Author: Mohammed Abbasi

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Ved Vaidik & Hafiz Saeed

Mohammed Abbasi

The Indian journalist Ved Vaidik has met Hafiz Saeed, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief, in Lahore on July 2 when the former was on a visit to Pakistan with a group of journalists and politicians invited by a peace and research institute. The interview/meeting has caused ripples in India because of Vaidik’s close association with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Opposition parties swamped the ruling BJP with questions about how an Indian journalist could meet a man considered responsible for the Mumbai attack in 2008. India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the Lok Sabha — the lower house of the Indian … Continue reading Ved Vaidik & Hafiz Saeed

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Future For Pakistani Football?

Mohammed Abbasi

For a third world country that is still relatively young, Pakistan has achieved notable glory in the field of sports. Over the years, it has produced world beaters in games like hockey, cricket, squash and snooker. It has even given birth to several world class athletes and quality tennis players. But when it comes to sporting success ‘the beautiful game’ remains Pakistan’s Achilles’ heel. Even as millions of Pakistanis join the rest of humanity to savour the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Brazil, they envy the 32 teams featuring in the quadrennial spectacle. The question many Pakistan fans inevitably ask … Continue reading Future For Pakistani Football?

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Welcoming Ramadān by Sheikh Salman al-Oadah

Mohammed Abbasi

    Welcome to the month of goodness and mercy, the month of repentance and forgiveness, the month of remembering Allah and reading the Qur’an. The arrival of Ramadān is a joyous occasion and a great blessing. So let’s welcome this generous month and this noble season.  The righteous believers cannot help but rejoice at the arrival of Ramadān. It is the month wherein they develop their piety and faith through the exercise of willpower and self-restraint.  How can we not rejoice when we recall the numerous blessings Allah has prepared for us, and how He will forgive us our … Continue reading Welcoming Ramadān by Sheikh Salman al-Oadah

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The US-Pakistan ties that bind

Mohammed Abbasi

No Exit from Pakistan: America’s Tortured Relationship with Islamabad by Daniel S Markey  As events unfolded in the this month’s audacious terror attack on Karachi International Airport, discussion in the Twitter space in Pakistan buzzed with hash tags like #Karachiairportattack, #ASF ,#raymonddavisnetwork and #dirtywars. This underlines the deep skepticism of many, if not all, in Pakistan about United States involvement in stoking creative chaos in the country.  So what does this mean for the future of Pakistan-US relations? Daniel S Markey’s latest volume on US-Pakistan relations attempts to answer exactly this difficult question.  Markey argues that Pakistan is potentially a hostile and … Continue reading The US-Pakistan ties that bind

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Iraq pays price of US sectarian meddling

Mohammed Abbasi

  “Labeiki ya Zaynab” chanted Iraqi Shi’ite fighters as they swayed, dancing with their rifles before TV news cameras in Baghdad on June 13. They were apparently getting ready for a difficult fight ahead. For them, it seemed that a suitable war chant would be answering the call of Zaynab, the daughter of Imam Ali, the great Muslim Caliph who lived in Medina 14 centuries ago. That was the period through which the Shi’ite sect slowly emerged, based on a political dispute whose consequences are still felt until this day.  That chant alone is enough to demonstrate the ugly sectarian … Continue reading Iraq pays price of US sectarian meddling

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Two Generations of Scottish Muslim Politicians – Bashir Maan and Humza Yousaf

Mohammed Abbasi

Originally posted on Journey into Europe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qySYW8hNxDo In Glasgow, the Journey into Europe team interviewed two distinguished Muslim politicians representing two different generations– Bashir Maan and Humza Yousaf. Mr. Bashir Maan, CBE, is a leading Scottish politician, businessman, judge, community worker and writer. In 1968 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for the City of Glasgow, the first Asian and Muslim Justice of the Peace in Scotland. 1970, he was the first Muslim to be elected to public office in the United Kingdom, serving as a Labour Party councillor for the Kingston ward of Glasgow. He is the author of the… Continue reading Two Generations of Scottish Muslim Politicians – Bashir Maan and Humza Yousaf

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Ending sexual violence

Mohammed Abbasi

Imagine witnessing a member of your family taken from your home by armed men andraped, or sold into sexual slavery, or imprisoned and tortured sexually. Imagine that happening to tens of thousands of other women, men and children in your country, for years on end, and living in that dangerous and traumatic environment. And imagine how you would feel if the rapists were allowed to walk free for the rest of their lives. This is the reality for millions of survivors of war zone sexual violence and the reason for our campaign. We came together because of our closeness to one … Continue reading Ending sexual violence

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Neo-Con Zombies Rise Again?

Mohammed Abbasi

Return of the living (neo-con) dead     Amid much hysteria, the notion has been widely peddled in the United States that President Obama’s “new” foreign policy doctrine, announced last week at West Point, rejects neo-cons and neo-liberals and is, essentially, post-imperialist and a demonstration of realpolitik.  Not so fast. Although stepping back from the excesses of the Cheney regime – as in bombing whole nations into “democracy” – the “desire to lead” still crystallizes might is right.  Moreover, “exceptionalism” remains the norm. Now not so blatant, but still implemented via a nasty set of tools, from financial warfare to cyber-war, … Continue reading Neo-Con Zombies Rise Again?

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China’s Silk-Road lessons for India

Mohammed Abbasi

By Tridivesh Singh Maini Over the past two decades, a number of efforts have been made to revive the “Silk Road”, the ancient trade route, which connected Europe with Central Asia and China over a distance of 7,000 kilometers. While in the early 1990s the European Commission put forward the idea of connecting Europe with Central Asia via a road-building initiative known as the International Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), the United States stepped in later in the decade, first with the aim of increasing its clout in Central Asia – as is evident from the Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999 – … Continue reading China’s Silk-Road lessons for India

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The Coming KHILAFAH?

Mohammed Abbasi

  The Inevitable Caliphate? A History of the Struggle for Global Islamic Union, 1924 to the Present  by Reza Pankhurst Reviewed by Mahan Abedin The subject of the Islamic caliphate elicits intense emotions and reactions. On the one hand Western elites have a propensity to reduce the subject to a debate on extremism and radicalization, and on the other they dismiss it altogether as an impractical dream pursued by eccentric ideologues. Even in academia the subject is often treated as an abstract idea – and by extension an unattainable goal – and consequently dismissed as undeserving of serious and sustained debate. It is … Continue reading The Coming KHILAFAH?