By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – The twin suicide attacks on Thursday on the shrine of a Sufi saint in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in which more than 40 people were killed and nearly 200 injured will most likely force the government to reluctantly take action against Punjabi militants while also derailing Washington’s efforts to open dialogue with the Taliban through Pakistan. The attacks in the capital of Punjab province – also known as the country’s cultural capital – took place in the late evening, with the first bombing in the basement reserved for ablutions followed a few … Continue reading Peace sacrificed in shrine attack

Sex scandal rocks Iraqi’s Shi’ites By IWPR-trained reporters BAGHDAD – A top-level Shi’ite cleric has been defrocked over sexually explicit videos posted on the Internet that have outraged devout communities across Iraq and tarnished the image of the sect’s highest religious body. Munaf Hamdan Naji al-Mosawi, a close aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for 11 years, has gone into hiding after intimate footage apparently recorded on his mobile phone ended up in the hands of neighbors, who marched to his home in Amara to demand the return of their religious donations, according to Institute for War and Peace Reporting … Continue reading Top Mullah in Sex Scandal!

The creeping coup By Kamran Shafi Men mourn the death of a relative at a hospital in Lahore, following suicide bomb attacks at the Data Ganj Bakhsh. –AFP Photo As I sit listening to possibly the greatest song — ‘Alif Allah Chambey Di Booty’ by the incomparable Arif Lohar, and the remarkable Meesha Shafi — to come out of the Land of the Pure for many, many years, especially after the passing away of the great (and unlamented in this barren desert of a country) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and start to write this piece, with tears in my eyes … Continue reading Satanic Mullahs and Pakistan

A date with death Scientists are getting closer to predicting the date – and cause – of our deaths. But would you want to know? Open thread guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 15.15 BST Article history US scientists have developed a genetic test that would help to predict a person’s chances of reaching the age of 100. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty ImagesIt may sound like the stuff of horror movies and spooky fortune tellers, but predicting the date of someone’s death seems to be drawing ever closer to becoming scientific reality. Last week, US scientists developed a genetic test that would … Continue reading Predicting death

British Muslims after 7/7 Ordinary Muslims have been stigmatised en masse since the 2005 bombings by parts of the media and government policies Murtaza Shibli guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 14.01 BST Article history A Muslim woman attends an Islamophobia rally organised by a coalition of moderate Muslim groups. Photograph: Cathal Mcnaughton/PAAmid the pain and anguish of the London bombings, one significant narrative was lost – that of British Muslims. They became victims, both of the terrorists and of overzealous sections of the media, which accepted the terrorists’ definitions of Islam and imposed them blindly on Muslim communities living in … Continue reading British Muslims after 7/7

Bombings brought out best of Leeds In Leeds – the home city of the 7 July bombers – the crisis cut through ethnic and religious barriers John Battle guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 16.33 BST Article history Hundreds had to be evacuated from Burley following the discovery of a bomb factory after the 7 July bombings in London. Photograph: Dan Chung for the GuardianIt was an early-hours call to me in my flat in London from the home secretary informing me that those who had bombed London two weeks earlier on 7 July were from Leeds that raised fears of … Continue reading 7/7 Bombings brought out best of Leeds

Somaliland: small country, big election result Somaliland will improve its chances of recognition if it assists international efforts to bring peace to Somalia guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 19.00 BST Article history In Africa this past week a completely peaceful presidential election was held. International observers said it met all the western standards for a free election. What’s more, the incumbent president fully accepted the result the minute it was announced and handed over power to his successor and bitter political rival – and on accepting his victory, the president-elect thanked and congratulated the outgoing president for his services to … Continue reading Somaliland – needs recognition?

Why is Birmingham’s CCTV scheme ‘unlawful’? Liberty believes the Project Champion CCTV scheme in Birmingham is not only wrong, but unlawful in its implementation Corinna Ferguson guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 12.00 BST Article history Liberty believes the CCTV scheme in Birmingham targetting Muslim areas is unlawful. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the GuardianAlarmbells asks: “At a public meeting in Birmingham [this week] West Midlands police apologised to angry residents after hundreds of surveillance cameras were installed in residential areas of the city. Shami Chakrabarti, who spoke at the meeting, said the scheme was not only wrong but ‘unlawful’. Why are … Continue reading Birmingham’s CCTV scheme ‘unlawful’ – here is why?

VIEW: Nationalism: inclusive versus exclusive — II —Ishtiaq Ahmed When the Hindu members of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly expressed their worries about ‘sovereignty over the entire universe belonging to God’, Liaquat Ali Khan assured them that a Muslim state should have no problem in having a non-Muslim as prime minister. However, this was not true Jinnah wanted to establish a Muslim-majority state, but not a Muslim-majoritarian state that would privilege Muslims over non-Muslims in their status and rights as citizens; hence he spoke of Pakistani nationalism and not Muslim nationalism when on August 11, 1947 he addressed the Pakistan Constituent … Continue reading Nationalism: inclusive versus exclusive

VIEW: Save the city —Sobia Ahmad Kaker With a shift towards targeting markets, minority religious gatherings and culturally significant places, the Taliban are essentially attempting to subdue the very essence of urban life. In contemporary urban studies, such forms of political violence that target the built environment and the way of life characteristic of that environment is coined as ‘urbicide’ Urban public spaces around which people interact symbolise city life. Markets, parks, mosques and shrines, cultural and commercial buildings create activities that generate structures around which people interact and coexist. These public spaces thus increase social exchange and eventually help … Continue reading Save the city