Bazm-e-Iqbal: Save Pakistan from Pakistanis

Political response to Ahmadi massacre in Pakistan - bigotry at its worst

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:48:00 +0000

The Islam that is my religion seeks to establish such a society where all citizens of the state enjoy equal rights and religion does not become the basis for any discrimination. Religious teachers who taught Islam to me in my childhood taught me that Islamic law holds both Muslims and non-Muslims equal and no superiority or privilege is given to the Muslims on any ground. That the Islamic state...

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Gaza Aid Flotilla Massacre - join Amnesty International asking for an independent enquiry

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Minimum we can do to is to join our voices and record our protest against the Israeli massacre of aid workers heading toward Gaza. At least ten activists protesting the blockade on the Gaza strip have been killed by Israeli forces. The activists were on a flotilla of ships carrying aid to the Gaza strip in defiance of the blockade. Israel says its forces acted in self-defence but the level of...

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Moral dilemas of Pakistani politics: Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan prefers corruption over nepotism

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Speaking at an election rally in Muzaffargarh district Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani proudly stated that he has chosen Mr Jamshed Dasti, a known felon, over his own brother to stand as his party's candidate in the forthcoming elections. His statement comes "while setting honesty and fair play as criteria for public officeholders, the Supreme Court on Wednesday declared that all those candidates...

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Who kidnapped Colonel Imam?

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:12:00 +0000

It has makings of a script for a Hollywood movie but since the main character hails from Pakistan and has been an operative of the much loved Inter Services Intelligence Agency of Pakistan, this might not become a reality. I got interested in this story in February reading the Times Online piece about retired Brigadier Amir Sultan Tarar, well known as Colonel Imam. The article gave credit to...

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Full text of Report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:41:00 +0000

Having spent millions of Pounds (that Pakistan doesn't have) and over two years late Pakistan is now abuzz with findings (or lack of) in the report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The report is a catalogue of incompetence of law enforcement personnel and agencies, callousness of ruling Junta at the time, and ineptness of those responsible for...

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Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa - what the fuss is all about

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

I have been watching with bemusement the rumpus in the political circles in Pakistan caused by discussions around renaming of the North West Frontier Province - a name which does not represent anything other then a effigy of the British Raj in India. Right wing media in Pakistan, including my personal favourite daily newspaper Nawa-e-Waqt that I grew up reading has been up in arms at the thought...

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Are Pakistan's nuclear weapons safe from the Americans?

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:02:00 +0000

Speaking to the New York Times President Obama has confirmed that he is confident that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is safe from Al-Qaeeda. Q. When you came to office, President Bush had just spent five years working with the Pakistanis to try to secure their weapons. I think we spent about $100 million on a U.S. program to help them go do that. My impression, covering the Bush administration,...

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America's home grown terrorists - and they are not muslims

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:30:00 +0000

"Jesus wanted us to be ready to defend ourselves using the sword and stay alive using equipment." This is a statement on the website associated with a Michigan-based group, known as the Hutaree. The site also contained hate-filled rhetoric about minorities in the US. Washington Post reports that US law enforcement authorities have brought charges against nine members of this armed militia group,...

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Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan responds

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:45:00 +0000

On Friday 2 April I wrote "Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan defies diplomatic decorum and aligns with Labour Party in the UK" commenting on High Commissioner's address at a Liberal Democrat fund raising dinner in Manchester. High Commissioner has responded to this blog post in the comments section of that article. I would like to retain my journalistic integrity by not letting his...

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Baluchistan - the forgotten province

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:00:00 +0000

For a majority of Pakistanis living outside the province of Baluchistan the insurgency in Baluchistan is a long long way away from home. For many it is a ploy to black mail the federal government used by Baloch feudal lords to benefit personally from the natural gas reserves in the province that provide an energy life line to rest of the country. For some it is supported and run by India's RAW...

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Looking for an Indian Mandella: Water, Kashmir and a nuclear war

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Kashmir is now not the only reason for a nuclear war in the Subcontinent - new reason is water. For more than sixty years Pakistan has maintained that Kashmir is its jugular vein and Indian control on it can kill the country. The statement is becoming a reality now by Indian construction of hydro power dams in the disputed region thus controlling water flow to the rivers that feed the...

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Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan defies diplomatic decorum and aligns with Labour Party in the UK

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pakistan's High Commissioner in the UK is not a man known for mincing words when speaking his mind, with the exception, of course, of occasions when he is having to defend his lord and master president Zardari of Pakistan. Early this week he decided to deviate from diplomatic protocols and advised the British voters of Pakistani origin in Manchester, in no uncertain terms,...

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Pakistan army in Swat: a shovel in one hand and a gun in the other

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:43:00 +0000

Writing for Washington Post, Karin Brulliard writes Of 401 schools bombed by militants or left dilapidated, half have been rebuilt. But it was the military, not the government, that rebuilt them while also providing temporary tents for other schools. By some estimates, the army has carried out 90 percent of the building and rebuilding projectsBut all of this should be delivered by the civilian...

