I am starting a new thread where we can post post columns/blogs on Pakistan and its politics…
columns can be in any language and from any source..they dont need to be Pakistani columnists but the content has to be related to Pakistan.
thx
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
like "any" article, no particular topic?
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
Yeah? Columns can be any topic, that’s their beauty.
As long as they are on Pakistan and the country’s dirty politics!
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
like "any" article, no particular topic?
guppies have been posting columns and blogs in several threads and i thought we can have a dedicated thread ..... this way we can always go back and locate a column/blog if we need to read it again
the topic will be Pakistan affairs...its internal politics, foreign politics, bilateral relationships with neighbors, different crisis such as energy crisis, education etc.....basically Pakistan affairs ... but i dont expect columns on sports, film , media, dramas to be discussed here..thx
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
I'd suggest that instead of that pick a particular topic, region, party or some specialty for this "archive" otherwise Google is your best friend for lost articles, no?
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
the topic will be Pakistan affairs...its internal politics, foreign politics, bilateral relationships with neighbors, different crisis such as energy crisis, education etc.....basically Pakistan affairs ... but i dont expect columns on sports, film , media, dramas to be discussed here..thx
sounds like a khichri in the making withe 100s of topics in one massive thread
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
I'd suggest that instead of that pick a particular topic, region, party or some specialty for this "archive" otherwise Google is your best friend for lost articles, no?
fair point captain and sheeday.....but i also have a feeling that not many columns will be posted and it wont be that much of khichriee...plus it will be hard to restrict to just one topic such as one party or region...sort of unfair to other topics.
lets try it for few weeks and see how it goes.
If people want to post a specific column and start a separate thread on that, they can of-course do that. this thread will be more of a repository of different columns/blogs on pakistan affairs with not much discussion on each and every column...
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
any language?
** thinking of posting chinese columns * khe khe khe*
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
any language?
** thinking of posting chinese columns * khe khe khe*
sure...we have some Chinese guppies!
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
i can totally see that happening in pak…only tough days ahead for us
but we created these monsters so we deserve such treatment
HOR CHOOPO!
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
**[a great column…What the PTI and Mian Sahib need to wake up to is that appeasement and surrender does not work with those who ask for the entire world, perhaps ponder over Ghulam Abbas’s warning, cities and countries are sometimes reduced to rubble!
by the way, Ghulam abbas orginal column hotel mohinjodaro written in 1967 is amazing getting the trajectory of the future so spectacularly, accurately right](http://tribune.com.pk/story/597962/the-dark-side-of-the-moon/)The Dark Side of the Moon Dark Side of the Moon**
By Saroop Ijaz
Published: August 31, 2013
http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/597962-SaroopIjazNew-1377967762-784-640x480.jpg
The writer is a lawyer and partner at Ijaz and Ijaz Co in Lahore saroop.ijaz@ tribune.com.pk
The passing of the first death anniversary of Neil Armstrong last week is an opportunity to reflect on our own connection (admittedly flimsy) with the first man on the moon. Two years before Armstrong landed on the moon, Ghulam Abbas wrote Dhanak, one of the best satirical short stories (The short story has been ably adapted by Shahid Nadeem into a play named Hotel Mohenjodaro](Redirect Notice)) of all times, and unnervingly prescient. Written in 1967, the story begins with the first man landing on moon, not Armstrong, but a Pakistani PAF Captain, Adam Khan. Local and international dignitaries gather on the rooftop garden of the 71-storied Hotel Mohenjodaro in Karachi to listen to Adam Khan’s message from the moon. His brief message is, “I am Captain Adam Khan. I come from the district of Jhang in Punjab … I have landed safely. All praise to Allah … Pakistan Zindabad.”
Pakistan is congratulated all over the world and celebrations begin all around the country. However, like most good things, the triumph is short-lived. In a small town, outside of Karachi, a local imam terms the journey to the moon un-Islamic and satanic. The call of jihad travels from one mosque to another and in a jiffy, the whole country is engaged in the holy battle, chanting for Adam Khan’s death for trespassing into the forbidden domain. Briefly, the government loses the fight and an Amirul Momineen takes over. Sharia is imposed. Foreigners are driven out. All languages other than Arabic are banned. Beards are mandatory. Women are forbidden to leave the house. All technology and ‘Western’ medicine is declared haram. The construction of any building higher than the Jamia Mosque is unlawful. This descent into piety happens in just one month from the sanctimonious landing on moon.
