baithak

Pablo Picasso

2009-11-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

Charter for Compassion

2009-11-23T17:35:00.002-05:00

About the Project

The Charter for Compassion is the result of Karen Armstrong’s 2008 TED Prize wish and made possible by the generous support of the Fetzer Institute. It will be unveiled to the world on November 12, 2009.

Why a Charter for Compassion?

The Charter of Compassion is a cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking but, more importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life. Compassion is the principled determination to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, and lies at the heart of all religious and ethical systems. One of the most urgent tasks of our generation is to build a global community where men and women of all races, nations and ideologies can live together in peace. In our globalized world, everybody has become our neighbor, and the Golden Rule has become an urgent necessity.

The Charter, crafted by people all over the world and drafted by a multi-fath, multi-national council of thinkers and leaders, seeks to change the conversation so that compassion becomes a key word in public and private discourse, making it clear that any ideology that breeds hatred or contempt ~ be it religious or secular ~ has failed the test of our time. It is not simply a statement of principle; it is above all a summons to creative, practical and sustained action to meet the political, moral, religious, social and cultural problems of our time.

We invite each of you to adopt the charter as your own, to make a lifelong commitment to live with compassion..

More on this here.
[thanks YA]

Asif Ezdi, Awami Tehreek, Anjum NIaz, Shaheen Sehbai, Mr. Why Khan

2009-11-23T02:26:00.000-05:00

Photographs from Seven Years with the Roma - What began as a short visit to Hungary finished seven years later with a prize-winning book documenting the lives of the Roma people, from India to Eastern Europe. The photos are now on display in Germany. And with Berlin planning to repatriate up to 10,000 Roma, they are more than just pretty pictures.

Asif Ezdi - Gilani should also order investigations into the Islamabad land deal scandal and the Agosta kickback affair in which Zardari has been implicated. An investigation is not a ‘criminal proceeding’ covered by the constitutional immunity of the president. If Zardari is really innocent, as he claims, then he has nothing to fear and should welcome the opportunity to clear his name.

Awami Tehreek’s long march concludes - The 46-day long march started by the Awami Tehreek (AT) on October 8 from Kandhkot culminated in Karachi on Sunday with a huge gathering on Zaibunissa Street, where speakers delivered fiery speeches criticizing the government and the United States.

Anjum Niaz - ‘If Musharraf was to go down south (exit),’ Hersh said four years ago, ‘there’ll be a traffic jam! There’ll be the CIA, Mossad and RAW jumping in to grab your nuclear facilities. It will be a free-for-all. The ISI and the Pakhtoons are terribly concerned.’ Earlier, he alleged in a November 2001 New Yorker article that Al Qaida was founded at a 1988 meeting in Peshawar. He quoted a former Pakistani diplomat who said, ‘If you go through the officers’ list, almost all of the ISI regulars would say of the Taliban, ‘They are my boys.’’ - I pressed on with my questions on Pakistan’s security issues vis-à-vis Iran and India. How would a nearly nuclear armed Iran react if India and Pakistan were to go to war? In his typical New York accent, he answered, ‘Iran is not making nuclear weapons. It’s Israel you should be worrying about. With 600 nukes bristling under its arm, Tel Aviv is the greatest threat to the regional security. Other than Pakistan, there’s no Muslim country with a bomb.’

Shaheen Sehbai As a starter Gilani can slash his cabinet and remove all the tainted NRO hit ministers, advisers and ambassadors. In one go, he will boost his image and credibility and deliver a fatal blow to the one-man style of governance that has led the PPP into a corner in just two years. The PM should then move with super speed to get the 17th Amendment repealed, get the competent and popular PPP leaders back into the party fold, take Mian Nawaz Sharif and others on board, even in his cabinet, as in the early days of the coalition. Get a political consensus on major issues, start a dialogue with moderates in the ranks of militants and then lead the country with a focus on ending the miseries of the poor harassed masses and crushing the militancy. True to form Mr Sehbai mentions not a word about the millions Gilani's wife gained from the NRO --millions? yes to the tune of 570 million according to some reports ~ t

When have you heard or read Mr. Khan about his role in the why-why-why he is so fond of asking? ~~t

Tobias Kobsch

2009-11-23T01:00:00.000-05:00

poetry: tweems - tweet-poems

2009-11-22T13:05:00.002-05:00

rajsathan
she pulled her palloo
across her face
and handed him his lunch
the smile on his face
spelled love
in the mid noon sun

wailing
unresolved
irreconcilable
mushrooming fault-lines
raining all over
turning walls
into wailing ones

such
kisay dhoond rahay ho?
such ko
woh busy hay
busy?
haaN - bridge tournament
oh
such khuda ka partner hay
oh achcha

truth
searching for something?
yes, Truth
Truth is busy
busy?
yes, playing bridge
oh!
Truth is God's partner
oh, ok

persiflage
so much can be revealed
how much, she asked
way too much but not all
you are mischievous
believe that at your peril

tou maiN kya karooN
suraj ki roshni
barish ki cheentaiN
kisi ki muskurahat
kisi ki bakwas
sub per barabar girti haiN

musing
sunlight
raindrops
captivating smile
idle chatter
are so democratic

irony
it is shutters down late
kiya karaiN?
we can only
make love, surf
or sleep

and if you have a twitter account

@temporal3/tweems-tweet-poems

An accused Plotter,

2009-11-22T03:30:00.004-05:00

An accused Plotter,

Today, Mr. Headley is an Islamic fundamentalist who once liked to get high. He has a traditional Pakistani wife, who lives with their children in Chicago, but also an American girlfriend, a makeup artist in New York, according to a relative and friends. Depending on the setting, he alternates between the name he adopted in the United States, David Headley, and the Urdu one he was given at birth, Daood Gilani. Even his eyes — one brown, the other green — hint that he has roots in two places. An Accused Plotter With Feet in East and West

If you spot a mistake in above contact Barclay Walsh;)

Reporting was contributed by Puk Damsgard in Islamabad, Pakistan; Emma Graves Fitzsimmons in Chicago; Nate Schweber and John Eligon in New York; and Ian Austen in Ottawa. Research was contributed by Barclay Walsh in Washington.

