Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "Democracy"
Political parties and elections
by Saad Hafiz Pakistan’s historic path has been ridden by intrigue, strife and bloodshed overseen by power-hungry generals and money grubbing politicians. The chaos in the country also proves that a common religious identity is not a guarantee of stability, security, democracy and free elections. Past elections have not been able to foster a feeling of common destiny. Some elections were so widely and flagrantly rigged that civil rebellion broke out requiring the army to be called in, thus exposing the weakness of political leadership in the country. The army simply shoved the political leadership aside through a coup d’état when it realised that political power depended on it. The Pakistani electorate has an opportunity this week to reverse the country’s anti-democratic legacy. The people can choose the political parties that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Elections, Liberal Democratic Pakistan
Our Educated White Collar Class, Qadri Freak Show and Democracy
Raza Habib Raja I remember watching a standup comedy by Bill Maher who I think is one of the wittiest political satirists. One of his normal practice is to mock Americans, particularly, the Republicans for their dumbness. At one point he said, “ Oh America, I can never leave you, you amuse me.” Well If Mr. Maher was to visit Pakistan, I am sure he would immediately understand that for entertainment purpose, nothing even comes close to Pakistan. Imagine this: A Mullah with dubious credentials materializes out of nowhere and asks his followers to march to Islamabad to force dissolution of all the governments and formation of a caretaker government who would first cleanse the system. He apparently has the financial as well as logistical backing. And he further complicates the situation by presenting … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Democracy, Elections, Islamabad, Judiciary, Parliament
West, Democracy and Minorities: What can We Learn?
Raza Habib Raja I remember in 2006 when during the midterm elections, Democrats and Republicans were fighting for the control of Senate. Although the popularity of George W Bush was waning due to a host of factors such as Iraq war and the Katrina Hurricane mismanagement, but it was still a very close fight. In USA, some seats are considered solid Republicans and some are solid Democrats. Who controls the Senate is eventually decided in what are known as “toss up” constituencies. One of the presumably “solid” republican seats was of Senator George Allen of Virginia. As the campaign drew to a close, a controversy stirred up which ultimately led to George Allen’s defeat by a few thousand votes. The controversy erupted because in one of the speeches, Senator which at that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Ham Kis Gali Ja Rahay Hain-II
by Abdul Majeed Yesterday, Mr. Shahid Ali wrote an article on his views about Democracy and focused on the example of India. I just have one thing to say about his view, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried”. I have tried to take a look at our own backyard before pointing fingers elsewhere. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Pakistani Middleclass, Army and Democracy
By Raza Habib Raja A few weeks ago I wrote a detailed piece on the reasons as to why democracy in Pakistan and its neighboring India has taken such divergent paths. In my opinion the reasons have to do with history of independence movement, early years after independence, image of the army in both the countries and also the attitude of middleclass in both the countries. In any society, particularly a modern democratic society, middleclass provides a critical as well as decisive mass. Moreover it’s an extremely important contributor to intelligentsia, media and services sector, particularly critical services such as bureaucracy and armed forces. In our side of the world, the middleclass particularly urban middleclass, eventually is the major determinant of the dominant opinion and even the official policy. This influence is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
India, Pakistan and Democracy
Raza Habib Raja Professor Philip Oldenburg is a professor of political science in Columbia University and author of the book titled, “India, Pakistan, and Democracy: Solving the Puzzle of Divergent Paths”. As an academic, South Asia has been his prime area of political research. A few months ago, he was invited to Cornell University where I was privileged to hear his views on a very interesting topic which was why India and Pakistan despite being apparently similar in history and culture have taken divergent paths as far as democracy and role of military are concerned. First of all Professor Philip made an interesting statement that India’s successful evolution as a democracy is not a “normal” phenomenon but rather an exception whereas Pakistan has evolved the way most of the third world countries … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
“Blaming politicians alone for tarnishing democracy is actually less than half the story”- Benazir Bhutto’s interview to Herald (2000)
“Tomorrow they may decide to kill me because I know too much. But I want this on record so that one day, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, somebody goes back and says: What was happening in Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan?” Nearly twelve years ago monthly Herald published this interview of Benazir Bhutto (taken by Ali Dayan Hasan). This is perhaps the most revealing interview that BB gave to a local publication. In the context of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Benazir Bhutto
Outside in
The Ideal State By Shahbaz Ali Khan Shahbaz, a former Industry relations and PR professional, has spent the past 8 years experimenting with the frontiers of professional competence by insisting on not specializing in anything but thinking, communicating and writing. ____________________________________________________________________________ On the eve of Salman Taseer’s first death anniversary, it falls upon us to recognize a deep malaise within our collective psyches. Preemptively, let me categorically state that the following is not an article on Pakistan’s general … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
