By Amber Rahim Shamsi // Share Printer Friendly Email Comments (13) In a dapper vest and suit, minus his trademark red hat, self-styled defense and strategic analyst Zaid Hamid holds forth on a news channel. It is a few days after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 and the Indians have been baying for Pakistan’s blood. Zaid Hamid: For a long time from the ‘Brass Tacks’ platform, we have been raising the issue of Indian Christians and their treatment, the abuse of Sikhs, the Dalit and Shudr — the untouchables — against whom the Hindu-Zionists have been running an intensive … Continue reading Will the real Zaid Hamid please stand up?

I will contest the next election: Musharraf By Express Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has unveiled his plans to return to active politics ISLAMABAD: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has unveiled his plans to return to active politics, saying that he will contest the next general election in Pakistan. Musharraf made the announced at a gathering of his supporters in Islamabad by teleconference. “I have decided to take part in Pakistan’s politics and I will contest the next elections, irrespective of whether they are mid-term or ends term elections,” he said in his brief address. A number of cases have … Continue reading Musharraf to contest the next election

Inside Pakistan’s adult film industry By Fawad Ali It’s late at night and the room is dimly lit. The walls are decorated with paintings, posters of sportsmen and some birthday cards. There is silence. A boy and a girl are sitting hand in hand. In due time, the boy starts playing with the girl’s hair. She walks away from him and he follows her to the edge of the bed. The girl looks coyly up at him and says, “Please don’t.” The moment of intimacy is broken as someone shouts, “Repeat.” The young couple has been shooting a scene for … Continue reading Pakistan’s adult film industry

VIEW: Legally unjust? —Andleeb Abbas Capacity building of the bureaucrats has become a lottery for most of the high-ranking officials where each one is going to prestigious universities like Harvard, Stanford and Princeton at exorbitant costs Position power holds fatal attraction. It creates insecurities and uncertainties that make a human being do all sorts of inhuman things. The never-ending saga of the government vs the judiciary has entered the same political fatigue that has beset nearly all other contentious issues. These endless political feuds lead to public disenchantment, making the common man indifferent to the consequences of this constant battle … Continue reading Position power holds fatal attraction

ANALYSIS: Youth and militancy —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi Friday sermons in a large number of mosques preach how the West is out to undermine the Muslims and the Islamic world. It is easy to get radical ideological inspiration in Pakistan because Islamic orthodoxy and militancy have seeped deep into Pakistan’s state system and society The failed bombing attempt in New York City has once again focused attention on Pakistan as an inspirational centre for Islamic radicalism and the vulnerability of young people of Pakistani origin to Islamic radicalism and militancy. There is no evidence available so far to suggest that the … Continue reading Time to deal with the hateful mullahs?

Book review: Murky murders —by Naeem Tahir Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face of Terrorism in India By S M Mushrif Pharos Media; Pp 319; $ 25 Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face of Terrorism in India, by S M Mushrif, the former IG police, Maharashtra, was first published in 2009. Since then a ‘Revised edition’ in 2009 and three more editions have already been published and the fourth edition is now being sent to the bookshops. The book has attracted unprecedented attention. The author has shared his long investigative observations with his readers. His findings are a source of … Continue reading Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face of Terrorism in India

dawn.com Accidents of history and geography have made Pakistan’s tribal belt a hotbed of Pakistani, Afghan and foreign militants. – (File Photo) World Pakistani Taliban behind failed New York attack: US Pakistani Taliban behind failed New York attack: US PESHAWAR: When Faisal Shahzad was arrested over the New York car bomb attempt, he joined a growing list of Western terror suspects inspired, trained or sponsored by extremists in Pakistan. The son of an affluent air force commander, Shahzad was brought up in Pakistan but educated in the United States, where he got a job, settled his young family into suburbia … Continue reading Pakistan – A nursery of modern jihad?

dawn.com Afghan women, victims of war, look on during a “victims’ jirga” (a meeting) in Kabul. Afghanistan, Sunday, May 9, 2010. – AP KABUL: Mothers of slain teenage sons, men wounded by mine blasts and tearful widows were among Afghans who spoke out Sunday at a conference billed as the first major gathering of victims of decades of war in their country. The so-called ”victims’ jirga” at a Kabul hotel brought together dozens of Afghans from across the country to build pressure on the government ahead of a national peace assembly called by President Hamid Karzai for later this month. … Continue reading Victims of violence speak out in Afghanistan

Smokers’ Corner: Honourable lies By Nadeem F. Paracha dawn.com “In the wake of Pakistan’s more aggressive involvement in the US-run ‘war on terror’, the narrative began being tampered with by talk show ‘guests’ — mainly from the Jamat-i-Islami, certain retired generals who still seem nostalgically stuck in the 1980s’ Afghan Jihad and the likes of Imran Khan.” After basking in the sudden spat of freedom provided during the early 2000s, private news channels emerged treading as close to ‘objectivity’ as possible — until they discovered the commercial wonders of what is called a political talk show. But it wasn’t until … Continue reading Honourable lies will destroy Pakistan 😦

Paths of terrorism lead but to Pakistan By Ardeshir Cowasjee dawn.com “Can some bright psychologist work out why Faisal Shahzad, a college graduate, son of a Pakistani air force officer, married with two children, was prompted to do what he did on May Day?” – Photo by AP. The adoption of terrorism tactics can no longer be merely attributed to ignorance, poverty, deprivation or hardship. Many of our neo-terrorists are schooled and brainwashed beings, with a grudge, or several grudges, imbued with bravado, intent on disrupting what is left of civilised life, with nary a care as to how many … Continue reading Pakistans Mullahs are the problem when they do not condemn terrorism