20 Weird, Crazy Ideas for Helping the Earth

Morocco bound

On the 10th anniversary of Paul Bowles's death, Paul Theroux remembers Paul Bowles, the writer and traveller who set him on his way

Karzai Cartel: Uh, Sure, We’ll Clean Up Corruption!

Note: Derrick Crowe is the Afghanistan blog fellow for Brave New Foundation / The Seminal. You know what’s funny? Hamid Karzai, Electioneer-in-Chief, stood between these two guys, Mohammed Qasim Fahim and Karim Khalili to declare [h/t and photo credit, Wired's Danger Room blog]: Those who spread corruption should be tried and prosecuted. Corruption is a very [...]

Roy Lichtenstein

2009-11-22T01:00:00.000-05:00

Sixty Hours of Terror: “It’s Do or Die”, The Elephant, Oprah, Occupied Palestine, Iraq, Rajasthan, Faux News, Karzai, Rove's Memory Loss,Paul Krugman

2009-11-21T03:29:00.005-05:00

Sixty Hours of Terror: “It’s Do or Die” - By Jason Motlagh - Editor’s Note—This is part two of a four-part series [1, 2, 3, 4] on the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The elephant in India and Iran's room - Try as India and Iran may to halt the downward slide in their relations, cooperation in the all-important energy sector remains stuck in a rut. Negotiations between the two countries during the recent visit of Iran's foreign minister made "good progress", though apprehension over drawing American ire ultimately stands in India's way. - Sudha Ramachandran

Oprah's Most Memorable TV Moments (PHOTOS) - By The Huffington Post News Editors
Oprah's Friday announcement that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" — which began in 1985 — will end its run in the fall of 2011 will bring to a close one of television's most legendary shows.
Below, we've compiled 12 of the most memorable "Oprah" show moments. Vote on your favorites.

Bantustans and the unilateral declaration of statehood - From a rumor, to a rising murmur, the proposal floated by the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Ramallah leadership to declare Palestinian statehood unilaterally has suddenly hit center stage. It's no exaggeration to propose that this idea, although well-meant by some, raises the clearest danger to the Palestinian national movement in its entire history, threatening to wall Palestinian aspirations into a political cul-de-sac from which it may never emerge. Virginia Tilley comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Iraqi elections thrown off track - Vice President Tarek al-Hashemi, by using his veto to block an important election law, has thrown Iraq once again into political crisis. Parliament will have to try to sort out the mess the Sunni politician has made if elections are to go ahead in January. The scheduled draw-down of United States troops is also now in doubt. - Sami Moubayed

Book review: A Palestinian century in a poet's life - My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness bills itself as "A Poet's Life in the Palestinian Century." To better understand Adina Hoffman's biography of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, however, consider it: "A Palestinian Century in a Poet's Life." But this syntactical slip doesn't discredit Hoffman's work. By deftly stacking shattered recollections atop dusty stones of history Hoffman has built a literary landmark -- not only is My Happiness the first English-language biography of a Palestinian writer, it offers an evocative biography of pre-1948 Palestine. Mya Guarnieri reviews for The Electronic Intifada.

World" href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/travel/22hours.html" target=_blank>36 Hours in Rajasthan, India - By By KABIR CHIBBER on Rajasthan (India)
The country is modernizing rapidly, sometimes too fast, but this spectacular old region endures, evoking rulers with giant mustaches and spectacular forts and palaces.

Fox News' year in apologies: fake videos, false info, cutting and pasting from GOP - By E.H.H.
On November 19, co-host Jane Skinner apologized for Happening Now "mistakenly" airing a fake video of Sarah Palin's book tour "crowds." This was not the first time Fox News has apologized for airing fake videos and false information.

World" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/world/asia/19mumbai.html" target=_blank>Ex-Military Officer in Pakistan Is Linked to 2 Chicago Terrorism Suspects - By By DAVID JOHNSTON and ERIC SCHMITT on Lashkar-e-Taiba - Federal authorities have long suspected connections between extremists and many members of the Pakistani military.

Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot" - By Chris Arsenault interviews MALALAI JOYA, author and Afghan parliamentarian
VANCOUVER, Canada, Nov 20 (IPS) - In the aftermath of national elections widely condemned as fraudulent, the United States and its allies are wondering what to do about Afghanistan.

Rove memory loss: Op-ed accuses Obama of "unusual" use of Friday news dumps - By D.C.P.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, former Bush official Karl Rove criticized the "degree" to which the Obama administration has released "news on contentious issues late on Friday," adding that "such tactics ... can look disingenuous if they undercut public debate on substantive policy changes"; later on Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade cited Rove's column and asserted that the administration's use of this tactic means it did not have to "confront the questioners." In fact, the Bush administration made numerous substantial and often controversial announcements on Fridays, including news about the Abu Ghraib scandal and a report related to the Pentagon's military analyst program.

Paull Krugman - So here’s the real tragedy of the botched bailout: Government officials, perhaps influenced by spending too much time with bankers, forgot that if you want to govern effectively you have retain the trust of the people. And by treating the financial industry — which got us into this mess in the first place — with kid gloves, they have squandered that trust.