All is not well, still. The initially overlooked question of which sect’s Sharia would be implemented rather violently rises up. Blood runs in mosques. Muslims kill Muslims, both sides fighting in the name of faith. Medievalism descends into chaos. The story ends with foreign aircraft bombing Karachi to rubble.
The date of writing is worth mentioning again — 1967. There might be very few writings in all of world literature that get the trajectory of the future so spectacularly, accurately right. Hotel Mohenjodaro, despite being on a par with anything that Orwell or Huxley have ever written on the subject, is not taught in curriculum in Pakistan. That is unlikely to change in the near future, very particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). The K-P government has decided to reintroduce the verses mandating jihad into the syllabus. The K-P government is also firmly against the Muslims fighting Muslims business, even if the other side of the Muslims has no such qualms about blowing up schools and buses filled with schoolchildren, etc. Women were not allowed to vote in many constituencies in K-P and Punjab. Agents of Western medicine, polio workers are still attacked on a regular basis. Adam Khan’s Jhang is not known today for producing top rate astronauts or PAF officers.
Till present, Mian Sahib has not made a serious effort to be appointed Amirul Momineen. However, in Mian Sahib’s Punjab, the Al-Bakistan licence plates are all the jazz. What we lack in the fight against the Taliban is made up by increasing the intensity in the war on technology. The reports on what the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) seeks to ban are contradictory and murky. However, one thing remains clear — that the PTA is extremely concerned about our morality and decency. The Supreme Court has also, in the past, expressed grave apprehension on the issue of late night telephone call packages, no doubt the evil at the centre of all our ills. Websites are blocked to protect us from sin and being led astray. Prime television programmes discuss jinns at length. Economists argue for the virtues and efficiency of ‘bonded labour’. The one point solution that solves our economic problems is to get rid of ‘Riba’, don’t ask how, and just have faith.
The closest thing that we have ever come to landing on the moon is Dr Abdus Salam winning the Nobel Prize. Like, Adam Khan, Dr Salam lost, and the small time, violent Moulvi won. In a country of water kits, the grave of Dr Salam stands vandalised. Ahmadis are being told to leave ‘Muslim’ areas, and the tricky bit here is that all areas are Muslim areas.
Krishn Nagar in Lahore is now renamed Islampura, Dharampura is Mustafabad. Bhagat Singh’s birth and death anniversaries pass unnoticed, while Ghazi Ilm Din is remembered. To use ‘Hindu’ while intending ‘Indian’ is acceptable practice, even in ‘educated and polite’ society. Using condescending terms and tones while referring to ‘minorities’ is not frowned upon. After an attack on ‘minorities’, the educated and liberal feel ‘ashamed’ at not being able to protect ‘them’, noble sentiments, however blatantly exclusionary. Not outraged, like when ‘we’ are attacked.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui is one of ‘us’ never mind the US citizenship and conviction on terror charges. Aasia Bibi is someone that some of us feel sorry about to discharge our civic responsibilities, of course when she is uncomfortably and occasionally brought up. What is happening to Aasia Bibi is at best (or is it worst?) a ‘shame’, whereas Dr Aafia Siddiqui is when our blood really boils, in ‘how dare they’ tones.
We already live in Ghulam Abbas’s, “Hotel Mohenjodaro”, yet worse, the landing on the moon never happened neither the rooftop garden on the 71[SUP]st[/SUP] floor. We nosedived even before take-off. No high point, not even for false nostalgia.
What is the point of all this, we already know that? Yes, we do. However, the lesson of “Hotel Mohenjodaro” is that not only can it get worse, but it will get worse; inertia. Once the almost twin Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed, it was only a matter of time before other twin structures were hit. What the PTI and Mian Sahib need to wake up to is that appeasement and surrender does not work with those who ask for the entire world, perhaps ponder over Ghulam Abbas’s warning, cities and countries are sometimes reduced to rubble.
P.S.: As August comes to an end and the mighty seek to restrict freedom of expression, while at the same time fumbling with their own speech, WH Auden’s “August 1968” predicting the Prague Spring because of the inability of those in power to speak to the people bears rereading. “The Ogre does what ogres can, Deeds quite impossible for Man, But one Prize is beyond his reach, The Ogre cannot master Speech, About a subjugated plain, Among its desperate and slain, The Ogre stalks with hands on hips, While drivel gushes form his lips.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1[SUP]st[/SUP], 2013.
