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Posts published in “Pak Media comment”

Is history irrelevant: Anwer Mooraj in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2015.

There was a time, not too long ago, when a local TV channel hosted a competition in which a number of schools participated. Usually two took part at a time. It was an exciting event… full of tension and anxiety. The audience was made up of students from the two educational institutions that had come to cheer their envoys. I don’t think the organisers were looking for potential rocket scientists… just the pick of the…

The first Pakistani: by Nadeem F. Paracha in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 12th, 2015

Ever since the early 1970s, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), has been frequently organising ‘Yaum Babul Islam’ — an event in which the party celebrates the conquest of Sindh by Arab commander Mohammad Bin Qasim (in the 8th century CE), explaining it as the ‘advent of Islam in South Asia’. Speakers at this event also describe Qasim as the ‘first Pakistani’ and then trace and place the creation of Pakistan to the arrival of the Arab commander…

On Bilawal’s behalf: edit in Dawn, April 12th, 2015.

IT is good to know that at least someone from the Bhutto Zardari household wants to and is allowed to pursue business and agriculture rather than politics as a career. But even as we learn, on the authority of a person no less than her father, that young Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari has chosen to stay away from politics, the focus remains on the future plans of her brother Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Former president Asif Zardari…

Taxing The Parliament: edit in The Nation, April 12th, 2015.

The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) recent strategy is openly disclosing the names of the parliamentarians and their exact tax returns seems to be effective, the public attention has forced them to be more forthcoming, and as a result the amount of revenue collected has increased by 88%, compared to the last fiscal year. While the immediate strategy and its result are commendable, it does pose questions for the FBR when it comes to their…

Imran’s big political risk: by Malik Muhammad Ashraf in The News, Apr 11, 2015

The writer is a freelance contributor. The movement launched by Imran and Qadri, ostensibly to topple the PML-N government had all the trappings of a conspiracy if revelations made by General Aslam Mirza, Javed Hashmi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s brother are to be believed. The architects of the movement chose to challenge the entire outcome of the 2013 general elections and assigned this role to Imran Khan, while Qadri was encouraged to rub in the…

LUMS under pressure: EDITORIAL in Dawn, April 11th, 2015 AN event scheduled at LUMS had to be cancelled at the last minute “on order from the government”, according to the university’s official statement. The event was a panel discussion on Balochistan and one of the speakers was Mama Qadeer, who came to prominence when he led a march from Quetta to Islamabad to protest the brutal disappearances of Baloch youth that is the hallmark of the counterinsurgency the security forces are waging in the province. Mama Qadeer’s own son is amongst the disappeared. The “order from the government” was personally delivered by an officer of the security services to the acting dean of the programme that hosted the talk, and had been preceded by attempts from officers at the interior ministry to reach the LUMS management. It is totally unacceptable for the government, and more specifically the security agencies, to pressure an academic institution to cancel an event. Universities are curators of the educational process whose sanctity must be defended against all attempts to place curbs on it. But it is also important to note that the decision to cancel the event was made by LUMS. While such pressure being exerted on institutions by the security establishment is not unknown, there is no obligation to act “on order from the government” — perhaps even less so if such orders come from the security services. In fact, LUMS would have been well within its rights to have insisted that such orders be routed through the proper channels, whatever they may be. The subject of the planned discussion was no doubt an important one, but the organisers ought to have known that the event they were planning could spark such a reaction from the security agencies. It is unfortunate that in this case, LUMS was unable to demonstrate the independence that should ideally be a feature of every centre of learning. The question remains whether such sensitive events should be planned at all if a university is not capable of dealing with their fallout. In fact, buckling under pressure might have done more damage than good to the cause of justice for Balochistan’s disappeared.http://www.dawn.com/news/1175151/lums-under-pressure

LUMS under pressure: EDITORIAL in Dawn, April 11th, 2015 AN event scheduled at LUMS had to be cancelled at the last minute “on order from the government”, according to the university’s official statement. The event was a panel discussion on Balochistan and one of the speakers was Mama Qadeer, who came to prominence when he led a march from Quetta to Islamabad to protest the brutal disappearances of Baloch youth that is the hallmark of…

The politics of change: Editorial in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2015

The visit of Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan-Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), on April 9 to Karachi was brief and chaotic, but in hindsight may be seen as something of a watershed in the politics of the city. His visit was in support of the PTI candidate, Imran Ismail, who is contesting from the NA-246 (Karachi-VIII) by-election being held on April 23. There is a sense that the political sands in Karachi may be shifting, and the…

The Zardari Stability Strategy :edit in The Nation, April 11th, 2015.

PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has stated at a press conference that Bilawal was undergoing training in London, and would enter politics gradually because of security risks. Well, if Altaf Hussain can rule from London, Bilawal can surely be trained away from home. But where and what is home for people like Bilawal who have lived a protected life abroad. For the PPP, the boy is just the last chance for Bhuttoism to survive, else…

Return and reaction: BY ASHA’AR REHMAN in Dawn, April 10th, 2015

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore. IMRAN Khan has completed an embarrassing trek back to the National Assembly. He stands yet again exposed for his twists and turns — his habitual U-turns, as the PML-N members call it. All his vows about meeting his one-point agenda, that of dislodging Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have come to naught. There are questions which Mr Khan would be hard-pressed to answer satisfactorily and which invariably lead…

Better late than never; Editorial in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2015.

The formation of a judicial commission to investigate the allegations of systematic and organised rigging of the 2013 elections is both overdue and welcome. The commission will investigate the claims by Imran Khan of the PTI that the results were falsified in favour of the PML-N. The PML-N has of course stoutly denied this, and the commission is going to have to move very fast indeed if it is to complete its task within 45…

PTI arrives ; Editorial in The News,April 10th, 2015.

Karachi may have been a bit tense as Imran Khan visited the city and held a rally in Karimabad, the heart of the NA-246 constituency where the PTI takes on the MQM on April 23. But as the day came to a close the fear of violence breaking out during the rally was dissipated. Even though a brief scuffle took place near Jinnah Ground, it was quickly sorted out after the intervention of MQM chief…