Wherever you look the army
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A letter to the ISI
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Fascist ideology of an efficient army
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Pakistan’s Military Economy
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‘Military's predation is an institutional feature’
| Adnan Farooq | INTERVIEW |
A dissident’s job is always fraught with dangers. In case of Pakistan, the risks involved in criticizing all-powerful Khakis and their proxy Taliban hardly need an elucidation. Still, dissident voices keep tormenting military establishment. Ayesha Siddiqa is one such ‘tormenter’. In an interview with Viewpoint, she candidly exposes the Khaki myths painstakingly built by indoctrinating outlets. Read on:
Haitian lessons for flood-hit Pakistan
| John Reimann | EXCLUSIVE |
Within days of the Haitian earthquake, the US military seized control of the principle airport at Port-au-Prince . They used this control to bring in the troops rather than relief supplies. This was because the Haitian state had collapsed (literally) while the Haitian working class had a long left tradition. In the eyes of US and world capitalism, this left a danger of a workers’ movement developing in response and even seizing real power.
Pakistan: not a safe haven for anti-Taliban
| Farhat Taj | OPINION |
The ordeal of the late Kamal Mahsud, a well-known singer from Waziristan, and his family is a case in point. Mahsud went on singing despite threats passed by Taliban. He was ordered to give up his singing. He died in January 2010 in a fire that mysteriously gutted his house. His family believes it was a case of target killing carried out by Taliban in collaboration with elements in khakis. The Mehsud family pinpoints Inter Services Public Relations, or ISPR, in this regard.
Axe falls on women rights as crisis deepens in Iran
| Sholeh Irani | ANALYSIS |
The growing chasm between conflicting factions of ruling clique has induced a change in regime’s tactics to handle the deepening crisis. Serious efforts are underway to avert the likely collapse of regime threatened by a growing dissatisfaction among citizens and a likely foreign military intervention. All this is happening as Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is losing support among his own backers. He has been criticized directly and indirectly by different sections of the Iranian establishment for his public statement with regard to the talks with Washington. He has been accused of US leanings.
English; endangered indigenous languages in Pakistan
| Muhammad Banaras | COMMENTARY |
Pakistan is a multilingual society with at least six major languages and 59 minor ones. The most prominent languages include Urdu, English, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Brahvi, Seraiki, Hindko, Sheena, and Balti, Khawar and Kashmiri and many other minor languages are spoken in the country with great linguistic diversity. In the given multi-lingual environment of Pakistan, the major dilemma is the extinction of small regional languages due to the lack of commitment on the part of the government. UNESCO has said that many of the 27 languages, spoken in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and the country’s northern parts may be extinct with the passage of time.
Whose fault is it anyway?
| Abu Usama | COMMENT |
The culture of religious intolerance has penetrated so deep into our social fabric that its repercussions are being felt globally and there appears to be no immediate resolution. But in order to tackle the problem, it must be seen in its historical context.
I was a young boy in early 1960s, living in a small peaceful city then called Montgomery (now Sahiwal). I’d no idea how many of my classmates were Shias and how many were from any other sect. Our friendship was above our sects and beliefs. Our parents never imposed any restrictions either with regards to our choice of friends.
Raise your hands if you are surprised?
| Ahsan Awan | DEBATE |
My grand dad has been a supporter of Pakistan Cricket Team for the last 50 year but after the latest spot fixing saga he has clearly instructed family members not to mention the word “cricket” in front of him ever again. In short the latest match fixing saga has seen Pakistanis gone beyond anger and embarrassment. In a stunning expose, British tabloid News of the World carried out a sting operation against alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed. Experienced under cover reporter for the tabloid Mr. Mazher Mahmood posed as a member of a Far East gambling cartel looking to make a few quick bucks approached Mazhar Majeed to help set them in the cricket betting world.
River bears my wedding palanquin
| Faiz Ahmed Faiz |
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In 1974, Pakistan was inundated by flash floods. Moved by the havoc wrought by deluge, Faiz Ahmed Faiz composed a touching Punjabi poem. Written in the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry, the poet assumes the voice of a woman to narrate the tragedy. Read on:
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