Author Archive

Courtesy ARY Channel (All breaking news items) 1. Today the President of the ARY channel Dr Shahid Masood visited (dora kia) the flood-affected areas of the Muzaffargarh district. He expressed complete dissatisfaction with the Zardari government’s relief efforts (What about the Sharif government?) 2. The President of the ARY channel Dr [...]

By Omar Khattab On 17 July a convoy of Shias was attacked by the Taliban who used rockets and automatic weapons and cut down killing 18 including women and children. The most significant part of the attack is not the murder of the Shias, which has become a routine in Pakistan. The point to consider is that the Shia convoy was being escorted [...]

By Omar Khattab On 17 July a convoy of Shias left Peshawar for their hometown Parachinar. On the way near Charkhel, they were attacked by the Taliban. The Taliban used rockets and automatic weapons killing 18 including women and children Scores were injured, some seriously. Pakistan’s newspapers and dozens of channels only referred to [...]

17 July 2010 By Omar Khattab in Lahore Everyone know that the Punjab’s government’s “action” against the terrorists in the backdrop of the Data Sahib bombing is as bogus as the Pak Fauj’s action against the Taliban in the Northern Areas including Swat. The following is just one small example: Narang Mandi is not very far from [...]

What about thousands of Shia and Ahmedi Muslim families? By Omar Khattab in Islamabad Ali Raza was killed during the ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan. The government of Pakistan did well by bringing his body to Pakistan and then taking it to his hometown Shorkot where he was buried. That should have been the end of the matter. But things [...]

Is Qazi Anwar allowed to make such a statement while the case is sub judice? But Iftikhar Chaudhry will not punish him for judicial breach. Govt has no choice but to write for reopening Swiss cases: Qazi Updated at: 1925 PST, Saturday, June 12, 2010 SANGHAR: President SCBA Qazi Anwar has warned the establishment against being aggressive [...]

Every journalist knows Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s weakness, but none wants to talk about it. By Omar Khattab in Islamabad June is almost there. In 33 days July will come and the Jang Group will become even more desperate against its campaign to get President Zardari out of presidency through whatever means. Why has the Jang Group been [...]

For the past few weeks I have been watching different morning talk shows. Two days ago, I happened to watch one such show. The guest was a self-described mind sciences expert who has a PhD in mind sciences. Given the solutions offered by the mind scientist, it was overall a very funny show and I thought it could make anyone laugh for free till a [...]

When a chief justice provokes people to violence Lahore High Court’s Chief Justice has been provoking the lawyer community to take vigilante actions against Pakistan’s People’s Party (PPP) so that the democratically elected government is either sacked and the army returns to power, or new elections are held and somehow Nawaz Shiarif’s [...]

LUBP Exclusive The Rottweiler of Islamofascism is cannibalized by his own ilk By Omar Khattab in Islamabad Khalid Khawaj’s bullet-ridden body thrown onto a rubbish mound in Waziristan reminds one of William Shakespeare’s central theme in his tragedies: Evil is self-destructive. Khalid Khawaja was an extremely evil man who was one of [...]

Picture Source: Attack on a Shia funeral in D.I. Khan Yesterday, the LUBP posted an article about Malik Ishaq, a most dangerous terrorist of Sipah-e-Sahaba, who is about to be released by Shahbaz Sharif’s government. Previously we have pointed to the sinister affiliation between various members of the PML-N's government in Punjab, namely Rana [...]

Picture: Benazir Bhutto gazes towards a crowd of thousands of supporters at a campaign rally minutes before she was assassinated in a bomb attack December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi The debate on the 18th Amendment is ISI’s smokescreen to hide its role in Benazir’s assassination By Omar Khattab in Islamabad Suddenly the media has swept [...]

Editorial: Tragedy in Kohat Kohat was struck with tragedy on Saturday as two suicide bombers attacked an IDP camp as a group of internally displaced persons (IDP) were waiting to get themselves registered and receive aid handouts. More than 40 people were killed, including a journalist, and dozens more injured. After the first suicide attack, a [...]