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
a great column…there is so much suffocation in Pakistan that it is hard to breathe…those who have enjoyed Aug 14th 30 years ago can relate to Javed Ch column!
search: express.com.pk, javed ch, tolerance in pakistan, Uzbekistan
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
lol..so right and spot on…for all chronic USA haters!
Most wanted terrorist captured from hotel in Pakistan - DAWN.COM
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
I wish more people in Pakistan start thinking in such a rational manner instead of putting I-hate-USA hat immediately. A nice article on syria.
search: express.com.pk, Izhar ul haq, Situation in Syria, facts vs myths
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
some important info on syrian history and asad’s brutal family
those who think that bashar asad may not have used chemical weapons need to think again..his father was so brutal
I wish more people in Pakistan start thinking in such a rational manner instead of putting I-hate-USA hat immediately…someone need to stop asad or he will kill 100K more…nothing will stop him.
search: express.com.pk, Izhar ul haq, *Situation in Syria, facts vs myths
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
[RIGHT]تو دیسی ہے فینکس ہے مقام تیرا
پوسٹ کرتا جا تیرے سامنے آرٹکل اور بھی ہیں
[/RIGHT]
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
aap kee nazar karam chayaee…
here is one more!
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
ok…i really wanted to post a positive article about Pakistan and that is the best i could find…yeah it has some bad news as well but then some good stuff as well
as for bad news, yes, the international image of Pakistan has never been so bad…guppies shd pay notice to the fact that even muslim countries dont like us at all…why? that ummah for which we are ready to die every day wants to stay away from us…
First, the bad news? - DAWN.COM
[First, the bad news…](http://beta.dawn.com/news/1041556/first-the-bad-news) [Irfan Husain](http://beta.dawn.com/authors/271/irfan-husain)
Published 2013-09-09 13:22:02
EACH time we think Pakistan’s international image can sink no lower, we somehow manage to plumb new depths. Over the years, we have come to occupy the unenviable position of being the most unpopular travel destination in the world. Even countries we have long regarded as our closest friends and allies view us with suspicion and loathing.
According to the Pew Research Centre, only 31 per cent of the Chinese respondents in its survey had a good opinion of Pakistan. Figures fall even lower across most of the Muslim world. Only in Turkey do around 47 per cent have a good opinion of Pakistan, against the 41 per cent with a negative view.
So why are we so universally disliked? Many conspiracy theorists – a breed rapidly multiplying around the country — are convinced that it’s because the world sees us a strong, nuclear-armed Muslim country. But then why should other Muslim states have such a negative view of us? If we are indeed the ‘fortress of Islam’ as so many of our TV studio warriors claim, then surely our stock ought to be higher among the ummah.
Certainly, our faith is part of the image problem in the West: according to one survey, 75 per cent of Americans surveyed said that Islam was the most violent of all religions. In another survey conducted in 2005, 74 per cent of Americans were of the view that Pakistan was the most likely state to transfer nuclear technology.
From AQ Khan’s nuclear bazaar to our tolerance of jihadi groups operating on our soil against international and regional targets, we have built up a sorry image for ourselves. Increasingly, the world sees us as the primary source of global terrorism, and only wishes we could somehow just go away. From illegal immigrants to drug traffickers to terrorists, Pakistanis have a terrible reputation.
In the UK, the last few months have seen a parade of criminals of Pakistani origin who have been convicted of raping vulnerable, underage girls in state care over a period of years. These nasty, widely covered cases of exploitation by married men in their 30s and 40s sent a wave of revulsion across the country.
And with depressing frequency, young Britons of Pakistani parentage have been accused and convicted of involvement in terrorist plots. Images of heavily bearded men and burqa-clad women demonstrating against some obscure publication having allegedly committed blasphemy are common fare on TV screens; all too often, the spokesman is of Pakistani origin.
Against this dreary background of violence and extremism, good news from Pakistan, admittedly is as rare as hen’s teeth, gets overlooked. The recent elections that saw the peaceful transfer of power from one elected government to the next were largely ignored, given events in the Middle East. However, speaking at a packed auditorium in London’s School for Oriental and African studies recently, Declan Walsh reminded the audience of the significance of the event.
Readers will recall that Declan was the Pakistan bureau chief for the New York Times until his visa was suddenly cancelled on the eve of the May elections. Although he did mention his expulsion, he did not dwell on its injustice. He did, however, highlight his affection for Pakistan, and spoke warmly of the many friends he had made there.
