Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "India"
Chairman Press Council of India Justice Markandey Katju’s Hindutvist Akhand Bharat Theory : Right out of the RSS manual
By Yasser Latif Hamdani I have always had the greatest respect for the superior judiciary of India. This is why it is a painful to write this post especially as it is about a gentleman who was Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and later a Supreme Court Justice. His very accurate view on the tussle between the judiciary and the executive in Pakistan had made me a fan. Unfortunately though I have now realized that even some great men of law have their blind spots and as far blind spots go, this gentlemen has a huge black big blind spot spanning Afghanistan to Burma. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan
Kapil Komireddi’s butchery of history on Jinnah
By Yasser Latif Hamdani So complete have been the state sponsored mythologies in the subcontinent that both Indians and Pakistanis are incapable of looking at the past objectively or with any kind of intellectual ability. Consider for example jingoistic Indian columnist Kapil Komireddi’s piece for Daily Beast titled “Pakistan’s Mohammad Ali Jinnah is not Mandela”. As if Jinnah would care he would be compared to Mandela. Nelson Mandela is no doubt a great leader of our times … Read entire article »
Filed under: Jinnah
Indians and Pakistanis
Abhinav Pandya This article is written by one of my close friends at Cornell. I am grateful to him for contributing for PTH. Raza Habib Raja I remember, back home, every morning my brother would bring me the newspaper which had something on ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) as the lead organization behind everything happening in India ranging from farmer suicides, corruption scandals, black money to terrorism. The next day, same newspaper would be stuffed with the statements of hardliners trying to espouse the escapist brand of patriotism in order to run away from the real issues (as it requires a lot of introspection which any fanatic breed is scared of) eventually breeding a generation of youth who thrives on these ideas of misinformed and imagined hatred. Being in … Read entire article »
The absence of trust
By Saad Hafiz: The recent veiled warnings and tough talk between India and Pakistan has largely abated. And not too soon, as hope was evaporating that the two nations might have, at long last, realised the futility of prolonged confrontation and might therefore give peace a chance. There is no getting around the fact that the two neighbours consider each other arch enemies. This antagonism is not only on a state-to-state level. The people of the two countries also share the feeling. Politicians on both sides, preoccupied with their own elections and re-elections and under pressure by internal lobby groups, added to the inflamed atmosphere, and their own rhetorical strategies circumvented meaningful communication between the two nations. Their initial reaction fed into the domestic demand to whip up xenophobia in order to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan-India Peace Process
What Thomas Friedman has wrong on Egypt, Pakistan and India
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Thomas Friedman’s latest piece deserves to be read by every Pakistani, not because it is accurate- there are several glaring mistakes in it- but because it shows pretty much how the world views us- a basket case anti-people state. The important thing that must be underscored is that if the world views it like this it is entirely our own fault. We have made a horrible mess of things in Pakistan. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islam, Jinnah, Pakistan, south asia
The case for micro-financing
By Laila Rehman Laila Rehman is Social Media Manager for SilkSkin, overseeing monetary optimization on their earned, paid and owned digital platforms. She is based in Karachi. A report released last month by the World Bank unearthed evidence that less than 25% of Pakistani women use micro-finance loans. The report takes a closer look at two challenges facing the micro-finance sector in Pakistan. The first is the potentially widespread practice of women borrowers acting as conduits for loans passed on to other beneficiaries. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Trading your way to co-existence
By Saad Hafiz: The majority of news items that link India and Pakistan report something negative such as tensions along the border, bickering over Kashmir, Balochistan or Afghanistan, concerns about terrorism, or, at its most benign, a eruption of nationalistic sentiment and flag-waving when the two nations meet on the sporting field. It is welcome, therefore, that a visible thaw in consular and economic relations between the two countries has made the headlines recently. The just-concluded Pakistan-India foreign ministers’ talks in Islamabad announced a liberalised and relatively relaxed visa regime, which benefits certain selected categories of visitors. The Reserve Bank of India has also permitted Indians to invest in Pakistan and for Pakistanis to invest in India, a move that will help enhance bilateral trade and investment. Pakistan’s stated goal of normalising … Read entire article »
Filed under: Economy
Indo Pak Agreement: A Great Leap Forward
Pak Tea House welcomes the visit of Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna and the agreements regarding Trade and a relaxed Visa Regime. It was a step in the right direction, towards Making South Asia a peaceful place. Trade between the two countries and frequent contacts between ordinary folk from both sides will pave the way for a gradual end to the belligerency and Jingoistic narrative adopted by Hawks on both sides of the border. Express … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, History, Identity, India, Lahore, Pakistan, Pakistan-India Peace Process, Partition, Society, south asia, Uncategorized
No more graveyards
by Saad Hafiz: In his recent statement, President Obama, underscoring that disputes between India and Pakistan could only be resolved by the two countries themselves, ruled out any imposed solution from the ‘outside’ on Jammu and Kashmir. Obama’s statement is not inconsistent in that the Kashmir dispute has often been represented primarily as a matter between India and Pakistan and framed around the issues of the legitimacy of Kashmir’s accession to India at independence. The 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan also recognised Kashmir as a bilateral dispute. What gets less attention is that Kashmir, once described as ‘a heaven on earth’ transformed into ‘a valley of death’, is one of the worst tragedies of international politics. The people of Kashmir have become the unfortunate victims of this tragedy, as … Read entire article »
Filed under: Kashmir
The 65 years of paranoia: Is there anything to celebrate?
