Author Archive

The MQM, which often complains of Taliban’s growing presence in Karachi and is unhappy for being unable to convince its coalition partners to retain the local government system of the Musharraf era at least in Sindh, has surprised everybody by suggesting an unthinkable remedy for the country’s ills that every parliamentarian has only recently [...]

Ayaz Amir hits the nail on the head last week in his column for The News, "Fresh takes on patriotism". Amir is annoyed with MQM chief Altaf's recent outbursts about martial law, of course, and flays them with the sharp wit that he has come to be known for, taking no mercy on Altaf's own political opportunism and turning a blind eye to corruption [...]

THIS IS Pakistan’s Katrina. I just returned from that country, where the devastation created by the recent floods was gut-wrenching. Five years after floods washed over the southern United States, Pakistan is suffering from an epic disaster. And we turn away from Pakistan in its hour of need at our own peril. It’s not just that one-fifth of [...]

The ongoing investigation of the Sialkot brothers’ lynching in front of Rescue 1122 office has revealed that some police officials being named in the incident are not only pro- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), but that their role was a contributing factor in the enactment of the gory incident on August 15. These influential law [...]

* PM says political parties should overcome petty issues, stand together * Government did not divert focus from flood relief despite criticism The continuing floods were devastating to the country, but the government was committed to converting the massive challenge in an opportunity to build a new Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza [...]

Altaf Hussain's statement inciting 'patriotic generals' to take steps 'like martial law' against 'corrupt feudal and land lord politicians' is an expression of intent to support subversion of constitutional rule in Pakistan. This statement is not only mischievous, but also malicious. It has been uttered (and vociferously defended by MQM minions) [...]

The tragedy in Sialkot has been dissected from every possible angle, the people have come out with an unprecedented outcry for justice and the civil administration has, for once, risen to the occasion and is doing what is expected of it. Although after thoughts will no longer be of any use to Mughees and Muneeb Butt, the brothers who were made [...]

Bollywood is tackling the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace, which campaigners say is increasingly becoming an issue as traditional gender roles change in modern urban India. “Hello Darling”, which was released on Friday, is inspired by the 1980 Hollywood comedy “Nine To Five” in which Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly [...]

In his essay on civil disobedience, Henry David Thoreau once said, “The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich,”. The Mass Media, the collection of newspapers, magazines, and TV news programs that reach a mass audience, is usually owned and controlled by media corporations. Today, media corporations are such [...]

Information Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that Altaf Hussain committed treason by issuing statement in favour of martial law and he should be sentenced under Article 6. In a media briefing in Peshawar, he said that that the MQM was actually the biggest follower of feudalism. He said that conspiracy was being hatched [...]

Three humanitarian workers operating in the Swat Valley, in the northern part of the country, have been killed by Pakistani Taliban while working to bring aid to flood victims. The attack of the fundamentalists, which has also caused several injuries in two villages, took place between August 24 and 25. The tragic news was communicated to Fides by [...]

A free, independent and responsible media is a direct reflection of societal traits and thus can act not only as a reality check but as a mentor and redeemer. With its initiative to move towards a Free, Independent and Responsible Media (FIRM), Individualland-Pakistan (IL-Pakistan) with the support of the Friedrich-Naumann-Stifting fur die [...]

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani said on Wednesday that flood relief cooperation could be a turning point in the relations between Pakistan and the United States and hoped it would help faster a much greater mutual understanding at people-to-people level.Talking to a private TV channel, Ambassador said that it was due [...]

Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Peoples Party leaders have strongly condemned the statement of Altaf Hussain regarding the imposition of martial law. Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that Altaf Hussain’s statement is against the constitution of the country. He added that the statement is also against the [...]

Whatever possessed Altaf Hussain to make statements supporting a martial law, his comments are short-sighted and ill-conceived. In fact, Altaf gets the whole thing backwards. If we're going to make progress in eliminative corruption, the only way to do so is to let the democratic process work. Remember that it was Pervez Musharraf who oversaw [...]

Aid received for Pakistan’s flood victims is almost double the amount requested by the UN, the country’s foreign minister said Sunday, as relief workers struggled to save dozens of villages and towns from flooding. He said the generous assistance was ‘encouraging’, especially at a time when Europe and the US were facing economic [...]

13.8 million people in Pakistan are affected by the worst flood in a century. More than 1,600 are dead and many more unaccounted for. Entire villages and towns have been consumed by rising water levels, and hundreds of thousands are stranded. Official figure stands at 1600, but that figure will surely grow as disease and hunger take their [...]

The human tragedy unfolding in Pakistan right now demands our full attention. Flooding there has already stranded 20 million people, more than 10 percent of the population. A fifth of the nation is underwater. More than 3.5 million children are in imminent danger of contracting cholera and acute diarrhea; millions more are in danger of starving [...]

Raza Rumi's column in today's Express Tribune should never need to be written. A tragedy of the proportions we are facing is a time to put aside petty differences and work to heal our wounds and move our nation forward. But this flood is doing more than washing away our crops, our infrastructure, even our people. It is washing away that layer of [...]

President Asif Ali Zardari and Senator John F. Kerry on Thursday had an aerial view of the flood-hit Jampur.President Zardari was accompanied by US Senator John Kerry who arrived in Pakistan Wednesday night to personally review the damage caused by devastating floods.Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, US Ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson, [...]

