A matter of will By Nadeem F. Paracha “It seems every other middle-class person, young or old, has become an expert religious adviser.” Like most urban middle class folks these days, a friend of mine too has a habit of using the term Inshallah (God willing) a lot. So one day I asked him why is almost every sentence uttered by my fellow Pakistanis punctuated with an Inshallah? His reply was the usual: “So? What is wrong with using Inshallah?” “Absolutely nothing,” I said. “In fact I sometimes use it myself. But why do some of us use it constantly? … Continue reading False Arabistan or True Pakistan?

By Huma Yusuf This file photo taken on Sep. 26, 2008 shows fighters with Afghanistan’s Taliban militia standing on a hillside at Maydan Shahr in Wardak province. World powers supported President Karzai’s plan to woo moderate Taliban fighters who disarm, as it emerged that senior figures in the militia held secret talks with UN officials. – Photo by AFP. In the matter of reintegrating Taliban fighters into Afghan society, the question is no longer whether to talk or not. President Hamid Karzai has already invited the Taliban to a peace jirga and UN representatives reportedly met members of the Quetta … Continue reading Talks with the Taliban a realistic option?

View from US: If only it cared enough! By Anjum Niaz Somewhere up there is the PIA office, New York. – File Photo. “Thank you for calling PIA,” says an American (his accent is unmistakable) on the other side of the phone line followed by music. “Your call will be answered momentarily.” A few minutes later, the same voice rolls on, “We invite you to the land of majestic mountains, 5,000 year old rich heritage and culture. Assistance is only moments away.” More minutes pass and message #3 comes on “We know you’re holding and we’ve not forgotten about you. … Continue reading PIA – The worlds worst airline fit only for Mullahs

By Jonaid Iqbal A Frontier Corps paramilitary soldier swirls to provide a fitting climax to a Khattak dance performance during the Sarhad cultural festival at Lok Virsa here on Saturday. – Photos by Tanveer Shahzad ISLAMABAD: The message from the Sarhad Cultural Festival in the capital is that normalcy has returned to most parts of NWFP including Swat, said Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid as he listened to pounding drums and looked at the panorama of pavilions hawking ethnic tinsels and fabrics spun out of lamb wool. As Javed, a 22-year-old artist from Peshawar, strikes his stringed traditional musical … Continue reading ‘Sarhad festival reflects return of normalcy’ despite Mullah Atta ur Rehman

By Khurram Ali Shafique The shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. – APP (File Photo) Some people say that he fell in love, left home, became a phenomenon and came back to marry the woman who had been refused to him earlier. There is no way of knowing whether the career of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai of Sindh actually paralleled the Count of Monte Cristo so closely (and we need to be careful about apocryphal stories woven around the lives of great saints), but there are other testimonials to the warmth of the heart that throbbed in him. The most … Continue reading Bhittai: the visionary?

Police say the film shows young children being radicalised Counter-terrorism police say their discovery of a film of children being encouraged to hold guns is evidence of attempts to radicalise youngsters. The Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) in North West England revealed they found the film during a raid in Manchester. Officers say it shows two children, aged about three and six, playing with a pistol and a Kalashnikov rifle. Material seized separately included the advice: “No child is ever too young to be started off on Jihad training.” The footage, which police believe was filmed in Pakistan, was uncovered on … Continue reading UK Film seized ‘shows children being radicalised’