HUM HINDUSTANI: Authoring another debate —J Sri Raman The state’s war on the Maoists, in fact, has served to focus attention on the subject. It has even made the elite media send out reporters to discover the mysterious eating habits of people in tribal terrain without discernible sources of normal food The proposition has held true for 13 long years now: come to India anytime, and you will find the country engaged in a furious debate over a female writer. This column is not about to take sides in the polemics raging currently over Arundhati Roy, but only to look … Continue reading Authoring another debate

VIEW: Silence or conditional condemnation —Dr Mahjabeen Islam Ours is a nation with many Joseph Goebbels. We rattle on in convoluted, minute details and in the effort to convince others, delude only ourselves, unfortunately so deeply that we lose the beginning of lies and the death of the truth Unstinted condemnation with no ifs, ands, or buts. That really is what live consciences do, but stretched by money, pulled by power, crushed for survival or encased in apathy, as a nation and an ummah, we are either mute or babbling. As though life and world politics were not tough enough, … Continue reading Mullahs silence over Time Square means consent

By Jawed Naqvi The gramophone record not only revolutionised but also crafted new social norms. –Online In the muggy heat of Delhi in April, I took a break from a high-profile people’s tribunal that was recording the harrowing stories of uprooted Adivasis, the native forest dwellers of Chhattisgarh, affected by a state-backed onslaught on the tribespeople’s lives and sources of livelihood. I found myself instead in the middle of a very rare exhibition about the rise and fall of a musical culture that was annihilated and deleted from our midst in the hurly-burly of India’s political independence. ‘Women on Record’, … Continue reading Caste and music

Former ISI official Colonel Imam. — File photo Pakistan Suspected US strike kills four in North Waziristan Suspected US strike kills four in North Waziristan ISLAMABAD: Former ISI official Colonel Imam and a British journalist of Pakistani origin Asad Qureshi were released on Thursday in North Waziristan by a militant group calling itself the Asian Tigers. The group belongs is believed to be operating in North Waziristan and kidnapped the two on March 26, 2010. Among the people abducted was former ISI official Khalid Khwaja, who was recently killed by the group. Khwaja’s body was found near a stream in … Continue reading Kidnappers free Colonel Imam, Asad Qureshi

by Nadeem F. Paracha On April 19, a Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) rally in Peshawar was attacked by a suicide bomber. The gruesome attack was allegedly engineered and undertaken by members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The irony is that the JI are one of the few mainstream political parties in the country that actually sympathise with the TTP, claiming that the terror group is fighting a war against “American imperialism” and against the Pakistani state’s “aggression” in the north-west of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. But the irony in this respect wasn’t a one-off. In early April, former ISI sleuth, Khalid Khawaja, was … Continue reading Of friends and fire – time for mullahism to die

dawn.com Pakistan TTP denies training Faisal Shahzad TTP denies training Faisal Shahzad SILVER SPRING, Maryland: Across from a counter serving up heaping plates of kabobs and curries, Zahid Hussain scrolled through his phone for messages from fellow Pakistani-Americans. The topic was hardly a surprise. “Pakistanis are afraid. When they see on television, ‘Pakistani terrorist in Times Square,’ they just want to hide their face,” Hussain said at a brightly lit Pakistani restaurant in suburban Washington. Hussain, who publishes a local Urdu-language newspaper, said he spoke with his school-age children after hearing that a Pakistani-American, Faisal Shahzad, was arrested in Saturday’s … Continue reading Faisal, an embarrassment for Pakistani-Americans

Mosaic of anarchy By I.A. Rehman dawn.com The way the government and the media treated the Sania–Shoaib marriage revealed Pakistan in a pathetic state. How does one justify a federal minister’s pilgrimage to India to crown a Pakistani who had done no more than what many others had done? –File Photo While much is being said about the elite’s perception of anarchy in Pakistan little attention is paid to events and images that constitute the mosaic of anarchy as seen by common citizens. It is the latter version of anarchy that is undermining the majority’s confidence in the state. The … Continue reading Auntie Anarchy!

Faisal Shahzad ‘carried out dry run’ before Times Square attack thetimes.co.uk The man accused of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in Times Square carried out a dry run days before the failed attack, it has been claimed. Faisal Shahzad, who is in custody in New York on terrorism and weapons charges, drove from his home in Connecticut to the theatre district on April 28 in the vehicle that days later he would pack with explosives, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. Mr Shahzad then returned on April 30 – the day before the attack – … Continue reading Next attack from ACME Terrorists?

Could Hollywood sign become hotel? By Mail Foreign Service The famed ‘Hollywood’ sign could become a hotel for the rich and famous if a Danish architect gets his way. The iconic sign, which towers over Los Angeles, was recently saved after a $900,000 donation from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. Sign of future times? How the famed Hollywood sign might look as hotel for the rich and famous Concealed: The hotel is hidden behind the lettering in Dane Christian Bay-Jorgensen design Glamour pad: How one of the courtyards would look in this computer-generated design The sign originally read ‘Hollywoodland’ when it … Continue reading HOLLYWOOD hotel?