Tag: pakistan

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Tolerance for Terrorists?

Mohammed Abbasi

Tolerance is a fine thing. However, there are limits that any sane society must prescribe, and the presence of autonomous, unaccountable entities that in all likelihood present a danger to the lives of citizens and the security of the state cannot be tolerated. Recently reports have emerged that in the event that peace talks fail, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) allies at religious seminaries in and around the capital, Islamabad, are ready to support the terrorists and help attacks on the city. The TTP strategic aim of inculcating fear in people is well served by these reports. However, these fears are not … Continue reading Tolerance for Terrorists?

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Man of Pakistani descent appointed as UK’s culture minister

Mohammed Abbasi

Picture of Ali Azmat kissing a baby! AGENCIES Sajid Javid — File photo by Reuters   LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron appointed former banker Sajid Javid as the country’s new culture minister, replacing Maria Miller who resigned earlier on Wednesday over an expenses scandal. Javid has served since last year as financial secretary to the Treasury. Cameron said on Twitter that lawmaker Nicky Morgan will step up to the financial secretary post at the Treasury, key to the government’s relationship with the financial services industry, from her current role as economic secretary. Javid, the son of a Bristol bus … Continue reading Man of Pakistani descent appointed as UK’s culture minister

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Mullahs trying to ban laughter?

Mohammed Abbasi

Militants want ban on laughter, crying, says Chinese governor REUTERS The governor of China’s Xinjiang region. — Photo by Reuters   BEIJING: The governor of China’s restive region of Xinjiang wrote on Monday that Islamist militants were trying to ban laughter at weddings and crying at funerals, as he appealed to people to stamp out the “tumour” of extremism. Xinjiang has been beset by violence for years, blamed by the government on militants and separatists. Exiles and many rights groups say the real cause of the unrest is China’s heavy-handed policies, including curbs on Islam and the culture and language … Continue reading Mullahs trying to ban laughter?

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Change of guard at Mansoora

Mohammed Abbasi

  At a meeting on January 10, 1971, Syed Munawar Hasan, leading a pack of young turks, launched a frontal attack on Syed Abul Ala Maudoodi, the founder and ameer (chief) of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), blaming him for the party’s rout in the country’s first democratic elections. Because of his move, the JI was thrown into turmoil leading to Maudoodi’s resignation the following year.  Forty-three years later, as the Jamaat kicks out Munawar Hsasan from the office of ameer, he has defaced Maudoodi’s party, leaving it in a far worse shape than the founder had in 1972, not only in … Continue reading Change of guard at Mansoora

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The many shades of McWorld

Mohammed Abbasi

Some years ago, in response to a rather strong piece on US shenanigans in the Middle East, an American reader wrote back: “Why do you hate America?” As some of my perceptive readers might have already deduced, I get loads of fanmail in response to my weekly rants, especially from my own kind and most of it not most flattering. Yet the accusation ‘why do you hate America’ from an all-American white reader was a little disconcerting. For I do not see myself as an America phobe. The influence of American literature, Hollywood, culture and their collective glorification of ambition, excellence, grit and … Continue reading The many shades of McWorld

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Pakistan: Where Do You Want To Be In 25 Years Time?

Mohammed Abbasi

A nation going nowhere They burn public property and hurl stones at cars if there is reportedly blasphemous content on YouTube. They undertake processions, chant slogans and choke traffic, causing inconvenience to the public. Another injustice has been dispensed, this time to Sawan Masih. This is an addition to the history of Pakistan, which is already pregnant with such incidents where the weak and meek have been ground fine in the mill of so-called justice. Pakistan is a country where more than 70 percent of the people have been mentally debilitated, exploited by religious scholars and politicians. They can be steered in any … Continue reading Pakistan: Where Do You Want To Be In 25 Years Time?

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When the US leaves Afghanistan – what will happen?

Mohammed Abbasi

  Operation Enduring Freedom was launched in October, 2001 against Al-Qaeda and Taliban and within two months coalition forces had captured Kabul and Kandahar. The Taliban did not put up the expected resistance, instead fleeing to their villages and towns and a few over to Pakistan.  The US had not visualised the resurgence of the Taliban in the initial operational plan, so did not make any serious effort to secure the eastern and southern Pakhtun provinces of Afghanistan, the strongholds of the Taliban. By mid-2002 the US was confident of having secured Afghanistan and that Al-Qaeda was in Waziristan and Pakistan Army … Continue reading When the US leaves Afghanistan – what will happen?

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China’s regional strategy

Mohammed Abbasi

Dr Maleeha Lodhi At a recent conference in Europe I found a great deal of interest in Pakistan’s close and growing relations with China. Three sets of questions aroused much curiosity.One, how is this relationship evolving in a changing international environment? Two, where does Pakistan fit in with China’s ‘March West’, characterised as China’s effort to direct greater attention and resources to regions to its west and promote its vision of an economic corridor along the ancient Silk Road? And three, with the US troop drawdown looming in Afghanistan, how do Pakistan and China see their neighbour’s future at such a pivotal … Continue reading China’s regional strategy

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Pakistan/Iran – Souring diplomacy

Mohammed Abbasi

  Iran suspects its guards had been taken to the Pakistan border region and that the onus of rescuing them from their captors lies with Islamabad.  The reported killing of one of the five Iranian border guards abducted in the Sistan-Balochestan province of Iran last month has soured the mood in Tehran. Our western neighbor suspects its guards had been taken to the Pakistan border region and that the onus of rescuing them from their captors lies with Islamabad. While Pakistan swiftly condemned the kidnapping incident, and offered to act on any credible intelligence made available to it, its investigations so far have, … Continue reading Pakistan/Iran – Souring diplomacy

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Racism on the rise in India

Mohammed Abbasi

NEW DELHI – L Khino, 27, vividly remembers Christmas Eve at the Indian capital’s famed Connaught Place shopping hub four years ago: the blinking lights, the buzzing crowd, the winter chill – and the salty taste of her tears.  Khino had just arrived in New Delhi from her home in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. “I was so excited. But suddenly a group of men surrounded me. ‘How much do you charge for a night?’ they asked. I yelled, ‘Get away,’ but they pinched my cheek and touched my back,” she tells IPS.  Others giggled, some laughed aloud. A few … Continue reading Racism on the rise in India