The Ugly American in Isloo, Myths of the electronic media —Imran Kureshi, Heroine from Waziristan —Rafia Zakaria, Gideon Polya, Babar Sattar, Arif Niz

2009-11-21T02:02:00.005-05:00

Myths of the electronic media —Imran Kureshi Political programmes on our television channels are probably the only political institution here noisier than the Assemblies. The fiction they present is better than the soap operas, leaving the viewer on the edge of his seat waiting for the next episode; the crises they cook up have more ingredients than the cookery shows; the superheroes and villains they create are more imaginative than the cartoons and like the advertisements, they are bent on ‘selling’ their political agendas. Following are some myths that our anchormen seem to project again and again:

Heroine from Waziristan —Rafia Zakaria - Maria Toor Pakay, Pakistan’s 19-year old emerging squash star challenged every stereotype regarding the potential of her fellow tribeswomen who languish in tents awaiting aid. Young, determined and undeterred by the unceasing pressures of patriarchy, Toor is beginning to compete in squash championships nationally and abroad

We Are Running Out Of Time To Save Humanity And The Biosphere - By Dr Gideon Polya Humanity and the Biosphere (the ecosystems and species of the Planet) are acutely threatened by man-made global warming. However ignorant or corporate-funded climate denialism, the effective climate denialism of insufficiently responsive First World politicians and the growing enormity of what needs to be done lead scientists to say that it is probably too late to stop a climate catastrophe

Read the following along with news reports [Mullah Omar now in Karachi: WT] that suggest ISI moved Mullah Omar to Karachi to save him from the drone attacks ~t

Babar Sattar - If our criminal justice system lacks the ability to punish terrorists, insurgents and criminals, are we not rendering the concept of rule of law meaningless? We have seen Maulvi Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid walk free despite public knowledge that under his supervision the mosque was turned into an armed fortress, and the Lal-Masjid brigade not only harassed residents and shopkeepers in the neighbourhood but also killed at least five soldiers. Similarly, we continue to hear the demand from India and the US to prosecute Hafiz Saeed, and while the government seems willing to do so, it is unable to bring any formal charges that stick. If Hafiz Saeed is mixed-up in terror plots, he must be prosecuted and convicted. If he is not, his name should be cleared and he should not repeatedly be put under preventive detention merely due to allegations and pressure by foreign countries.

Arif Nizami - Next November is the deadline not only for the US but for Pakistan as well. This is the time when General Kayani will retire. A few weeks before him the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, General Tariq Majeed will retire. Earlier in March the same year, ISI chief Lt General Shuja Pasha will also retire. General Kayani could be offered a one-year extension but, in all likelihood, he will be loath to accept it. How this will play on civilian military relations and the war on terror is not hard to guess.

The Ugly American in Isloo - A friend has said something that has made me sit up and take notice. He said: “When the security situation deteriorates in a country, embassies close their doors and evacuate their non-essential personnel. The exact opposite is the case with the American Embassy in Islamabad, as it is expanding like never before.” Unfortunately, it is truth. The embassy has taken hundreds of houses on rent for its staffers and the increasing number of security personnel. Besides this, the embassy has also purchased 18 acres of land for its expansion. In justification, they have been saying: “Look, we are going to give 1.5 billion dollars a year. We don’t want to hand over the amount to the Pakistani authorities because billions simply slip through their fingers. Our own men are going to keep tabs on the money, so we need lots of people.”

This is so believable - MURREE: Hundreds of villagers from different rural communities of Murree held a protest meeting against the natural gas pipeline to the bungalow of Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, MPA, at Donga Gali.

The proof will be in the pudding - ISLAMABAD: The emotional and unexpected outburst of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to resign in case it was established that his wife was one of the beneficiaries of the NRO, is said to have stained all those top guns of the PPP government, who are facing the looming threat of reopening of their cases after November 28.

M F Hussain

2009-11-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

the beggar lady

2009-11-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

sadequain

she was fixture at the corner

of aram bagh and frere roads

kashkol in hand, fulgid cheeks
jowls hanging loose

pleading at passers by

with big blurry brown eyes

rarely uttering a word

pedestrians would throw coins

twice a year on holy days

a seth in a long shiny car

would visit her in the dark

bringing her fresh clothes and

for the next few days

she vexed at freshness

one night as pie dogs howled

the beggar lady squat-sleeping

in her corner

a car ran over the curb

pinning her against the wall

Edhi came and hauled her away

the next day a paraplegic

took her spot - ob la di

the other day

not under the influence

i wondered about her

who was she?

where did she come from?

did she have family?

did she dream?

did she dare...?

and that led to...

what is life?

is there a higher purpose?

should there be a purpose?

how long before the tireless

world-waves wash in their wake

dreams dreamt and undreamt?

and then i dozed off

under the peepul tree

under the peepul tree
the children on a mat
the teacher - with pugree and cane
read and the students repeated
as the squirrels (not you ss) frolicked

then out came wooden takhtis (tablets)
with twigs dipped in ink
they'd copy alphabets
at home before dusk
they'd wash the takhti
with clay and let it dry
for the next day

this elementary system
produced the Gandhis
we needed. i wonder
if this can herald change
dramatically different

Does sexual frustration fuel Islamic violence? A poseur, Ralph Nader, Sea Level rise, Yoginder Sikand

2009-11-20T05:20:00.004-05:00

The Pakistani Muslim youth is (generally) repressed. Not all of it due to culture. Among other factors bigotry, zealotry and religious mis-interpretations also share considerable blame. Hence this Pew Forum post assumes added significance ~ t

Does sexual frustration fuel Islamic violence? - by Omar Sacirbey - Did alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan lose control, at least in part, because he was sexually frustrated?That's one of the questions being asked in the investigation into the Nov. 5 rampage that left 13 people dead and dozens more injured. According to reports, Hasan visited a nearby strip club in the weeks before the massacre and was frustrated by his inability to find a pious Muslim wife.
[thanks YA]

Wafa Sultan: A Poseur Playing off of Ignorance to Further Hate - We must begin this profile with a question: Is there a more contemptible poseur than Wafa Sultan who calls herself an atheist but in the same breath also claims to be a Muslim reformer, which would kind of be like Christopher Hitchens calling himself a Christian reformer? It is difficult to answer that question with certainty considering the wide pool of bigots who combine charlatanism with raving and incorrigible insanity. But for sure one thing is certain, she is completely undeserving of the 15 minutes of fame she has succeeded in procuring.