Premature warning Dawn Editorial, 18 Apr, 2010 Taken at face value, the comments made by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Friday simply restate a known legal approach: “Judiciary supervises a regime of the rule of law and not the rule of men”; the judiciary “has to prevent the arbitrary or illegal exercise of authority”; and the [...]

Arrested woman alleges being raped by Rangers * Uzma was caught carrying liquor at a picket near the Pak-India border * Medical examiner refusing to disclose whether Uzma was raped or not * Rangers SP claims woman was in police custody, denies rape allegations * SHO refutes claim, says Uzma was in police custody ‘only for a little [...]

Civil judges in Punjab rally against lawyer Dawn Report Saturday, 27 Mar, 2010 LAHORE, March 26: Judicial officers took to the streets on Friday in protest against slapping of a civil judge by a lawyer in Faisalabad earlier this week, highlighting tensions between the bench and the bar. The civil judges wearing black armbands marched from [...]

PM Gilani honours PPP tormentor Dawn Reporter Saturday, 27 Mar, 2010 ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani conferred the Nazria-i-Pakistan (posthumous) award on the late Lt-Gen Mujibur Rahman, one of Zia-era tormentors of the PPP. Gen Mujib was information secretary in the Zia regime and was accused of using his expertise in [...]

A quest for personal glory or strength of an institution? By Saeed Minhas ISLAMABAD: Preceded by kangaroo, jiyala and Dogar courts, the Chaudhry court is certainly the product of a months-long lawyers’ movement that shook not only the power corridors of the country, but also washed away several stigmas – such as the ‘doctrine of [...]

Nawaz wants CJ’s input in Rabbani panel’s proposals Tuesday, March 09, 2010 By Tariq Butt ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Quaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has urged Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to seek opinion and input of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the Raza Rabbani committee’s [...]

Iranians face terror threat in Pakistan KARACHI: The arrest of Jundullah chief Abdolmalek Rigi by the Iranian government has raised the risk of attacks on Iranian nationals and installations including the embassy and consulates in Pakistan, as the militant group might retaliate, Daily Times has learnt through sources privy to the matter. The [...]

Religious schools under scrutiny in Yemen Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010 TARIM: Malaysian student Mohamed Fatri Ben Kazrah flew half way round the world to fulfill his dream of studying Islam and Arabic at a Yemeni religious school. Ben Kazrah is one of hundreds of students from Asia and Africa in Tarim, a historic town acknowledged as the [...]

Unsung hero of lawyers’ movement parts way with judiciary By Saeed Minhas ISLAMABAD: An unsung hero of the landmark lawyers’ movement – former Civil Judge Saeed Khurshid – is busy finishing his LLM degree while practicing law in the federal capital these days, after resigning in August 2009 to register his protest against [...]

Ex-Gitmo detainee now a Taliban commander * US officials say 20% of released prisoners go back to Taliban LASHKAR GAH: A man who was freed from the Guantanamo Bay after he claimed he only wanted to go home and help his family is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to the US-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, two senior Afghan [...]

Saudi woman jailed for being without male guardian RIYADH: A Saudi woman is to be lashed 300 times and jailed for 18 months for filing complaints against court officials and appearing in court without a male guardian, a human rights group said on Wednesday. Sawsan Salim was convicted last month in a court in Rass, in Qassim province in the north, [...]

Shahbaz Sharif is ‘very rich’, but where did the money come from? By Shafiq Awan Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is the richest member of the Punjab Assembly, with multi-million pounds of foreign assets mentioned in his declared assets to the Election Commission of Pakistan. The question arises, why are foreign assets mentioned in [...]

SHO murdered in Quetta QUETTA: Unidentified men on Wednesday shot dead a police official near Bareech Market on Sarki Road in Quetta. According to police sources, attackers opened fire on station house officer Arif Ali Shah’s vehicle, injuring him. Rescuers tried to take him to a hospital, but he died on the way. His body was handed over to the [...]

