By Anjum Niaz “I don’t blame the Americans for being picky. They can’t afford to have crazy people from across the globe come in and try to bomb them. There’ll be more canine bomb-detection teams on domestic flights in the US.” – File Photo. God forbid if you came under the American radar as a ‘person of interest!’ While you won’t be dragged off to jail, you’d certainly have the CIA and FBI watch your every move. One slip and you could be in prison. And God forbid if the Americans declared your country a “country of interest”. Well, it … Continue reading View from US: ‘Country of interest’

By Hajrah Mumtaz While the ungodly in those days were Soviets, it is hardly surprising that the jihadi definition of ‘the enemy’ expanded over subsequent years and now appears to refer to practically everyone. — Photo by AFP Fostering a civilised society that is tolerant and open to self-examination is no easy task. As Mr Musharraf found to his consternation, ‘enlightened moderation’ is not a simple matter of telling a people that from now on, this is how they must behave. So the project to modernise Pakistan, to somehow convert this violent and perverse society into a peaceful and tolerant … Continue reading Reforming the unrepentant mullahs

Indian migrant workers stranded in Afghanistan eat lunch at a Sikh temple in Kabul, January 10, 2010. — Reuters KABUL: Dozens of Indian labourers have been forced to take refuge in Kabul’s Sikh temple after job agents who promised lucrative jobs in the unstable capital disappeared, leaving the men penniless and without passports. Billions of dollars in Western military contracts have turned Afghanistan — long a source of refugees fleeing chronic conflict — into an unlikely magnet for migrant workers willing to risk their lives for a more lucrative pay packet. Around 200 stranded men were crowded into the Karte … Continue reading Stranded Indian workers seek shelter in Afghan temple

By Nadeem F. Paracha ‘Can’t be us’, becomes the mantra. Has to be some Christians/ Jewish/ Hindu or other such ‘anti-Islam’ abomination. On the day of the devastating terrorist attack on the Ashura procession in Karachi, the MQM chief, Altaf Hussain, pleaded for a complete boycott of those political parties and personnel who he believed were supporting the Taliban. Leaders of other secular political parties such as the PPP and the ANP and members of the liberal intelligentsia too have been expressing their concerns about certain political and TV personalities who are said to be mouthing loud, sympathetic sentiments for … Continue reading Can’t be us, or can it?

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur The people see Gwadar’s so-called development and the VVIP fanfare as a move for further opening up Balochistan for permanent demographic changes and militarisation The luckless Gwadar is running through a gauntlet of lethal blows being delivered by dispensations of both the military and the elected, who only have eyes on the lucrative returns rather than the needs and aspirations of the people. It suffers from a chronic run of bad luck and there is very little hope of it ever prospering in these conditions. The government has a passion for inaugurating this port; the odds … Continue reading Luckless Gwadar

Andleeb Abbas As they say, a nation gets the leaders it deserves. As voters, either we are cynical and indifferent or do not believe that change can come and thus do not even bother to vote, or we are led away by the shallow declarations and staged actions of these leaders and choose them over and over again ‘Renewal’ has assumed strange meanings. In more sane terms when things get old due to ‘wear and tear’, they need a repair/renewal process to make them capable of meeting the requirements. However, as we witnessed last year, this concept has been turned … Continue reading Tear and wear – As they say, a nation gets the leaders it deserves

War march fanatic Anjem Choudary runs secret sharia ‘weddings’ By Abdul Taher Admission: Anjem Choudary says he has married more than 1,800 couples throughout Britain in less than ten years The Muslim extremist planning a march through Wootton Bassett runs a secret sharia court where he marries hundreds of couples – then tells them not to register their weddings. Anjem Choudary tells them that registering their marriages is forbidden in Islam, as it would be recognition of British law. But critics said he was leaving women open to abuse, as they could not go to a normal court to escape … Continue reading I am the last person to defend Anjem – but this story seems made up!