Zubair Torwali We have no choice other than to make our democratic institutions strong enough to lead the country further. Ironically, a number of politicians too are busy in maligning the democratic government. In spite of all these odds, this government needs to complete its tenure That democracy has suffered long in this country is a bitter truth. It must now be given a chance. The crooks in the infamous establishment never want it to flourish in Pakistan. Here I would again repeat the common saying that the worst democracy is always better than the finest dictatorship. Today we see … Continue reading Challenges to the democratic government in Pakistan?

Munir Attaullah A government must undeniably be of the people and for the people. Sure, a government that pays no heed to the voice of the awam risks losing the next elections. But until that time, that government, and not the awam, should be allowed to govern Three score and three years ago our fathers, under the undisputed leadership of Mr Jinnah, brought forth in this subcontinent a new nation, conceived as a homeland for Muslims, but also dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, and should be treated as such by the state. Lest there be … Continue reading Idle political musings

By Irfan Husain Both Javed Miandad and Mohammed Yousuf have blamed the T20 format for the deterioration in our Test team. But other countries play both types of the game without seeming to suffer any ill-effects. – Photo by AP. Despite all the material progress mankind has made, our gullibility when it comes to superstition never ceases to amaze me. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the Roman ruler famously ignores the warning to “beware the Ides of March”, and is assassinated. But before his death, ‘strange portents’ are seen in the sky. However, as Cassius tells his friend Brutus: “The fault, … Continue reading What the stars foretell for Pakistani cricket

By Anwar Iqbal The US is offering $100 million to set up the fund to lure Taliban fighters to join the political mainstream.—File photo WASHINGTON: The United States and its allies are expected to set up a $500 million integration fund at a conference in London this week to lure Taliban fighters to join the political mainstream. “We are going to go to London to affirm our international support for it,” said US special envoy Richard Holbrooke. “Money will be forthcoming for it. I can’t say how much. The Japanese are going to take the lead.” In an interview to … Continue reading US, allies plan $500m fund to woo Taliban

By Zubeida Mustafa The fact is that in our society women’s issues continue to be used as pawns by politicians in their power games. –Photo by Eefa Khalid/ Dawn.com Hats off to the women who lobbied for the two bills on sexual harassment, and managed last week to move them a step further towards becoming the law. At long last the ruling coalition partners mustered enough courage to take a stand on women’s rights in this matter. At one stage the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill and the Criminal Law Amendment Bill had appeared to be … Continue reading Women’s bills revisited – Pakistani women must have equal rights regardless of Mullahs

By Syed Irfan Raza It has been an old practice of Mr Zardari to offer Sadqa (animal sacrifice). He has been doing this for a long time: Farhatullah Babar.—File photo ISLAMABAD: A black goat is slaughtered almost daily to ward off ‘evil eyes’ and protect President Asif Ali Zardari from ‘black magic’. Does this, and the use of camel and goat milk, make the beleaguered president appear to be a superstitious man? Well, not to his spokesman. “It has been an old practice of Mr Zardari to offer Sadqa (animal sacrifice). He has been doing this for a long time,” … Continue reading Goats sacrificed ‘to ward off evil eyes’ – Mullah Diesel sacrified would be better!

The days of banking self-rule are over – Davos policymakers must make tough choices on regulation and rewards Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk, The mood in Davos is more cheerful this year. That’s hardly a surprise since the world economy was having a near-death experience a year ago. Industrial production was collapsing and world trade contracting at rates similar to those in the early 1930s. Instead of a Great Depression we have had what economists and policy makers are calling the Great Recession; it has been tough but swift action has prevented the worst from happening. That sense was reflected in a … Continue reading 2010 is a key year for Davos when it needs to come of age

The lives of a Nazi collaborator and a woman who helped to hide Anne Frank illuminate the history of the Holocaust Efraim Zuroff guardian.co.uk, Friend in need: in this 1998 photograph, Miep Gies displays a copy of her book Anne Frank Remembered at her apartment in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Gies, who helped the teenage diarist’s family hide from the Nazis, died Monday 11 January 2010, aged 100. Photograph: Steve North/AP Earlier this month, on 11 January, two individuals whose lives were bound up with the story of the Holocaust died. One was male, the other female. The former was born and … Continue reading Two lives and the Holocaust

Did you think Zoolander was just a funny film about the fashion industry? Really? It is, I’ll have you know, all true Hadley Freeman The Guardian Ben Stiller in Zoolander, the glorious 2001 comedy about the fashion industry. Photograph: MELINDA SUE GORDON/AP For far, far too long the glorious 2001 film Zoolander has been dismissed as a mere comedy about the fashion industry, featuring Owen Wilson wearing a set of ­angel wings. An important contribution to culture, clearly, but not life-changing. But, I tell you, my hand humbly pressed to my chest, I have ­always known otherwise. Zoolander Production year: … Continue reading The amazing truth about Zoolander

Mohandas Gandhi held India back when it came to women’s rights – and his own behaviour around them could be bizarre Michael Connellan guardian.co.uk, Mohandas Gandhi, whose death anniversary falls on Saturday, was an amazing human being. He led his country to freedom and helped destroy the British Empire. Little wonder India worshipped him, and still worships him, as the Mahatma – “Great Soul”. In the west he is viewed as a near-perfect combination of compassion, bravery and wisdom. But Gandhi was also a puritan and a misogynist who helped ensure that India remains one of the most sexually repressed … Continue reading Women suffer from Gandhi’s legacy