Advice On Afghanistan - By Ralph NaderYour staff estimates each U.S. soldier is costing $1 million a year, in addition to the horrific toll on these soldiers and the Afghan people. You owe the American people an un-Bush-like explanation. Why are you not receiving these groups of American from varied backgrounds and experience at the White House on this pending Afghan decision?

Australians Face Reality On Sea-Level Rise - By John JamesAustralia is the first country in the world to undertake a national assessment of the consequences of sea-level rise. The headlines on Saturday were silly , but the report was not. With a sea-level rise of 1.1 meters about two million Australians would become refugees and have to leave their homes and the places they love

All For a Song: Vande Mataram And The Jamiats Patriotism - By Yoginder Sikand The furore stoked by the media over a recent declaration by a faction of the Jamiatul-Ulema- e Hind declaring the singing of the song Vande Matram to be un-Islamic has, not unexpectedly, been seized upon by vociferously anti-Muslim elements to press their claim of Muslims being anti-national. What many Muslims are asking, a legitimate question that the media has failed to seriously raise, is why ones attitude to a song (and that too in a language that few Indians understand) should be made the litmus test of Indian patriotism. What many Muslims also demand to know is how long they must continue to be forced by Hindu communalists to bear the burden of being compelled to prove their patriotic credentials

Writing About Pakistan, but ‘No Beards, No Bombs’, Short History of Israeli Right Wing Terrorism, Sixty Hours of Terror: Ten Gunmen, Ten Minutes

2009-11-20T03:29:00.008-05:00

Writing About Pakistan, but ‘No Beards, No Bombs’ - As announcers urged the crowd at the National Book Awards party to take their dinner seats, Daniyal Mueenuddin, the Pakistani-American author of “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders,” hung back to chat briefly about his work and the wonder of being nominated for a prestigious literary award. “What it feels is a little premature,” he said. “It is like with Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize but in a much lower key.”

Taliban tap into Afghanistan's roots
The insurgency in Afghanistan will continue to gather momentum as long as Afghans believe the insurgents have more compelling answers than Western powers or the government of President Hamid Karzai. The Taliban's fusion of religion, state and army presents a compelling case that foreigners will be expelled, Pashtun pre- eminence will be maintained, and that there will be a return to a golden age under Islamic law. - Brian M Downing (

Short History of Israeli Right Wing Terrorism - Following the arrest and indictment of Yaakov (Jack) Teitel who reportedly admitted to a series of murderous terrorist attacks against Israelis and Palestinians over the past twelve years, the settlers and their supporters cried foul. Teitel is an exception, they said, a single case, a "lone wolf," a lunatic. Teitel may have acted alone (although that seems unlikely) and may be disturbed (although he clearly is ideologically motivated), but he's a part of a pattern. He is not the first and probably not the last Israeli terrorist to target Palestinians or Israeli supporters of peace. Furthermore, many of these Jewish terrorists came from the ranks of the West Bank settlers. Here is a partial list of Israeli groups and individuals who took violent action to sabotage peace:
[thanks RJ]

Nuclear fallout rocks Pakistan -Reports of the United States attempting to take an active role in helping safeguard Pakistan's nuclear arsenal could not have come at a worse time for President Asif Ali Zardari. He is already marginalized by his military, now his political opponents - including revitalized former president Pervez Musharraf - see a weakness. A crucial showdown is due next month, precisely the time the Pakistani Taliban plan their own fireworks. - Syed Saleem Shahzad

Sixty Hours of Terror: Ten Gunmen, Ten Minutes -By Jason Motlagh -Editor’s Note—This is part one of a four-part series on the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Taliban tap into Afghanistan's roots
The insurgency in Afghanistan will continue to gather momentum as long as Afghans believe the insurgents have more compelling answers than Western powers or the government of President Hamid Karzai. The Taliban's fusion of religion, state and army presents a compelling case that foreigners will be expelled, Pashtun pre- eminence will be maintained, and that there will be a return to a golden age under Islamic law. - Brian M Downing (

Plenty to celebrate at Margaret Atwood's 70th - By Darragh McManus on Books
She's been a brilliant writer since her 20s, and her remarkably versatile work continues to dazzle and innovate - I believe that most writers get better as they get older. Unlike, say, rock musicians, exploding in a star-burst of youthful inspiration, novelists take their time. They grow into and with the act of writing; over decades, over thousands of hours and millions of words. One of my favourites, Don DeLillo, for instance, wasn't published at all until his mid-30s, and didn't produce his masterpiece until the age of 61.

...and the irony is Jawed Naqvi writes in English!
Asankhya kirti rashmiya’n vikirn divya daah si,
saput matra bhumi ke ruko na shur saahasi!
How many members of the Indian parliament or even the ultra-patriotic NRIs can absorb Jai Shankar Prasad’s exhortation to nation-building?

Loo’n waam bakhte khufta se ik khwaab e khushwale
lekin ye khauf hai ki kahaa’n se adaa karoo’n!
How many popularly elected members in Pakistan’s National Assembly can explain Ghalib’s sorrow at his inability to dream dreams? It’s difficult.