According to its website, the Supreme Court is "the Court of ultimate appeal and therefore final arbiter of law and the Constitution. It exercises original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its judgments/decisions are binding on all other courts in the country". Considering the Supreme Court holds such authority, it is very troubling [...]

President Asif Ali Zardari returned here on Wednesday after a few hours visit to the Russian city of Sochi during which he participated in the quadrilateral summit of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Russian Federation on regional peace, security and economic development.He also held separate bilateral meetings with Hamid Karzai President of [...]

Diplomats and development experts have long anticipated the upcoming Sochi Summit. The recent politicization of President Zardari’s foreign trips threatens to derail this vital meeting of the Presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Russia where comprehensive projects are on the main agenda. One thing is clear: cooler heads must [...]

She spoke out against the Ground Zero mosque, now a Canadian Muslim woman says she is being threatened. Raheel Raza, a founding member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, calls the idea of a mosque within 300 metres of Ground Zero “a deliberate provocation.” Last week Raza joined Maureen Basnicki a Canadian widow of 9-11 in attending a [...]

Syeda Shehla Raza deputy speaker Sindh assembly posted her current facebook  status as saying:  "My visit to RAZZK ABAD camp I saw a unike incidence the repoter of GEO arranged a man who according to his directions gave a statement that "we have provided the food which is four days old" the people there reacted and the repoter and [...]

Congratulating people of Pakistan on the occasion of its 63rd independence day, US President Barack Obama has expressed his country's long term commitment in strengthening ties with the country. President Barack Obama has pledged sustained U.S. support for Pakistan’s recovery from raging floods "in line with deepening partnership between the [...]

There pass decades and experiences inscribe themselves on sections of sheet. Eyes seize back to millions, who in their kick laid down their lives for the cause of liberty _ for the sake of a detached home, where the Muslims of the Sub Continent could direct their survives, according to the lessons of their belief. The labors of those legends bore [...]

Let's be honest, President Zardari took a big gamble by going to meet with foreign leaders as the flood crisis unfolded. It was obviously bad public relations, and his advisors had to know that he would be skewered in the media. Actually, the President even admitted as much in an column earlier this week. But he chose to go anyway, he said, [...]

U.S. President Barack Obama says he supports a plan to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center in New York, near the scene of the deadly September 11, 2001 attacks. It was the first time the president has expressed his opinion about the intense controversy. President Obama spoke Friday night at a White House Iftar dinner celebrating the [...]

Fr. Emmanuel Asi, President of the Lahore Biblical Theological Institute and a member of the directive committee of the Theological Institute for Laity in Pakistan, as well as expert in interreligious dialogue, was recently interviewed by the press office of the national headquarters of the Pontifical Mission Societies (also known as “Missio”) [...]

The South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) organised a seminar titled ‘Pakistan in a South Asian Context’ in connection with Independence Day at a local hotel on Friday. Experts from India and Pakistan spoke on the occasion and expressed their views on how Pakistan could progress. Noted historian Dr Mubarik Ali said that people would [...]

Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari yesterday made his first visit to areas hit by devastating floods. He toured the Sukkur dam in southern Sindh Province, Pakistan Television reported, to see the damage firsthand, after being criticized by the opposition for proceeding with a trip to Europe as the floods spread, president’s hometown is in the [...]

Pakistan, a nation beset by political tragedies for generations, now faces a new test of its national character: a natural calamity unprecedented in our history. Millions have been displaced and thousands have died in floods caused by unabated rain. The monsoons are destroying villages and exposing thousands to illnesses including cholera and [...]

Pakistan army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, is to be given a three-year extension to his term of office to maintain continuity in the country’s battle against religious militants, a move that western analysts said would bolster Pakistan's anti-terrorism fight and cement its role in neighboring Afghanistan. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza [...]

President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Europe has been successful in drawing the attention of the world community on the enormity the of the ravages of unprecedented floods in the country as well as forging international assistance for the flood victimsand highlighting the various challenges faced by the country. President told supporters his [...]

Source: new Pakistan The fact of a media conspiracy against Zardari has been discussed for some time as onlookers scratch their heads in wonder at much of the seemingly outrageous anti-Zardari rhetoric that is published. But have the conspirators finally overplayed their hand and revealed themselves? It looks like this may be the case, as the [...]

A survey has found that crimes against Pakistani women are still continuing at workplaces, as the provincial government is unable to implement the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2009. The survey found that there are still complaints from female government and private sector employees about the abusive behaviour of their [...]

New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission decision to sanction the construction of a mosque and an Islamic center near Ground Zero by a vote of nine to zero, should be seen as a reaffirmation of one of the basic tenets of American democracy — religious tolerance. According to an editorial in the New York Times, by refusing to cave [...]

Source:new Pakistan The organization Pew Research Center released a new study last week based on a survey of Pakistanis about opinions on extremism, America, India, etc etc. While the report focuses primarily on attitudes towards America (not surprising since the survey company is American). Kalsoom posts a more nuanced read at Changing Up [...]

President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to France  remained very useful and effective in projecting Pakistan’s point of view in the war against terror and to muster international support.  Observers and Diplomats terming the visit "very timely and useful" said it helped Pakistan in explaining the difficulties and hurdles being faced by [...]