospects facing the vast majority of young people due to unemployment and underemployment and the lack of basic public services, including quality schooling. The report warns that unless Pakistan drastically increases access to education and creates millions of new jobs for its young people, social and political upheavals are almost inevitable in coming years. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Sardar – A Must See Film
I saw this film a while back but I decided to check it out again and was surprised by how close it came to admitting the truth about partition. Here is a sample.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XAB9lDExYc&feature=related] … Read entire article »
Will we need to close the door to Pakistan's dispossessed?
Our leaders are losing sleep over the Taliban’s advance and what that could spell for Britain Nick Cohen The Observer I would like to welcome Zahid Abdullah to Britain. He is a Pakistani student of English literature, rather than the snarling prose of the theocrats who threaten his country, and suffered the keenest blow a lover of books can take when he lost his sight. Undeterred, Abdullah divided his spare time between producing talking books for the blind and supporting the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, a pressure group that campaigns for the classic liberal causes of human rights, freedom of information and freedom from “barbaric acts of terrorism”. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, ancient civilisations, Army, Benazir Bhutto, Citizens, Colonialism, culture, Democracy, Economy, Education, Europe, History, human rights, Identity, India, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, journalism, Kashmir, Labour, Media, minorities, movements, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, Religion, Rights, Society, south asia, Sufism, Taliban, Terrorism, Travel, violence, war, Women, youth
The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan
From www.Foreignpolicy.com CHEAT SHEET: After eight years of a White House that often seemed blinkered by the threats posed by Pakistan, the Obama administration seems to grasp the severity of the myriad crises affecting the South Asian state. The media has followed suit and increased its presence and reporting, a trend confirmed by CNN’s decision to set up a bureau in Islamabad last year. And yet, the uptick in coverage hasn’t necessarily clarified the who’s-doing-what-to-whom confusion in Pakistan. Some commentators continue to confuse the tribal areas with the North-West Frontier Province. And the word lashkars is used to describe all kinds of otherwise cross-purposed groups, some fighting the Taliban, some fighting India, and some fighting Shiites. I admit, it’s not easy. I lived in Pakistan throughout all of 2006 and 2007 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Recent Comments