Perils of policing, Harris Khalique, Multiple criteria agreed for NFC Award,

2009-11-20T02:02:00.002-05:00

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented to the government on Thursday a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the NRO. Check out all 248 names here

Ayesha Siddiqa - It is heartening to see lower-ranking police officials in Islamabad doing their duty in such tough times without the necessary wherewithal for their personal protection. These men don’t have bullet-proof jackets, sniffer-dogs, or explosive detection equipment. The police do not have equipment for communication intercepts, which is critical for tracking both criminals and terrorists and homing in on a potential suicide attacker. The ability to track mobile phone calls alone helps tremendously in tracking down criminal and terror networks. Given the level of communication and competition amongst various government agencies, the police remain uncertain of the cooperation provided by various intelligence agencies. The fact that terrorists manage to attack the capital, move around with large amounts of explosive material and even sneak inside GHQ and the adjoining areas indicates a breakdown of intelligence.

Harris Khalique - Sami Ahuja, the accomplished story-teller, takes us to a different Lahore in his latest collection of short stories, “Roonumai Mein Zam Honay Ka Mujrim.” He brings back the city that belongs not to the kings, princes, viceroys and governors, but the city that belongs to their subjects. In 14 stories, 12 about the residents who live by the 12 gates, one about Tibbi and one about Mori, Ahuja artfully renders the suffering of the working class, the poor and the oppressed, who were a majority in the past and who remain a majority now. Some of Ahuja’s earlier work is not only laced with historic metaphors but at times his language is not within the reach of an untrained reader of Urdu literature. The latest book is more accessible and confirms that Sami Ahuja loves real people of Lahore more than the ornate Sheesh Mahal. Recommended reading.

Multiple criteria agreed for NFC Award - Sindh’s representative to NFC Kaisar Bengali said for the first time, multiple criteria had been accepted in principle. And for the first time, revenue has been accepted as criteria for the NFC Award. He said the data for income tax, corporate tax and other taxes that was available at the Federal Board of Revenue would be collected for revenue criteria. He said how backwardness (demand of the NWFP) would be assessed would be decided in the Lahore’s meeting in the context of whether to look into “below the poverty line” or “human development index”.He said Sindh would be benefited both by revenue collection that was 60 per cent in Sindh and revenue generation that was 40 per cent. While at present, Sindh was being given only 23 per cent share. He said Sindh would also get benefits under the backwardness criteria as the province was backward.

Muslim women are still not taken seriously: Farida Khanam - By Yoginder Sikand - Farida Khanam is Associate Professor at the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Daughter of the well-known Islamic scholar, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, she has translated more than sixty of her father’s books into English, besides being the author of several books on Islam. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand for TwoCircles.net, she reflects on issues related to Islam, Muslim women and patriarchy.

Charcoune Serge

2009-11-20T01:00:00.000-05:00

Peoples Republic of Pakistan, Mahatir, Freedom of Speech, South Asia,, Middle East

2009-11-19T05:20:00.005-05:00

Peoples Republic of Pakistan

Mahathir: India is too democratic By Asian - Kuala Lumpur, Nov. 17: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has singled out India as an Asian country that has "made the mistake of being too democratic" and compared it unfavourably with China's authoritarian regime.

Germany's Nazi Exception: Constitutional Court OKs Curtailing of Free Speech - Germany's constitution strongly and explicitly protects the freedom of speech. Still, the country's highest court has now said that -- given the injustice and horrors of the Nazi regime -- it is constitutional to make an exception that bans speech glorifying Hitler's ideology.

SOUTH ASIA: The Ties that Bind: Artists, Writers Forge Peace By Irfan Ahmed - CHANDIGARH, India, Nov 18 (IPS) - Imagine writers, scholars and folk performers from eight South Asian countries coming together to share their common heritage and culture while promoting peace and harmony at the same time.

MIDEAST: Palestinians Threaten Unilateral Independent State - By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH, Nov 17 (IPS) - Following the political deadlock between the Israelis and Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to take the matter directly to the U.N. Security Council.

CHINA'S REVOLUTION, Part 5, Why I'll Never Buy a Kindle, Afghanistan runs on well-oiled wheels,

2009-11-19T03:29:00.006-05:00

CHINA'S REVOLUTION, Part 5 : Surplus and capital formation - China's post-revolution challenge was to transform a feudal economy whose surpluses were mostly unproductive into a system that would increase capital formation and hence national income. Land reform, a significant contributor in the pursuit of this goal, remains a key issue in the country's progress and potential. - Henry CK Liu This is the fifth article in a multi-part series.

Militants change tack in Pakistan - After a month-long operation, Pakistan's military is chasing shadows in the South Waziristan tribal area. The militants being sought so desperately by the army - and the United States - are scattered in remote surrounding areas, including in Afghanistan. Previously, the next step would have been to negotiate a ceasefire. Not this time. In a major switch, the militants want a long-term insurgency against the security apparatus across the country. - Syed Saleem Shahzad

Why I'll Never Buy a Kindle By Benjamin Dangl - Fancy new book readers save lots of trees, yes, but I'll pass.

'Northern Taliban' threatens Central Asia - Taliban counter-moves against United States coalition efforts to forge a supply route from Central Asia to northern Afghanistan have ended the relative calm in that part of Afghanistan and could drag Central Asian states into the conflict. As more foreign fighters from groups like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan join the ranks of the emerging "northern Taliban", the issue is rapidly climbing up the coalition's agenda. - Sanobar Shermatova

Tunku Varadarajan's "Going Muslim": Normalizing hate speech - Let’s begin with this disconcerting premise: that we live in a world where anti-Islamic sentiments are becoming increasingly less recognizable as hate speech: that is, as speech that attempts to injure through essentializations produced as ‘facts’. The most recent example of this ‘phenomena,’ emerges in “Going Muslim,” the article written for Forbes Magazine by NYU Stern Professor of Business and Hoover Institute Fellow, Tunku Varadarajan. In search of answers for why and how this widening space of acceptability is being produced, let’s turn to the rhetorical form and content of his article for Forbes.

