French burqa debate is a smokescreen The Islamic burqa is being used by Sarkozy and his cronies as a distraction from the real issue of allegations of state corruption Nabila Ramdani guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 July 2010 14.30 BST Article history Wearers of the burqa or niqab in France can expect a fine of €150 if the bill is passed and approved by the senate. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersYou may except the impassioned rhetoric surrounding France’s so-called “burqa ban” to come from the women who actually wear them, but in fact it’s mainstream politicians who are making all the noise. President Nicolas … Continue reading The Islamic burqa is being used by Sarkozy and his cronies as a distraction from the real issue of allegations of state corruption

The death of activism We’ve plenty to protest about in the US, but on the streets there is no dissent. Why is our liberal mood so paralytic? Clancy Sigal guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 July 2010 13.30 BST Article history Community organiser and Chicagoan Saul Alinsky, circa 1946: ‘I love this goddamn country, and we’re going to take it back.’ Photograph: Myron Davis/Time & Life/GettyIn my middle-class neighbourhood, you can organise people around dog-walking exchanges, the crimewatch duty roster, mutual baby-sitting, earthquake preparedness and dire household emergencies. But even the most liberal-minded among us seem totally spooked by the currently toxic idea … Continue reading The death of activism

VIEW: Recognising Taliban narratives —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad The Taliban are very intelligently shaping the narrative and we are falling in line, so to speak. What is a Punjabi Taliban? Or for that matter a Pakhtun one? It is being turned into an ethnic fight based on narrow understandings and considerations of provincialism Public relations officers have a rule that they live by. The rule is that if you cannot change the facts, change the glasses through which those facts are read and seen. The Pakistani Taliban are masters at this. After Rehman Baba’s mausoleum, they strike Data Darbar, which is … Continue reading The Taliban are very intelligently shaping the narrative and we are falling in line

COMMENT: Withdrawing from the web? —Zaair Hussain So long as we continue to wear our emotions on our sleeves, we remain in a state of wretched vulnerability: a word hurled like a stone across oceans can shatter our normalcy and switch off the entire nation like a light going out in the glittering globe Online censorship is a zombie issue, a shambling and soulless monstrosity sustained indefinitely by dark energies when, by any rational trajectory, it should have long succumbed to the cold embrace of eternity. I find myself reluctantly grappling with an issue I thought inconsequential in the harsh … Continue reading Withdrawing from reality?

VIEW: Patriarchy the hijacker —Dr Mahjabeen Islam Testosterone-infused patriarchs have knowingly and unconsciously vilified Islam and misinterpreted it to satisfy their virginity-obsessed lusts. Either we accept promiscuity in our wives, daughters and daughters-in-law or work toward the simple standard of gender equity, spiritual and physical modesty Patriarchy is the worst hijacker of Islam, right up there with terrorism. And to think that a simple partition in a woman’s anatomy could be the real or imagined basis for horrific acts of violence is difficult to accept. The Muslim male’s obsession with virginity, and by extrapolation chastity, plays out in conflict at … Continue reading Patriarchy the hijacker of Islam

Punjab govt’s inaction against militants irks GHQ By Baqir Sajjad Syed dawn.com At least 37 people were killed in an attack on Data Darbar shrine, Lahore. — AFP Provinces Shahbaz for foolproof security at shrines, worship places Shahbaz for foolproof security at shrines, worship places ISLAMABAD: While public attention has been focused on the political barbs flying between Islamabad and Lahore, behind the scenes the Pakistan Muslim League-N has earned itself a new and very powerful adversary thanks to its inaction against the ‘Punjabi Taliban’ — the Pakistan Army. It is now evident that the Punjab government led by the … Continue reading Punjab inaction against mullahs irks Army

Let’s negotiate by Nadeem F. Paracha Due to the demands of a majority of Pakistanis and leaders like Shahbaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Munawar Hussain and other such groovy people, the Pakistan government has signed a peace agreement with the Taliban in Waziristan and South Punjab. The peace deal comes after several rounds of negotiations and many glasses of orange juice. The major points of the agreement are as follows: – Strict and puritanical LBW Laws would be imposed in the Swat and Waziristan cricket league. – The government and the Taliban will exchange prisoners and gifts – the government will … Continue reading Let’s negotiate with the Mullahs

VIEW: China’s growing role in South Asia —Abhishek Parajuli China moved as early as the 1960s to clear border disputes with Nepal, often to Nepal’s advantage. The goodwill this earned is clear from the fact that in 2008 Nepal sought Chinese help in settling its disputes with India In February 2010, Vikas Bajaj wrote in the New York Times that China’s expanding sphere of influence could “eventually” undermine India’s pre-eminence in South Asia. I disagree. It already has. India’s ‘soft power’ is much touted. It is supposedly a counter-weight to Chinese influence. While such talk is comforting to Sinophobes, to … Continue reading China’s and South Asia

COMMENT: Terrorism and SAARC —Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan Terrorism has been identified as the most serious challenge facing the countries of South Asia and its elimination is now top priority, but SAARC still lacks a common counter-terrorism strategy Pakistan was host to the SAARC interior ministers’ conference in Islamabad last week. The conference is one of the regional mechanisms established by SAARC to fight against terrorism in South Asia through the cooperative efforts of its member countries. The hallmark of the conference was the presence of Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was the first senior Indian union minister to … Continue reading Terrorism and SAARC