Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Blasphemy And "People are on streets"



Here is an ex-liberal member of treasury presenting resolution against Rudhie.

Pakistan's parliamentary affairs minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, who proposed the resolution, said the knighthood would "encourage people to commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad".


Government is in dire straits because of Chief Justice crisis and seems to play "holier than thou" to diffuse anger directed to itself, but it not likely to work.

Modernity, Generals and Ayatollahs




Finally a silver lining about political culture of Pakistan! Not sure how long it will last though. Sigh.

Pakistan’s saving grace lies in the democratic strain of its political culture which has made it possible for a work like Siddiqa’s to be published, marketed and debated at a scale never before seen in Pakistan before. This is a far cry from Iran, where it is inconceivable that a book exposing the economic empire of the ayatollahs could be published and circulated like Siddiqa’s book in Pakistan.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

New controls on media in Pakistan

Finally the emperor sheds his mask and roles back on his own boastings.


President Pervez Musharraf has signed into immediate effect measures to increase control over the media. Current regulations related to television have been extended to the internet and mobile phones. Some regulations on who is allowed to be licensed to broadcast in Pakistan have been extended to cover "any foreign non-governmental organisation".

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Let's not Politicize the Lethal Issues

Commando Sahib seems unwilling to "politicize" these lethal issues:


The current phase of Muslim thought is nihilistic, of tearing down without building, of creating disorder to oppose the order we don’t like because we think it is West-ordained. The tribal areas and increasingly parts of the NWFP are in the grip of this anarchy of our minds. The tragedy is that the state doesn’t know how to deal with this situation.