The story of PPP – 1967-2011
Riaz Ali Toori, an active member of the Pakistan People’s Party, remembers its evolution, challenges and successes We are celebrating the 45th Foundation Day of Pakistan Peoples Party through the auspices of which, proper democracy and constitution got introduced first time in Pakistan. From 1947 to 1973 we had failed to formulate an effective constitution but PPP managed it within a couple of years after taking power. We knew Democracy by its name but were unable to see its application for two and a half decades. The charismatic leader Z A Bhutto Shaheed ushered in democracy and gave us a constitution that is even now “Centre of Unity and Sovereignty” and equally sacred to all political parties and provinces. Even today PPP is strengthening democracy through policy of reconciliation under the farsighted … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
RED – relationship enhancement drive
“I am Abrar Qureshi (25) from Islamabad, hold a master degree in Marketing and works for a telecom operator. I have my own beliefs & faiths about different things, you can say ‘opinionated’ and being strong-willed person, this makes me undertake challenges that others normally don’t” To start with, I must quote Iqbal’s verses from “Shikwa” to make the basis of my idea. Kyun ziyan kaar banoo, sood faramosh rahun Fiqr-e-farda na karun, mehve ghum-e-dosh rahun Naaley bulbul ke sunoo. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Yielding in Front of Extremism
By Adnan Syed I am attaching two links here that movingly touch upon the state of barbarity that is inflicted upon the nation of Pakistan. Please give thirteen minutes of your precious time to the moving words of Member National Aseembly Mrs. Asia Nasir. These words describe the anguish and pain of the very Pakistanis who are being discriminated by the society, as well as by the institutions of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Terror reigns supreme in Pakistan. The righteous ones are hunting and killing everyone who calls for absolute equality of every human inside the boundaries of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And in this environment, this brave lady comes out and unequivocally condemns the barbarity that the religious minorities are facing. She has more guts than the spineless members of parliament … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Justice, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, state, Taliban
Citizens for Democracy: A New and Bold Initiative
Dear readers, we would like to introduce “Citizens for Democracy”, a recently formed civil society group to all of you. It is heartening to see that some elements in the civil society are truly progressive in spirit. “Citizens of Democracy” is focused at nurturing a democratic culture but more specifically it aims to counter the misuse of religion in political and state affairs. In this regard, it is trying to cultivate a consensus for repealing the current controversial blasphemy laws. Besides creating awareness about these inhuman laws, the group has already taken some concrete and practical steps. Realizing the enormous dangers of religious hate speech, the group members actually lodged a formal complaint at Darakhshan Police Station, Karachi against Sultan Mosque cleric Munir Ahmed Shakir for provoking people’s sentiments and inciting violence … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Political maneuvering and Democracy
By Riaz Ali Toori Pakistan’s political history is replete with palace intrigues, conspiracies and atrocious campaigns. The democratic history of this country is also not so estimable. Several factors stalled the growth of democracy in Pakistan. The major factor remains the autocracy that hardly dinted the democratic culture. The dubious role of many so called democratic politicians that strengthened autocrat for vested interests is another factor and immature attitude of our politicians also hindering democracy to prevail. No other political party except PPP can be reckoned to have true democratic roots. For it always stand against dictators, its unrivaled struggle for democracy and numberless sacrifices for the democracy. After the martyrdom of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, many spear heads from media and civil society forecasted that Pakistan Peoples Party do not can nor … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
2010: A roller coaster year
Raza Rumi Nearly three years after the restoration of civilian rule, the most pertinent question would be the fate of Pakistan’s democratisation and how far has it progressed. There can be no simple answers to this question given that Pakistan is in the midst of a war next door and battling against homegrown extremists. The conflict and 2010’s natural disaster in the shape of floods have adversely impacted the economy. Whilst the passage of 18th and 19th Amendment to the much mutilated Constitution have heralded political reforms, sadly, a comprehensive institutional reform agenda is nowhere in sight. At the end of 2010, we find ourselves facing the prospect of political instability due to a weak and opportunistic coalition and unresolved issues of civil-military imbalance. Democratisation scuttled?: The year started with increased pressure by … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Pakistan, public policy
Was Jinnah A Democrat?
A continuation from “Was Jinnah secular?” and “Did Jinnah want Pakistan?”. By Yasser Latif Hamdani There are many people who criticize Jinnah – quite incorrectly in my opinion- of having laid the foundations for subsequent periods of authoritarian military rule. They allege that Jinnah’s decision to become the Governor General was the first blow to parliamentary democracy in Pakistan. Unable to distinguish the argument of constitutional purists pleading the ceremonial and executive roles of president and prime … Read entire article »
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