Raza Habib Raja Some say that it was never the founder’s intention and consequently the entity when it materialized had no solid footings to begin. The political entity, which came into being on the fateful day of 1947 was born out of chaos, confusion and bloodshed. All of these constituted the birth environment of the country and resulted in a deep paranoia which has prevailed to this day. This environment was dominated by fear of a breakup and consequently the newly formed country lived its early years in constant insecurity. This insecurity was further enhanced due to lack of any powerful leadership and also due to virtual absence of institutional arrangements which are generally essential for keeping an ethnically diverse state cohesive. Such institutional arrangements were not there for two reasons. First, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Commemorating Secular Pakistan Day
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Today is August the eleventh. The government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has designated this day as the “minorities’ day” because Mr. Jinnah made a speech on this day in 1947 which is interpreted by some as a charter of rights for minorities. The truth is that Jinnah’s famous speech was a clear policy statement of working towards ending distinctions of majority and minority by following a secular policy whereby religion … Read entire article »
Filed under: Jinnah, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, liberal Pakistan, secular Pakistan, secularism
Remembering historian KK Aziz: On his third anniversary
By Faheem Khan: Every year, on 9th July comes of the death anniversary of Khursheed Kamal Aziz ( KK Aziz). He was a superb historian and a great intellectual. He taught history at Cambridge and Heidelberg. He also served as Chairman of National Commission of Historical Research during the regime of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. I met him first time in August 2001. I wrote him a letter praising his book, ‘ the Making of Pakistan’. After reading that letter KK Aziz invited me to his home on tea. In spite of his formidable scholarship and devastating eloquence, he was very accessible and very humble. I became very close to him. As long as I lived in Pakistan, I would occasionally visit him. After I came to Canada, I would call him occasionally too. His … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
“The Democracy, Dictatorship and the Presidency”
By. Dr. Zaeem Zia: When Pakistan and India came into being into 1947, both states faced almost the same problems. Today, we can see a remarkable difference between the two countries. India is one of the largest democracies in the world; on the other hand in Pakistani democracy cannot get out of its infancy. Of many reasons for the failure of democracy to survive, the President House was one. Presidency is the sign of the integrity, dignity and symbol of federation in Pakistan. The President himself is the head of the state, and holds highest office to serve its citizens. Being said that, the role of the presidency on the contrary to its duties, has never served the democracy. Unfortunately, Presidency was used as a proxy for the establishment to derail the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy
Breaking the impasse in Indo-Pak relations
By Saad Hafiz: The heavy baggage of history in Indo-Pak relations includes Partition, Kashmir, armed conflict and ongoing arms race, Bangladesh, Siachen, Kargil and Mumbai. Mostly shrill jingoism and xenophobic nationalism on both sides has historically overshadowed sane discourse or encouraged conflict resolution. The institutionalized machinery of hatred on either side of the border comprises politicians, generals and the media who can easily overwhelms any small efforts towards peace and co-existence. It seems that the people in both countries have been conditioned to hate and despise the other. Despite the mutual animosity, the two neighbours unable to change geography are destined to live together and are forced to continue their turbulent negotiations, interactions and engagements. What needs to change is the unchanged cycle of the relationship, particularly since the 1950s which has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Politics
Untangling myth from fiction: Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s Reign of Power
by Habib Siddiqui “It is difficult to untangle this historical mess without scrutinizing the accusations against Aurangzeb rationally. Fortunately, in recent years quite a few Hindu historians have come out in the open disputing those allegations.” In a polarized world that we live in (which is, sadly, getting ever more polarized now by every minute and hour), we have often assumed that what is good for “our” people had to be bad for the “other” people. A glaring example is the personality of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who ruled India for 50 years. Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 C.E., probably no one generates as much controversy as Aurangzeb. He has been hailed as anyone from a “Saintly or Pauper Emperor” to one who … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
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