By Bilal Qureshi
“The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.” Bertrand Russell
A careful examination of contemporary Pakistan presents a bleak picture and objective analysts have been sounding alarms about Pakistan’s overall economic, social and political health for a while, but now, it seems that the Pakistan’s stability has started to shudder. Time has really come for the country to seriously examine situation and chart a (more…)
By Bilal Qureshi
Pakistani community in America is watching the mid-term elections in America with fascination as for some of them; it is a great exercise in human freedom.
For this community, this election is also the source of anxiety because of its impact on Washington’s relationship with Islamabad. Some argue that it will further complicate a very tense relationship, some worry that a change in balance of power will drive both parties to take a very hard line towards Pakistan for domestic political reasons. Few of the Pakistanis hope that ‘drone attacks will end’ and many in the community believe that Pakistan will be forgotten as the divided Congress will focus on winning the (more…)
By Dr Manzur Ejaz
We can appreciate the military’s flood relief work but if this disaster is partly man-made, the military has to take responsibility because it has been ruling the country most of the time
The Pakistani military’s help during these devastating floods is appropriate but not outstanding because people have complained about its delayed response. The military’s flood relief work is not exceptional because no other institution in any country has such a large and organised force that it can take care of a disaster of the scale where one-fifth of the population is affected. Even the US had to bring in army engineers during Hurricane Katrina. The only difference is that in democratic countries, (more…)
By Muhammad Hamza
The Daily Times’ editorial on August 14, titled Marching towards tyranny, again? was about MQM’s chief Altaf Hussain’s recent request to “patriot generals” to intervene against “corrupt feudal and landlord politicians”. The editorial rightly condemned Altaf Hussain for inviting martial law and derailing a flimsy, brittle, fragile, and always seemingly premature democratic process in the country, but at the same time it rushed to give credit to General Kayani for not intervening in politics and being a professional soldier, who has “no interest in politics.”
Back in the days, even Benazir Bhutto’s first government bestowed (more…)
By Zafar Syed
The Bystander Effect: An attempt to understand the social psychology of the mob
The brutal murder of two teenage brothers in Sialkot has sent shudders of fear and loathing across the spine of the society. People are asking probing questions about our values and morals as a nation. Some have even felt shame to be a Pakistani due to the incident. More than the murder itself, the outrage has been directed towards the behavior of the onlookers and their apathy is being condemned by all parts of the society. The onlookers included cameramen who shot the event in all its bloody details to haunt the conscience of the entire
nation.
But before publicly lynching the insensitive crowd (more…)
By Alex Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times
Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency not only funds and trains Taliban insurgents fighting U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, but also maintains its own representation on the insurgency’s leadership council, claims a new report issued by the London School of Economics.
Assertions that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, continues to nurture links with the Afghan Taliban are not new. But the scope of that relationship claimed by the report’s author, Matt Waldman, is startling and could prove damaging to the fragile alliance Washington is trying to foster with Pakistan, its military establishment, (more…)
By Prof Ishtiaq Ahmed
The recent attack on a congregation of Ahmedis during prayers, which claimed more than 90 innocent lives, has revived a discussion as to whether there is a connection between the creation of Pakistan and Islam. Within the Muslim League there was always a constituency in favour of Pakistan becoming an Islamic state. One of its proponents was a close confident of Jinnah: Raja Sahib Mahmudabad, a Shia. In 1939 he wrote to the historian Mohibul Hassan:
“When we speak of democracy in Islam it is not democracy in the government (more…)
By Waris Husain
The recent outburst of homegrown terrorists from the Pakistani-American community is an alarming development, especially considering the tenuous relationship between Islamabad and Washington. The central issue seems to be why Pakistani-Americans are turning to such violent organizations. The answer is not so simple, and while many point to the racism and xenophobia of American society that alienated these individuals, I believe the problem started in Pakistan. The national identity of Pakistan has been replaced by a religious one, and this identity crisis has siphoned down not only to Pakistanis, but also their children who were born abroad.
Zahid Ibrahim wrote this week in Express Tribune that the (more…)
By Wajid Ali Syed
A very loose translation of an Indian phrase is, “a tail of a dog always stays bent.” I don’t think anyone ever experienced this first hand, but some witnessed the true meanings of the phrase last night when Pakistan’s ex-military dictator General Musharraf held a meeting with his fans.
The General and his clique of Chosen Ones called this gathering the ‘Friends of Pakistan First’. Now who the heck knows what this name means but with this, Musharraf tried to present himself as this self-taught historian, who read a book yesterday and now fancies himself an expert. Much like newly-minted Fox News “historian” Glenn Beck, (more…)
By Pervez Hoodbhoy
The man who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was a Pakistani. Why is this unsurprising? Answer: because when you hold a burning match to a gasoline tank, the laws of chemistry demand combustion. As anti-American lava spews uninterrupted from the fiery volcanoes of Pakistan’s private television channels and newspapers, a collective psychosis grips the country’s youth. Murderous intent follows with the conviction that the US is responsible for all ills, both in Pakistan and the world of Islam.
Faisal Shahzad, with designer sunglasses and an MBA degree from the University of Bridgeport, acquired that murderous intent. Living his formative years in Karachi, he typifies the young Pakistani who grew up in the shadow of (more…)
Monday, February 6, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Powered by Hashe!