Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "Kashmir"
Tale of Musharraf’s Coup in 1999
Parvez Musharraf, ex-Dictator, landed in Karachi today, amid much fanfare(and while wearing a suicide jacket). He was ousted democratically on 18th August, 2008 and left the country. Pakistan has successfully completed transition from an elected government to a caretaker setup without direct intervention of the Military for the first time in its history. This does not mean we forget the history of military interventions and the disastrous consequences. To commemorate the arrival of Musharraf, we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Anniversery, Army, Civil Service, Constitution, Democracy, drama, History, ISI, Islamabad, Pakistan, Politics, Society, state, 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
Murder of History Part III
by Abdul Majeed In the last few weeks, we discussed some of the prevalent myths regarding Pakistan History. This week, we continue debunking more myths and providing some alternate versions by using multiple sources. 1. Mujahidin had gone to conquer Kashmir in 1948. The first war between newly-independent Pakistan and India happened in 1948 A.D in Kashmir Valley. It is postulated that the prime objective of Mujahideen(mostly from NWFP) was the liberation of Kashmir. Actually,when they reached near Sri Nagar, they forgot their “objective” and started criminal activities. Regarding this, Owen Bennet Jones in his book writes, “At this crucial juncture, when Kashmir was ready for the taking, Pakistan paid the price of the haphazard nature of its operations in Kashmir. Rather than striking forward, the tribesmen became distracted by the opportunities for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Inshallah Kashmir : Living Terror ( A chilling documentary)
An excellent documentary on Kashmir which has not been cleared by the censors yet. There are certain parts which are rather disturbing so viewers’ discretion is advised. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Indian Muslim Intellectuals Condemn Pak Punjab Governor’s Killing
STATEMENT CONDEMNING THE KILLING OF SALMAN TASEER We are shocked by the killing of the Governor of the province of Punjab in Pakistan, Salman Taseer by a member of his bodyguard force. He had dared to support Asia Bibi sentenced to death for having committed Blasphemy according to the infamous Blasphemy law of Pakistan. He was one of the liberal and democratic voices in Pakistan who have been fighting for the repeal of this reprehensible law. More appalling than the killing is the cynical and vocal support of a section of the society of Pakistan to the killer of Governor Taseer. We are worried by the trend of increasing religious intolerance in Pakistan and feel that if not fought with resolve and courage, it might lead to a deathly silence in Pakistan … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Kashmir’s Troubles
While at PTH, we do not indulge in cliched fights over the Kashmir issue, the plight of Kashmiris needs to be mentioned. Below we are reproducing an article from The Economist that we believe does a decent job in highlighting the present state of affairs, as well as the emerging developments in the Indian Administered Kashmir (Admin, PTH). From The Economist Dec 29, 2010 A GROUP of special Indian police barged into a white-painted, single-storey house on the crisp morning of October 27th. They let their lathis do the talking. The wooden batons were first rammed through all the windows, furniture and a television. When the grey-haired owners protested, the rods were turned on them. The police broke the husband’s leg and beat his wife’s flesh a sickly purple. Before leaving, the officers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, human rights, India, Islam, Islamabad, Kashmir, Uncategorized
Redefining national interest
Raza Rumi Courtesy The Friday Times: – The elusive quest for peace between India and Pakistan remains hostage to the military-industrial complex at both the global and regional levels. Such is the dynamic unleashed by two imagined “nations” that their existence as states is dependent on a perpetual state of confrontation. More so for Pakistan, given its deeply embedded paranoia, which has assumed a reality of its own. Sixty-two years ago, it was hardly envisioned that the two states would erect an iron-curtain and fight forever. From actual wars to propaganda campaigns the task seems complete now. The oft-repeated phrase ‘trust deficit’ is a natural culmination of this ugly process. Of late, another dimension has been added, i.e. information-deficit as India had marched towards a new phase of its economic development, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Devising a new framework for Indo-Pak peace
Raza Rumi Today the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India will meet. This major development should be welcomed. Sceptical noises of distrust in both countries have been heard and the Kashmiri leaders have issued rejectionist statements. Subcontinental leaderships have time and again floundered peace. Sometimes it is the recklessness on the Pakistani side and at other times the Indian officialdom chants the trust-deficit mantra. But this must end. Media wisdom about the BJP and the Pakistan … Read entire article »