Declan has reported from Pakistan for nine years, first for the Guardian and then for the New York Times. In this period, he has come to understand the country better than any foreign correspondent I have met. He has an unparalleled network of friends and contacts across the country, and has travelled extensively to remote areas most Pakistani journalists are unfamiliar with. He could easily have used his talk to attack those who threw him out of the country, but chose not to.
The talk was about how power was shared between the President, Chief Justice and Army chief, and how authority has ebbed from the army to other centres. His analysis of the rise of the judiciary was particularly fascinating. He concluded by praising the increasing maturity of the political system.
In the question and answer session, Declan also spoke about the power of the electronic media, and how Pakistan was one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Talking about Karachi, he mentioned the increasing numbers of Pushtun migrants, and the implication of the city’s changing demographics for the MQM. In particular, he highlighted the worrying presence and muscle of the Pakistani Taliban in Karachi.
A deeply disquieting fact he brought up was that in Pakistan, only around 9 per cent of murder cases resulted in convictions. As we know all too well, most terror suspects are freed on bail, or released on grounds of insufficient evidence. Some have walked out despite being in possession of unregistered firearms, and having been accused of earlier terrorist attacks. No wonder our law enforcement and judicial system command no fear among criminals.
Although he highlighted many of the problems Pakistan faces, Declan has not joined the chorus of Western voices that have written the country off as a failed state. Even when he was reporting from Pakistan, he often saw the irony and the humour of the situation. This is more than a lot of Pakistani journalists have managed to do.
While mentioning the many allegations of corruption levelled against Asif Zardari in his five years as President, Declan made the point that none of his many detractors had come up with any proof of financial misconduct during his tenure. Talking about the Memogate controversy, he reminded us that for a few weeks, there was intense drama (‘tamasha’ was the word he used) over the incident, and then it disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced.
A few years ago, the whole thing could well have resulted in a coup, but under General Kayani, the army has maintained a distance from the political arena. Given his objective and very professional reporting from Pakistan over the years, if I were Nawaz Sharif, I would invite Declan Walsh back to Pakistan, and give him a medal.
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
I have always doubted the credibility of journalists in Pakistan incl. those who are pro-PTI. Most of them are working on someone-else’s agenda. Very few of them like Nadeem Malik, Dr Danish and Javed Ch. are objective and neutral imo.
Another example of a writer trying to be smart, someone who’s desperately trying to manipulate the mindset of the readers. IK’s claim of ending top-level corruption within 90 days was wishful thinking for sure but why single him out all the time. Besides PTI has taken certain initiatives (education reforms etc.) like below which need to be appreciated
Khan promises ?uniform education system? in KP - DAWN.COM
I have always disagreed with IK’s Taliban stance but people are so impatient that they want PTI to achieve in 3 months what has not been done in KPK over the past 66 years!!! I think it is childish to start judging so early performance of PTI in KPK or that of the PML-N federal government. Assess their performance after 18-24 months.
What about the promises of others like bullet train and ending load shedding within a year (or was it 6 months?). Bullet train plan was duly scrapped (we were told there was no money). And now their post-election mantra is ‘change your habits, load shedding is here to stay’
And it is not just IK, most politicians’ election campaigns around the world (incl. the West) are based on rhetoric. That’s just the way politics is. I would say in general 40% of their manifestos are realistic or practical. The rest is all rhetoric or just ways to appeal to the voters
As one poster rightly said below:
“if the author had also included the promises of other political leaders like bullet trains, ending load shedding etc. then this would look more neutral.”
Imran and Obama: Democracy?s bitter tale of betrayal - DAWN.COM
Even Jinnah could not fix today’s Pakistan. If he were alive today he might have preferred to practise law in London (mind you he was a successful barrister in those days) over governing a corrupt, dishonest, unjust and religiously intolerant Pakistani society.
Re: Columns/Blogs on Pakistan & Pakistani Politics
I have inside informaton that hasan nisar wrote this article after reading my posts on the same topic @ gupshup…he even cited exact same examples that i quoted few weeks ago i.e. hajaj bin yousaf…and then the exact same solution that i prescribed that muslims shd stop yelling “time out” and conspiracy against muslims and shd focus on developing themselves…it is ok ..i wont sue hassan nisar!
Hasan Nisar- cohraha- 9/11 aur new world order - Jang Columns