Afghanistan runs on well-oiled wheels - Every day, trucks carry diesel from Turkmenistan to the Afghan capital, Kabul, where some of the fuel is used in electricity power stations. Influential people are making a lot of money from the venture, which is financed by American tax dollars and is part of a fine-tuned system of nepotism and corruption that works a treat. It is not about to change. - Pratap Chatterjee

I Don’t Want To Fight - Guest fiction editors Amitava Kumar and V.V. Ganeshananthan discuss South Asian diaspora literature, war, and conflict—and their fiction selections for Guernica.
Amitava Kumar: Here’s a question: is war more a fact of life for South Asians? Is it a consistent theme in fiction written in the South Asian diaspora?
V.V. Ganeshananthan: It’s hard for me to answer that with complete confidence when I still struggle with the question of how race and ethnicity relate to literary genres and classifications. How do you think it does? People often talk to me of South Asian literature, and I’m not sure what they mean—writing by South Asians? About South Asians?

One-two punch for India's opposition - Following hard on its defeat in national elections, India's main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been trounced in three state polls. While the results further strengthen the ruling Congress party, the big loser, beyond the BJP, is India's move towards a broad two-front political system. - Neeta Lal

SPEAKING FREELY : The benefits of a nuclear Iran - The United States should simply give Iran the bomb. A nuclear Iran would restore parity to the balance of power in the Middle East and may end up stabilizing the region far more than the continued tensions over Israeli and American objections to Iran's nuclear ambitions. - Aetius Romulous

THE BEAR'S LAIR : Waiting for the train wreck - Central banks have lost the opportunity to change policy, indicated by gold's breakout above US$1,100. The huge weight of global stimulus money ensures that the gold and commodities bubble will now run to its full extent, with the world heading towards another train wreck. - Martin Hutchinson

Ouch! Poor Coral Growth, Karachi Sewage, Samson Sharaf,

2009-11-19T02:01:00.005-05:00

Poor coral growth at Sindh, Balochistan coasts - A survey of coral reefs at 18 sites along the Sindh and Balochistan coasts, conducted by scientists from the Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology (CEMB), has revealed that hard coral growth along the seashore is extremely poor.This survey was a part of the research by CEMB on the coral reefs that are found on the sea coast of Sindh and Balochistan to understand the formation, preservation and destruction processes of the sediments that could help the country in many ways.

Khuda Bux Shaikh - The sludge and sewage discharged in storm water drains has been causing flooding in Karachi every year and there is a need for an extra slope to ensure “self-cleansing velocity of the drain”, Khuda Bux Shaikh, District Officer, Municipal Services Group of Offices, City District Government Karachi, said on Wednesday.Delivering a lecture on ‘The development plan of rainwater drains in Karachi: Present situation and future plans’, organised by the Urban Resource Centre, he said that the city generates 8,000 tonnes of waste on a daily basis, while the capacity to dispose it was not more than 3,000 tonnes per day. “On top of it, 4,000 tonnes of sewage and solid waste is thrown into the storm water drains every day that contains lots of silt. As a result, the drains are silted very quickly. About 1,000 tonnes of waste is diverted to open plots in the city,” he explained.

Kamila Hyat - There are many who suspect that Baitullah Mehsud, the man named as having plotted the murder, indeed had little to do with it. We know the assassination was meticulously planned, involving bombers and multiple sharp-shooters. It is possible that the extremist shield was used to provide cover to other killers.This has happened in the case of other deaths -- including that of Major General Faisal Alvi, killed by unknown gunmen in 2008. In April this year, a former military official admitted to the murder – claiming he had carried it out in revenge for the death in Afghanistan of his brother, a militant. But other suspicions linger on, with some reports suggesting the flamboyant Alvi could have been preparing to expose links between elements in the intelligence agencies, the Taliban and other extremist outfits. There is no way of knowing if there is any truth in this.

If a man like George Bush could visit the troops in an explosive place like Iraq, where shoes were thrown at him, surely there is no justification for Zardari to hide. Ouch!

Fault lines and vulnerabilities of target nations are exploited and locals like Chalabis/Khalilzads rented. The game played with remarkable alacrity continues; as does the attrition of Pakistan. Samson Sharaf [Wished he had mentioned names like Zardari and Sharif ~t]

Zafar Khalid Farooq - We are a nation that unquestionably swallows the unsubstantiated rants of Zaid Hamid, Ahmed Quraishi and their ilk. Zaid Hamid sees the world through a Zionist prism, while I advise you to check out ahmedquraishi.com to check out the quality of his 'photo journalism'.

Cornelius Dusart

2009-11-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

Milne Do - Beena Sarwar

2009-11-18T18:36:00.002-05:00

VJ Movement

(video)

Anjum Niaz, Mosharraf Zaidi, Rauf Klasra

2009-11-18T11:09:00.003-05:00

While Gilani would inarguably fail the Forbes magazine's eligibility test made up of four questions, he deserves the 38th position for holding up the sphere of democracy in the same way Atlas held up the heavens in Greek mythology. Anjum Niaz

The Pakistani elite don't want to answer the fundamental questions that today's Pakistan raises. * Why do these attacks keep occurring?
* How will the challenges of federalism, and its manifestations in local government, police, and the civil services, be resolved?
* How will Pakistan fix education, maternal and neonatal health, and primary healthcare?
* What will Pakistan do to respond to climate change and energy shortages?