Filed under: India, Pakistan, Pakistan-India Peace Process, strategy
Ambiguous citizenships
Silence on Azad Jammu & Kashmir in the Pakistani mainstream, other than the juicy breaking news, is a tacit acceptance of the marginalization of this area Arundhati Roy has been exposing the brutalities of the Indian State in the ‘occupied’ Jammu and Kashmir. She has questioned the presence of over half a million Indian troops and the naked violations of human rights there. Roy’s the lone domestic voice that has earned the ire of the patriots and nation-state parrots. In Pakistan, we face a dilemma whereby commenting on the status and predicament of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) remains a forbidden territory. Any discussion on AJK has to locate itself within the narrow confines of the Partition mess. This is why a zone with ambiguous citizenship continues to exist next to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Another "K" Word
By Wajid Ali Syed http://www.thepakistanupdate.com/2010/04/another-k-word/ In almost every briefing pertaining to South Asia, the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke says that he won’t use the ‘K word,’ by which he means Kashmir. This is sensible of him, knowing that any statement could escalate into an exchange of hot words between India and Pakistan (and India has made it clear it has no intention of bowing down before an meddling intermediary). Hence Ambassador Holbrooke understands the seriousness of the situation and thus avoids the “K” issue. There is another increasingly controversial “K” that U.S. officials should refrain from using, especially in a derogatory manner. And that “K” stands for Karzai. Until recently the United States has treated the Afghan President as a puppet without realizing that his power base has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Democracy, Kashmir, Taliban, USA
The Enemy Within
Terrorism and the denial problem By Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi crosspost from Daily Times, 28 March, 2010 The most serious threat to Pakistan’s political stability and economic development is the growing terrorist attacks by the various Taliban groups and other militant Islamic groups that use violence to pursue their narrow-based religious and political agendas. Gen. Zia ul Haque Pakistan army soldiers carry a coffin of a colleague who lost his life during a fight against al-Qaida and Taliban Pakistan’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Democracy, Education, Islamism, Pakistan, Religion, state, Taliban, Terrorism, USA
Let's refocus: Kashmir, not Kabul
We are publishing a Canadian view here at PTH. This op-ed was published today in the well respected Canadian Newspaper The Globe and Mail. It is written by Doug Sanders, Globe’s respected Pulitzer Prize winning Chief of European Bureau. Mr. Sanders urges the West to help resolving the Kashmir Issue. This issue has been used by Pakistani Army and the Establishment to keep the impoverished nation of ours mainly as an India competing nation. The issue has contributed towards our inability to focus on developing our society as a modern, progressive entity; a society that focuses primarily on protection, health and education of all of its members (PTH) By Doug Sanders, cross post from The Globe and Mail, Published February 20, 2010 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/lets-refocus-kashmir-not-kabul/article1475138/ Acting like an especially convivial nightclub manager, Pervez Musharraf storms the room and opens with a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Army, Democracy, Economy, Education, Identity, India, Islamabad, Kashmir, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Terrorism, USA
One and a half billion people just want peace
The News, January 01, 2010 The two nations have repeatedly gone to war in the past. Their governments continue sabre rattling and spewing bellicose rhetoric. But identical nationwide opinion surveys conducted by the Jang Group and the Times of India Group in India and Pakistan show that a majority of the billion and a half people of the sub-continent want to live as peaceful and friendly neighbours and share the same humane goals like any other civilised polity; economic prosperity for all, education for the youth, health for the needy, absence of violence and elimination of existential threats. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, poverty, south asia, Terrorism
What We Have Done to Democracy
Arundhati Roy’s New Book Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers Looks at What We Have Done to Democracy Written by Al Huebner Cross-Post from Toward Freedom The essays in this new book by the brilliant Indian writer Arundhati Roy cover topics that range from the attack on the Indian Parliament to the Armenian genocide, and the terrorist attack on Mumbai to George Bush’s “triumphant” visit to India and Pakistan. But what runs through all of these essays is a critical look at democracy, as practiced in those countries that claim to be democracies. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Books, Democracy, Environment, human rights, India, Kashmir, Pakistan
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