A very misleading report on August 5, 2011On July 31, 2011, a programme on a private TV channel was aired in which a TV crew was transported by the Pakistan Army to Wana, South Waziristan. The army soldiers escorted the team throughout their stay in Wana. The team talked with the soldiers stationed in the area along with some tribesmen, and also […]
Oslo attacks: some future implications on July 29, 2011A bomb and gun attack in Oslo last week killed over 90 in Norway, a country where people take peace and security for granted. The killer, Anders Behring Breivik, uploaded an online manifesto before he went on a killing spree in which he provides the reasons why he did what he did. The manifesto, ‘2083: […]
De-radicalisation without security paradigm shift on July 22, 2011It is interesting to see that the Pakistan Army has initiated a de-radicalisation effort in Swat and in this regard recently a seminar was held in the city that was given wide media coverage in Pakistan. Is de-radicalisation a real effort to bring about change in society? One would like to appreciate it, but it […]
The Shakils of FATA and the other stereotype on July 15, 2011A British newspaper, The Guardian, recently reported that intelligence officials of Pakistan arrested Shakil Afridi, a doctor from Khyber Agency, FATA, for organising a fake vaccination campaign for the CIA in Abbottabad whereby a nurse was sent into Osama bin Laden’s house to collect DNA samples of bin Laden’s family members. The ISI, according to […]
Orientalism in civilisational narcissism II on July 8, 2011Mr Mubarak Haider’s arguments and assumptions about the Pakhtun tribes in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region do not concur with the region’s history as well as the current reality since 9/11. There is a lot that one can mention in this regard but I will elaborate a few points and some examples from the region. The […]
Orientalism in the civilisational narcissism I on July 1, 2011Tehzeebi Nargasiyyat (civilisational narcissism) is an interesting Urdu book written by a Pakistan writer, Mobarak Haider. The book is a psychoanalysis of the Muslim mind that has turned dangerously narcissist. Muslims, according to the book, think Islam is a complete, definitive and final code of life and there is no need for the Muslims to […]
A reflection on Saleem Shahzad on June 24, 2011Saleem Shahzad, an investigative Pakistani journalist working for Asia Times Online, was brutally murdered in Pakistan. Some weeks before his tragic murder he wrote two articles about Waziristan in Asia Times Online, ‘Taliban and al Qaeda: Friends in Arms’ and ‘Kicking Around in Waziristan’. Some people of Waziristan who had read the articles conveyed to […]
Anti-Taliban lashkar in North Waziristan? on June 17, 2011There are news reports that the Pakistan Army is planning to raise an anti-Taliban lashkar (militia) in North Waziristan again the multi-ethnic international terror syndicate based in the area. Reportedly, the idea was discussed in the recently held corps commanders meeting. This news emerged in the context of two other news reports. One, the military […]
Poverty and extremism on June 10, 2011A recent survey, ‘Poverty and support for militant politics — evidence from Pakistan’, conducted by senior US researchers, concludes that poverty in Pakistan does not feed religious extremism and terrorism (the survey may be found on this link: http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/MORTARA-FAIR-Poverty-and-Support-for-Militant-Politics-Pakistan.pdf). The survey, conducted on 6,000 people sampled from all four provinces of Pakistan, finds that poor […]
Military operation in North Waziristan? on June 3, 2011Conflicting reports are being seen in the media these days regarding a military operation against militants based in North Waziristan, under US pressure. One report even informs that the authorities have quietly asked aid agencies in Pakistan to be prepared for an influx of thousands of IDPs from North Waziristan in the event of an […]