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Terrorists do not have favourites, they have targets.

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:03:00 +0000

After the spate of bomb explosions in Lahore the Iron Man Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif is apparently found making a plea to Taliban to spare Punjab as they go about choosing targets to kill and maim. His argument is that since the Pakistan Muslim League the ruling political party in the Province stood in opposition to General Musharraf's regime which was taking dictation from...

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A calculated, studied revolution is needed to change things and save Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:13:00 +0000

Pakistan is now at a critical make-or-break stage, and if the system does not undergo a major overhaul, I am afraid that the country may even break up. Given the current conditions, it will take nothing short of a calculated, studied revolution to change things and save Pakistan.These are words of Abdul Sattar Edhi, the face of charity in Pakistan. Is anyone listening?For this and other articles...

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Women in Punjab Pakistan are now safer because men don't need their permission for Polygamy

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:31:00 +0000

Two pieces of legislation from provincial assembly of Punjab should be enough to prove that you do not need a religious fundamentalist in power to run a Taliban style dumb government. A female member parliament has recently had the honour to bring about a resolution to release Muslim men in Punjab province from the shackles of having to seek a formal agreement from wife number 1, 2 or 3 to marry...

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Muhammad Asad - remembering a forgotten Pakistani

noreply@blogger.com (Anwar Ahmad) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:17:00 +0000

It was 18 years ago, on 20th February 1992, that one of the greatest Muslim scholars of the 20th century, Muhammad Asad passed away. He was the most prominent rationalist (Mu'atzillah) scholar of the 20th century. His major contribution to Islamic literature is his translation of the Qur'an into English, one of the most readable one that is famous for its chaste language. I wouldn’t write...

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The Hijaab - a matter of choice or religious compulsion

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:45:00 +0000

In response to an article on this blog by Aisha Alvi "The Hijaab: 20 years on" a reader posted a comment attempting an intellectual discourse on whether the Hijaab is a matter of personal choice or religious compulsion on Muslim women - a view promoted by western media and traditional religious establishment across the Islamic world alike. I personally could not let their views hide among the...

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The Hijaab: 20 Years On?

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:48:00 +0000

By Aisha Alvi Over the last 10 years, the British Muslim community has endured and witnessed the toughest decade since the post-war period when mass migration of Muslims to Britain took place. Unlike our elders whose self-segregation from mainstream British society was a defensive reaction to racism, second and third generation Muslims have been under attack for their faith. By God’s Grace, as...

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There is only one Khan in India this week and that is Shah Rukh

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0000

I am neither a fan of Bollywood movies, nor a follower. But I am going to cinema this weekend to watch latest movie by Shah Rukh Khan "My name is Khan". This is not because I have suddenly developed an interest in Bollywood. It will be because I stand against fundamentalism in all its forms. Whether it is Islamic fundamentalism Taliban style in North of Pakistan or Hindu fundamentalism in South...

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Karzai and his conscripts

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:30:00 +0000

The fashion model president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai wants to bring in conscription to the war torn country to make the Afghan army large enough for him to manage the country beyond Kabul (the presidential palace really). He wants a 300,000 strong Afghan army by 2012 so that his security is "no longer a burden on the shoulders of the international community". It is public knowledge that...

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"The Other side" - Generation Jihad

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:30:00 +0000

When a decent and mature presenter like Bill Turnbull refers to the Muslims in the UK as "the Other side" it makes me stop and think. He used the phrase in an interview with Peter Taylor this morning on BBC breakfast while promoting a documentary called Generation Jihad that is to be aired on BBC2 on 08 February at 9:00 pm. Asking Peter Taylor about the making of this documentary Bill asks "so...

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Pakistan's democratic government follows China's suit in attempting to curb free speech on the Internet

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:30:00 +0000

I believe that president Zardari has reached the end of his tether watching commoners in Pakistan having a laugh at his expense. His recent outburst asking his minions who were not keen to listen to his speech to "Shut up" was in full media glare and has been one of the most watched short video clips on You Tube. Like many other dumb moves to censor free speech the government decided to use the...

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Discovering God through SMS and eMail - a new passion in Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Munafiq ki Nishaanian (signs of the hypocrite) – Jhoot bolna (telling lies); Wa’da khilafi karna (breaking promises); Khiyanat karma (stealing); Gaali dayna (swearing). On the surface if seemed like the SMS was introductory section of resume for our erstwhile President Zardari. But this was the text of an SMS message that prompted Nadeem F. Paracha to write this tongue in cheek...

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Time for a pact with the devil

noreply@blogger.com (Chaudhry Javed Iqbal) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:03:00 +0000

In order to run a polio vaccination campaign in Afghanistan and to stay alive while doing so who's permission and protection you need? Health workers in Afghanistan feel safer carrying a piece of paper, a letter of introduction from Mullah Omar, leader of Afghan Taliban who has been in hiding since the US invasion of Afghanistan. Apparently a copy of a piece of paper with Mullah Omar's signature...

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