Militancy in print —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad The media is the new way to exercise power. If you are a media baron enriched by cross-ownership laws, you have made it. However, even if you are only a reporter you get to exercise petty displays of power. Whether it is your local grocery store or the police check point, the press presses the power button “If three out of four pillars of a building are crooked and need reconstruction, then what conclusions can be drawn about the fourth one?” asks Mazhar Arif, director of the Society of Alternative Media and Research. This … Continue reading Militancy in print

Perish or rise —Dr Mahjabeen Islam There are only three things we need to do as a nation, however simplistic they sound: abolish feudalism, prosecute corruption and establish speedy justice. We have a choice as a nation: perish or rise like a phoenix from the ashes In collusion with Pakistan’s imbecile political leadership, plans for the balkanisation of Pakistan were going along as scripted until an unlikely interruption: floods of biblical proportions. Forces one to recall an almost wry verse in the Quran: wa yamkuruna wa yamkurullah wallaho khairul makireen — they plot and plan and Allah too plans; and … Continue reading Perish or rise

Pakistan accused of politicising flood efforts with ‘Benazirabad’ plan The government of Pakistan has been accused of hijacking relief efforts for political ends after it unveiled plans to name new towns built for flood victims “Benazirabad”, after the country’s former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto. Rob Crilly in Islamabad telegraph.co.uk Eight million people are still in desperate need of help, more than a month after torrential monsoon rains swept away roads, bridges and a million homes Photo: AP The proposal was discussed at a meeting of the Pakistan People’s Party chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the assassinated leader. … Continue reading Pakistan to change its name to Benazirstan!

India’s visa policy is affecting British businesses and universities The Foreign Office said it would oppose any proposal to single out Britons of Pakistani origin. Well, it’s no longer just a proposal Robert Wintemute guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 September 2010 14.00 BST Article history I recently drew attention to India’s new “David Headley visa rule”, which discriminates against British citizens of Pakistani origin on the sole ground of their “race, … descent, or national or ethnic origin”, contrary to the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (ratified by India in 1968). Invited by India’s TimesNow TV … Continue reading India’s visa policy needs to evolve

Harry Reid’s Anti-Islamic Agenda by: Stephen Zunes, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. (Photo: studio08denver) The moral bankruptcy of the Democratic Party could not be any more evident than in its continued support for Nevada Sen. Harry Reid as majority leader despite his decision to join the bigoted and Islamophobic campaign against the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center in New York, arguing that it “should be built somewhere else.” This was also an apparent effort to embarrass President Barack Obama – who, in a rare example of showing some spine in … Continue reading Harry Reid picks on American Muslims

VIEW: Power without responsibility —Lubna Ramay Pakistan is a poor country, with an illiterate majority. The electronic media, which is a force to reckon with today, has a certain role to play. Unbiased and objective reporting is the need of the hour. People who are already ignorant must not be fed with a diet laced heavily with prejudice and lies I remember reading this book titled Power Without Responsibility by James Curran and Jean Seaton way back in 1990. I was in Cardiff doing my post-graduation in journalism from the University of Wales. My professor Jeff Mungham, who taught editorial … Continue reading Power without responsibility

PENSIEVE: Trust the IMF —Farrukh Khan Pitafi I do not intend to suggest that the IMF is the best solution we have or that it has no flaws in its policies. Yet the problem is that the country needs the kind of money for reconstruction that we can hardly ever get from any other donor Terrible times require extreme measures but somehow Islamabad manages not to appreciate this reality. There is no harm in keeping one’s chin high and marching on in the hour of trouble. However, the gruesome realities of an unfortunate series of events should not be ignored … Continue reading Trust the IMF

COMMENT: Why martial laws go horribly wrong —Ikram Sehgal By the time Musharraf exited, the army’s name was in mud within the country, and outside. Where once the uniform was worn with pride, it became a target of public anger and scorn. Rumour had it that somehow the army’s image had to be reinstated in public eyes The atrocious mob lynching incident in Sialkot, with the police present as conniving bystanders, and the despicable cricket ‘spot fixing’ incident, alleging the involvement (among others) of one of our new young bowling heroes, shocked the country and deepened the pervasive national depression … Continue reading Why martial laws go horribly wrong