Pakistan's elite are too self-indulgent to want to answer those questions, and Pakistan's terrorist enemies too evil. But there is no possible conspiracy that prevents middle Pakistan from having that discourse. That discourse is where solutions to Pakistan's real problems lie. The faux umbrage of Pakistan's polar extremes must not become an ally of the terrorists that are trying to suffocate Pakistan. That is the truth of this conflict. Mosharraf Zaidi

President Zardari was reportedly told point black by Nawab Yousuf Talpur that these were the similar sycophants who were nowhere to be seen when the time of trial came and ultimately their leader was hanged.Apparently, Talpur’s bold utterances proved only a harbinger of more to come. According to sources, after a very long time some of the senior party leaders blasted the policies and failures of their own government, and much to their pleasant surprise, they found the president, also the party co-chairman, ready to listen to them uninterrupted and without giving them a put up or shut up call. Some of the senior party leaders were said to be dissatisfied with the briefing given to them on the NRO issue and the government plans to tackle it in the days to come. Rauf Klasra

Renouncing Islamism, Paul Krugman, Uri Avnery, Robert Murdoch

2009-11-18T05:16:00.003-05:00

Renouncing Islamism: To the brink and back againHe begins to ask – jabbing his finger – what my alternative is. "In the United States, bestiality is legal in the privacy of your own home," he says. Paedophiles are rampant, with the Man-Boy Love Association on the brink of success. Compare that with the 1,300-year long caliphate. In all those years, he says, "there were only 60 rapes". Do you really believe that if people are not suppressed by a tyrant-God, they will become paedophiles and start fucking animals? Are you so rotten inside? Does Anjum fear Andy that much? He stares at me, flat and emotionless now. "That is your last question," he says. And as I leave and look back at him through the glass, jabbering on his phone and daydreaming of annihilation, I realise how far all my interviewees – and new friends – have travelled.
They have burned in this fire of certainty. They have felt it consume all doubt and incinerate all self-analysis. And they dared, at last, to let it go. Are they freakish exceptions – or the beginning of a great unclenching of the jihadi fist? [To watch Johann Hari taking on Hizb ut Tahrir in a debate on the Islam Channel, click here ]

Paul Krugman: Germany's Jobs, Unemployment Miracle Can Teach US - Germany's jobs miracle hasn't received much attention in this country -- but it's real, it's striking, and it raises serious questions about whether the U.S. government is doing the right things to fight unemployment.

A Scoundrel with Permission By Uri Avnery - Israel - When the TV news starts with a murder, people are relieved. This means that no war has broken out, no suicide bomb has exploded, no Qassam rocket has been launched at Sderot. Ahmadinejad has not test-fired a new missile that can reach Tel Aviv. Just another murder. Not that Israel is the world’s murder capital. We shall have to work much harder to reach the heights of New York or Moscow, not to mention Johannesburg. Statistics even show our murder rate is declining.

SPIEGEL Interview with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle: 'We've Had Enough of Faint-Hearted Politics' - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle talks to SPIEGEL about new government plans to tackle the economic crisis, Obama's Afghanistan strategy and his own contribution to German society's acceptance of homosexuality.

Eric Boehlert: Why is Rupert Murdoch so clueless about Fox News? By E.B. - Did you know that Sean Hannity is "an academic"? That Obama administration officials love Fox News' White House reporters? That CNN refuses to have Republicans on its program? That Glenn Beck is "purely Libertarian"? Or that there's no bias -- none -- in Fox's presentation of the news?
At least that's the gospel according to Rupert Murdoch this month. In truth, thanks to Murdoch's recent laundry list of public falsehoods, we now know that Fox News' misinformation culture starts at the very top, inside the corner office of Murdoch, the CEO of News Corp., Fox News' parent company. It turns out Murdoch functions as his own one-man misinformation machine. Who knew?

Connecting citizens and journalists with YouTube Direct, Tomgram, Gaza MD lost 3 children to violence, but preaches peace,

2009-11-18T03:29:00.005-05:00

Connecting citizens and journalists with YouTube Direct By Olivia - Every day, people with video cameras are changing the ways we get our news. We see it during elections. We see it during earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters. We see it on our freeways, in our schools and in our public spaces. Almost any event that takes place today has a chance of being captured on camera. As YouTube has become a global platform for sharing the news, media organizations have been looking for a good way to connect directly with citizen reporters on our site so they can broadcast this footage and bring it to a larger audience.

Tomgram: Pratap Chatterjee, Afghanistan as a Patronage Machine - Can there be any question that there is a plethora of corrupt officials to arrest? The president's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, reportedly on the CIA payroll, is also, as it's politely put in the press, a "suspected player in the country's booming illegal opium trade." Ahmad Rateb Popal, the president's cousin and another figure long linked to the drug trade, runs a local security company protecting American supply convoys that, according to Aram Roston of the Nation magazine, is involved in an industry-wide protection scam, using American Army money to pay off the Taliban not to attack. In addition, American arms and ammunition are clearly ending up in Taliban hands. The recent presidential election was a spectacle of fraud; the Afghan Army, despite years of training, may hardly exist (as Ann Jones reported for this site in September); the ill-paid, ill-trained Afghan police are known to operate on the principle of corruption; and a surprisingly small percentage of foreign reconstruction funds actually makes it out of the pockets of big private contractors and western specialists, as well as security firms, and into Afghan hands.

Pullinger wins Gov. Gen. fiction award By Nelson Wyatt on Books - Kate Pullinger has won the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction for her Victorian-era novel "The Mistress of Nothing."

Gaza MD lost 3 children to violence, but preaches peace - By Oakland Ross on World - Izzeldin Abuelaish, a 54-year-old Gaza doctor has found sanctuary for his family in Toronto and preaches peace to anyone who will listen.

