The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, told the leaders of the Muslim League that the Government of Great Britain would not tolerate negative politics. This view was conveyed to the Muslim League Working Committee through Sir Sikander Hayat. Therefore, various sub-committees started preparing a concrete plan of action. The Viceroy wrote to the Secretary of State for India that Choudhry Khaliquzzaman had suggested to Lumley, the Governor of Bombay, that India should be divided into three dominions. It seems that Khaliquzzaman wanted to create one dominion each for Hindus, Muslims, and Rulers of Princely States. The Governor of North West Frontier Province, Sir George Cunningham, wrote to the Viceroy that upon his return from the Muslim League Convention, Sardar Aurangzeb reported to him: “The scheme which they...

On 12 February, two parallel conglomerations held in the port city of Karachi. At one venue, the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) was taking place. According to press reports, many Indian publishers were invited to participate in the festival. Also many works by Indian writers were there. At the KLF, who’s who of Pakistani literature were struggling to find out ways to turn their country into safe heavens for liberals and weed out enemies of their country. Of course, like many other Pakistanis, they too were accused of...

In 2011, India leading media production company UTV was gobbled by US media giant, Walt Disney. In 1996, ironically, UTV was contacted initially by Disney to dub its products into Indian languages. Being I in the BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, China], India is eyed by global media conglomerates as world’s third largest market (Kohli 2003:68, Sinha 2006:7). State television was launched in India, on experimental basis, in 1959.

The UN has just revealed staggering figures. Despite promises to the contrary, in one year, the production of Afghan heroin has increased by 61 %. Before the US and NATO intervention which began in 2001, the official figures were 185 tons a year (a symbolic figure as everyone knows that illicit production fuelled both Taliban and assorted warlords, included the much glorified Massoud). Today, it is estimated at 5 800 tons (not accounting for the unofficial quantities) ! Hardly a success story for the coalition or the Afghan government. This is not to say that Mullah...

Abdul Wahab Baloch is afraid to talk on the phone. In 2008, he was picked up by security agencies after leading a rally through Karachi protesting the 10^th anniversary of Chagai-I - the notorious underground nuclear tests that polluted a Baloch district to serve Pakistan’s national security interest. After a post-rally search for a friend[i] ended in a brutal three-day torture fest involving baggings, beatings and injections, Wahab is convinced that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is tapping his phone to keep an eye on his movements. Carefully surveilling where he is, who he is with, and what he is saying. Another manifestation, says Wahab, of the oppressive...

The creation of Bangladesh was solely the result of an Indian conspiracy. 9/11 was a Jewish conspiracy. The death of Osama Bin Laden was faked by the CIA. The current unrest in Baluchistan is again an Indian conspiracy. These are common clichés in our society and one finds highly qualified people talking about conspiracies being hatched, particularly against Islam and the Muslims of the world. It appears that the entire world in the West and in the East is doing nothing but engaged in some kind of conspiracy against...

Sarbaland Shah is a young educated man who works for an IT firm in Lahore. Despite his education and impressive expertise in information technology, he believes strongly that America is behind all the ills of Muslims all over the world. For him, Osama Bin Laden (OBL) is a hero who can never be captured or killed by the United States or anyone else. This belief has also been strengthened by his Pir who thinks OBL possesses an unbelievable power, real or spiritual, to overcome his enemies. The news that OBL...

Journalist, professor and writer Anatol Lieven talking to Dawn.com during the Karachi Literature Festival 2012. Lieven, author of a widely acclaimed book “Pakistan: A hard country,” says Pakistan is not an enemy of the West and it cannot be called a ‘failed state.’[1] A state of Pakistan that is not an enemy of the West is not necessarily a functioning state. A state that fails its citizens is a failed state. A state that is unable to protect its citizens from external and or internal threats is a failed state. The perception that Nero fiddled while Rome was burning did not paint Nero a good statesman. It may make him cultured and sophisticated. He is still perceived having failed...

The paper aims to highlight the process in which the institution of parliament evolved in Pakistan. The paper will mark various developments in regard to the building of parliament. Moreover the formation and structure of the parliament as well as the distribution of the seats according to various criteria would also be examined. How the parliament did affect the political system in the form of legislation and how parliament helped in generating the governmental and political leadership of the country will also be clarified. The historical method has been used to ...

The religious, militant and sectarian organizations are having a field day. Led by Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat ud Dawa, they are holding big rallies across Pakistan. Prominent among those who are attending are some retired military figures. Maulana Fazlur Rehman has delivered fiery oration in Karachi and is now eyeing Islamabad, keen to have a large audience there as well. Barelvi organisations are mobilising and the Sunni Tehrik which has been at daggers drawn with the MQM is moulding itself into a political party. The whole country continues to be in doldrums due to power shortages, but this did not stop the celebrations of Eid Milad un Nabi, with electric power stolen with the help of illegal hooks on the main lines. On display are also giant posters of the Barelvi leaders...

About two weeks back, the newspaper Dawn published a shocking report on widespread and systematic sexual harassment being committed in the International Islamic University, Islamabad against several female students and subordinates. An economics professor and librarian traded sexual favors for higher marks, and resorted to threats if the young women refused. Sahabzada Sajidur Rehman, acting President of the university, confirmed that lately a professor and librarian quit the institution after being accused of rape...

Dear daughters af the Mutahidda nation, rejoice. Yours was the biggest jalsa in the history of Jinnahpur. It has been certified by the Guiness Book of World Records and the London Metropolitan Police who have confirmed the size of the jalsa and the innocence of your birruther. It was the only feature in the bilessed Port City which could be seen from the outer ispace, ipart from the Defense Housing Society and the Amreekan Embassy.

Naach is a Sanskrit word, which was also used in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and other languages afterwards.   According to the Hindu believe Naach is one of the various disguises of Hindu God Shiva. Shiva is also deemed as the king of dance. It is also believed that Ganesha used to play mridangam as Shiva danced. According to Hindu faith there were some occasions when Shiva wanted to dance but Ganesha was unavailable to play mridangam, so Shiva himself played Dumroo and danced simultaneously. Apart from religious believes...