Living in the Respectorate

by Irfan Husain on September 6, 2011

TRULY, we live in strange times. Of late, a spate of odd, purportedly Islamic injunctions have landed in my inbox. Let me start with the oddest: in Somalia, the group of jihadi terrorists calling themselves al-Shabab have banned the humble samosa.

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Accept responsibility and resign

by admin on May 7, 2011

J-21 calls for the Pakistan army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and ISI chief, General Shuja Pasha,  to accept responsibility for incompetence (or complicity) and resign. How did Osama bin Laden live within walking distance of Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad and the army not know about it? A question Pakistan will find very difficult to answer. ISI was clearly either hosting the most wanted man in the world or was unaware of his whereabouts. It was a case either of complicity or reckless incompetence. Either one is a good enough reason to resign!

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Not Your Estate, Shahbaz Sharif

March 29, 2011

Punjab’s chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, has announced 25 acres of fertile Pakistani land to each member of Pakistan cricket squad if they win against India in the semi-final clash on March 30. Where will this land come from? Will it be awarded from Sharif’s personal estate? If not, then it must come from public or [...]

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Mr. Zardari, please stand up!

January 14, 2011

Pakistan government’s lack of condemnation for Salman Tasser’s murder is disappointing to say the least. The government has deemed the environment too volatile to take a strong stand. At a time when the country needed leadership, it got spineless political expediency. This cowering to the religious extreme shows a lack of vision and a clear [...]

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Analysing Pakistan’s DNA

January 3, 2011

AS Pakistan lurches into yet another political crisis, we risk overlooking two important recent developments in the feverish speculation about in-house change now dominating a section of the media. The first is the decision by the Federal Shariat Court to strike down some provisions of the Women’s Protection Act of 2006. The second is the [...]

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The Taliban as the Borg

May 16, 2009

I, for one, watched enthralled as the Nasa space shuttle blasted off on Monday to rendezvous with the orbiting Hubble telescope to repair and upgrade the ageing deep space imaging platform. Those who wish to see stunning images from the outer edge of the universe can log on to www.hubblesite.org. Without making any apologies, let [...]

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How Lincoln’s Words Apply

May 5, 2009

AS a democratic Pakistan looks for solid ground to stand on, it faces unprecedented threats to its existence. Years of military rule and an ideology based solely on insecurity has left the nation grappling with an identity crisis which has created a vacuum for despotic forces such as the Taliban to fill.

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The Mumbai Massacres And Pakistan’s New Nightmares

December 15, 2008

An Interview With Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy is chairman of the physics department at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. This interview was conducted by Cristina Otten for FOCUS (Germany) and may be found on-line. Tensions between Pakistan and India have been growing after the Mumbai attacks. Are we close to a military escalation? In [...]

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Symbolism of Peace

December 11, 2008

Pakistan’s response to Mumbai’s terrorist attacks has been mixed. Whereas government has expressed its horror and has given assurances to crack down on any Pakistani elements involved in the shootings, media has responded in a more defensive manner. Indian government’s response on the whole has been mature, even though it was disappointing to see fingers [...]

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Open Season on Minorities

December 3, 2008

LOVE for one’s country comes in different forms. At one extreme is the American patriot who pronounced: “My country, right or wrong!” At the other is the saying: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” I personally tend towards the latter view. When those ruling the country say or do something I disagree with, [...]

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