November 2010

New York—Former President Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday that India was trying to create a hostile state in Afghanistan as he hit back at criticism of his country’s role in fighting extremists.

Musharraf, who is touring the United States as part of a comeback bid, said he has seen photographs of Kabul-based “Pakistan terrorists” a likely reference to Balochistan separatists meeting in India with intelligence agents.Read More »Musharraf: India creating ‘anti-Pak’ Afghanistan

By Qaisar Sultan

The midterm elections in the USA changed the political landscape for next two years. The Republican Party got the majority in the congress and closed the gap in the senate. The pendulum has swung back towards more conservative mode; smaller government and lower taxes. It is not a complete defeat of liberalism; but it is a short setback. The majority of working class in America feels that they should have decent life style; there should be high paying jobs, good housing, good health programs and education. These social programs require money that is mainly acquired through taxation on American people.Read More »The Mid Term Elections in USA

Not only youngsters, but people belonging to all age brackets and from all segments of society have developed the need to always having balance in their cell phones, irrespective of their finances. Cigarettes and movies were the ‘addiction’ of youngsters a few years back, but the new ‘thing’ that has been occupying their time is cell phones and with it the necessity of having balance in it. Calling, sending messages (sms), subscribing to different services including ring tones, Internet, jokes, news alerts consume the cell phone balance of the general public. In this scenario, people who could afford to have a decent amount in their cellular service accounts would obviously have balance, but the ones with meager incomes, Read More »LAHORE: Cell phone balance ‘crucial’ in unbalanced society

One of the defining questions regarding the future of democracy in Pakistan is: Have we arrived to an impasse that may require the Hobbesian tradition of controlling disorder and chaos through a Leviathan, an absolute power- I am not suggesting unalterable idea of a military ruler. There is a breakdown of authority; and anarchy has taken hold of the roots of the state. The interests of the individuals and groups have superseded the viability of the country’s survival. Though we cannot ignore the minimalist ideals and practices of democracy; we are faced with the collapse of governance, accountability and fair representation of the will of people. The Lockean view of liberal democracy, ideally and Read More »Slip and Sliding Away-By Qaisar Sultan

By Hussain H Zaidi

 When the khatib of a mosque was asked what in his opinion constituted the most useful invention of science, his reply was “the loudspeaker”. If the same question were put to any other khatib, his answer would be the same.
In our society, there is a special relationship between a khatib and the loudspeaker so much so that it is difficult to think of the former without the latter. Just as a soldier needs to be a good shooter, a khatib must be a good speaker. And one can hardly be a good speaker without being adept at using the loudspeaker.Read More »The love of the loudspeaker