A tale of Afghan women’s plight —by Miranda Husain The Patience Stone By Atiq Rahimi Other Press; Pp 160 Afghanistan, a nation still on fire, a nation still home to a centre-stage Taliban. An entity that still remains resoundingly more concrete than an outward manifestation of an inner descent into madness, despite its supposed [...]

Sir, the militants have multiplied —Sher Ali Khan The recent admission by Rana Sanaullah about his association with the banned militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) illuminates that Pakistan is a country where a nexus between politicians and militants is still active. Since only a few political parties have picked up on this issue, it [...]

Double standards of the Sharifs By Shafiq Awan Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is considered “Mr Neat and Clean” and wants the same kind of people around him, especially in the cabinet. That is why he has chosen his team very carefully without relying on any references or recommendations. Moreover, the moment he finds out about a [...]

As per the Charter, all PCO judges should be kicked out including the Islamofascist Chaudhry Iftikhar Appointment of judges: PPP, PML-N say goodbye to CoD By Amir Wasim and Ahmad Hassan Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010 ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-N have changed their stance on judges’ appointment agreed [...]

Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif: the Muhammad Shah Rangeela of  corruption in Pakistan Squeaky clean? Editorial PML-N president Nawaz Sharif made his usual high-flown remarks at a public rally for NA-123, an electoral hotbed for the impending by-election on March 10. What made his declarations stand out this time, however, were the apparent [...]

Source: The News, February 27, 2010 Jhang fears return of sectarian violence PML-N sees no harm in seeking banned outfit’s blessing By Khalid Hurral & Babar Dogar JHANG/LAHORE: A defunct sectarian organisation, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), is rearing its head again and its leader’s participation in an election rally in PP-82 [...]

Don’t Look Back March 1, 2010 The Taliban’s jihad, like rock and roll, has passed from youthful vigor into a maturity marked by the appearance of nostalgic memoirs. Back in the day, Abdul Salam Zaeef belonged to the search committee that recruited Mullah Omar as the movement’s commander; after the rebels took power in Kabul, he [...]

If you go to the NA-55 area of Rawalpindi these days, you will be struck by the billboards which show Sheikh Rashid with Benazir. The impression one will get is that Sheikh Rashid stands for Benazir. He, for his part, has let it be known that he has prayed at the site of Benazir’s martyrdom near Liaqat Bagh. The leadership of the Pakistan [...]

Omar Khattab in Islamabad Islamabad is afloat with rumors that the federal minister of finance Shaukat Tareen resign from his post because he did not agree with the Army high command to curb the every-increasing Army budget. Last year, just like every year, the Army took the lion’s share from the budget. The amount it got was 322 billion [...]

"Islam and Science Have Parted Ways" Middle East Quarterly Winter 2010, pp. 69-74 Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy (b. 1950) is one of South Asia's leading nuclear physicists and perhaps Pakistan's preeminent intellectual. Bearer of a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , he is chairman of the department of physics at Quaid-e-Azam [...]

By Omar Khattab in Lahore Last week Brigadier Hussain Abbas was killed by the Taliban in the Waziristan area. The newspapers wrote as usual about the “martyrdom” of an army officer at the hands of the “militants” and not the Taliban. But the electronic media was even more curt. The news anchors vaguely spoke about the martyrdom of [...]

By Omar Khattab in Lahore Yesterday Pakistan’s People’s Party once again gave evidence of its unflinching faith in democracy and peaceful co-existence. Despite the fact that egged on by the likes of Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and his fellow judges have been flouting one constitution provision after another, the [...]

By Omar Khattab in Islambad Yesterday (15 February 2010) all the judges of the Lahore High Court boycotted their own courts in condemnation of President Zardari’s assertion of his legal right of appointing Saqib Nisar as the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court and the elevation of the present Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Khawaja [...]

Women's disenfranchisement Election observers have reported that thousands of women from Lakki Marwat were denied their right to vote during Wednesday’s by-election for PF-75, which was also marked by procedural irregularities and illegal campaigning. Having visited the majority of polling stations, the Free and Fair Election Network [...]