[Caveat: the following forward from YA is writen by a "certified' Islamophobe ~ t]
The Legend of the Middle Ages - By Fjordman - The book that inspired this text was The Legend of the Middle Ages: Philosophical Explorations of Medieval Christianity, Judaism, and Islam by Rémi Brague, a French professor and specialist of medieval religious philosophy. He is also the author of the fine book Eccentric Culture: A Theory of Western Civilization, which I have written an extensive essay about previously. Thematically this text overlaps to some extent with some of the material from my book Defeating Eurabia. I will supplement it with some quotes from two good online interviews with Mr. Brague. Medieval Muslims were reluctant to travel to infidel lands. According to Islamic jurists Muslims should not stay for too long in the lands of non-Muslims if they cannot live a proper Muslim life there. Muslims had little knowledge of or interest in any Western languages. Only Italian had some currency for commercial purposes, but mainly involving Jews and Eastern Christians, especially Greeks and Armenians. Few Muslims knew any non-Muslim languages well, the knowledge of which was considered unnecessary or even suspect.

M C Escher

2009-11-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

Pervez Masih, The two sides

2009-11-17T11:32:00.003-05:00

Honouring Pervez Masih, the janitor at the International Islamic University who was killed when he stopped a suicide attacker (reportedly in women's clothes) from entering the cafeteria for female students on Nov 16th. His heroic stand saved the lives of more than 300 students leading many to remember him as a hero -- but as his mother told a CNN reporter, `My hero is dead' - http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/pakistan.hero/ According to the CNN report which predictably focused on the religious aspect - `Christian janitor died saving Muslim students' - his family had to borrow money for his funeral and were behind on paying their rent. Islamabad based activist and artist Fauzia Minallah says the IIU administration helped the family with Rs. 10.000 for the burial costs, employed his widow Shaheen as a sanitory worker and promised to help with his three-year-old daughter Diya's education. Maham Ali, a student of Behria University, collected Rs. 52,500 for Pervez Masih's family, and bought toys and clothes for Diya. 'Diya - a hero's daughter' - note with photos on Fauzia Minallah's blog http://funkorchildart.blogspot.com/2009/11/diya-and-maham.html (according to which, despite publically announcing compensation for the bereaved family no one from the Interior Ministry has contacted the family so far) - [thanks BS] Honour and take forward the legacies: M.B. Naqvi, Prof. Nauman, Pervez Masih

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday warned that Israel Defense Forces soldiers who refused service or orders would contribute to the collapse of the State of Israel. "The IDF was established on the basis of hierarchy in the ranks," said Netanyahu. "If you want to get rid of the IDF, then support refusal - it will bring about the collapse of the state." IDF refusal will bring about Israel's collapse, warns Netanyahu

From Wafa Sultan and the nature of Islam:

On one side are those who believe that Islam is a moderate, mainstream religion, little different from Judaism and Christianity, one that can live in peace with, and thrive within, modern Western society. Key adherents of this view include Irshad Manji, who lives as an openly gay and feminist Muslim in Canada, lectures and writes widely, runs the Moral Courage Project at New York University and is author of the provocative book, What’s Wrong with Islam Today; M. Zuhdi Jasser, a physician who earned his medical degree on a Navy scholarship and is founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; and Zainab Al-Suwaij, a women’s rights advocate who is co-founder and executive director of the American Islamic Congress.

On the other side are those who believe that Islam is inherently aggressive and anti-Western, that it demands anti-Jewish and anti-Christian violence and that it’s not really a religion at all but a political ideology. Along with Sultan, leading subscribers to this view include Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali native who fled to the West, served in the Dutch Parliament, now serves as a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, requires round-the-clock protection, and is the author of two heartrending books about her life, The Caged Virgin and Infidel; and Brigitte Gabriel, the Lebanese-American journalist, founder and president of the American Congress for Truth and author of two books that urge the West to confront Islam, Why They Hate and They Must be Stopped.

baithak

Pablo Picasso

Charter for Compassion

Asif Ezdi, Awami Tehreek, Anjum NIaz, Shaheen Sehbai, Mr. Why Khan

Tobias Kobsch

poetry: tweems - tweet-poems

An accused Plotter,

An accused Plotter,

Morocco bound

Karzai Cartel: Uh, Sure, We’ll Clean Up Corruption!

Roy Lichtenstein

Sixty Hours of Terror: “It’s Do or Die”, The Elephant, Oprah, Occupied Palestine, Iraq, Rajasthan, Faux News, Karzai, Rove's Memory Loss,Paul Krugman

The Ugly American in Isloo, Myths of the electronic media —Imran Kureshi, Heroine from Waziristan —Rafia Zakaria, Gideon Polya, Babar Sattar, Arif Niz

M F Hussain

the beggar lady

Does sexual frustration fuel Islamic violence? A poseur, Ralph Nader, Sea Level rise, Yoginder Sikand

Writing About Pakistan, but ‘No Beards, No Bombs’, Short History of Israeli Right Wing Terrorism, Sixty Hours of Terror: Ten Gunmen, Ten Minutes

Perils of policing, Harris Khalique, Multiple criteria agreed for NFC Award,

Charcoune Serge

Peoples Republic of Pakistan, Mahatir, Freedom of Speech, South Asia,, Middle East

CHINA'S REVOLUTION, Part 5, Why I'll Never Buy a Kindle, Afghanistan runs on well-oiled wheels,

Ouch! Poor Coral Growth, Karachi Sewage, Samson Sharaf,

Cornelius Dusart

Milne Do - Beena Sarwar

Anjum Niaz, Mosharraf Zaidi, Rauf Klasra

Renouncing Islamism, Paul Krugman, Uri Avnery, Robert Murdoch

Connecting citizens and journalists with YouTube Direct, Tomgram, Gaza MD lost 3 children to violence, but preaches peace,

M C Escher

Pervez Masih, The two sides