Author: Dr Khalil Ahmad

“The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities (child soldiers), or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in propaganda.”

 [Wikipedia]

Which category Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s or Aseefa Bhutto Zardari’s political use by Pakistan Peoples Party or Asif Ali Zardari falls in?

[Mencius, c. 300 BC]

[Dionysius of Halicarnassus, c. 20 BC]

November 29, 2013:

Is Shah Mehmood Qureshi behind PTI, taking revenge from US for his ouster from the gov in Raymond Davis case: US diplomat met him yesterday!

November 24, 2013:

Re PTI blocks NATO supply: Imran Khan, instead of focusing on governance in K-P, is wasting his Party’s first ever stint in a province!

November 22, 2013:

In Pakistan, opposition is usually meaner than the government! See the present opposition . . .

September 28, 2013:

Is Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf playing the political wing of the Taliban? Or what is it up to!

September 20, 2013:

With Imran Khan (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) the quality of Pakistani politics, which was already at its lowest, has gone down the drain!

November 8, 2011:

No good news! Sort of liberal fascism is on the rise in Pakistan . . . hand in glove with the establishment! Debuted on Oct 30 in Lahore!

[The Express Tribune, November 22, 2013] 

[The Express Tribune, November 24, 2013] 

One of the lawyers from government side while commenting on the Supreme Court’s judgment restoring the Chief Justice of Pakistan and quashing of the presidential reference against him in a talk-show first said: one side has to lose and the other to win. Then, in the same breath he said: it’s a win-win situation. He said: it’s a victory for justice, a victory for the rule of law, and a victory for General Musharraf also. He explained that it’s during the regime of a dictator that such a historic ruling was made. Probably, he meant that the judgment might have been influenced in favor of the government. Regardless of what would have been this lawyer’s stance had government won the case, it’s worth-pondering where the government stands now.

The reactions from the government after the verdict show that its thinking is not much different from that of the lawyer’s. It

[Dawn, November 20, 2013]

See some recent tweets:

November 19:

General Musharraf treason trial: government playing the dice to see he goes abroad first or finds himself landed in the special court first

November 22:

Sectarian clashes no conspiracy; the culprits are politicians and the government which feed the bigots and use them, . . .

November 17:

Every gathering, political, religious or otherwise, must be held inside the four walls, not on roads and public places; State must act . . .

November 17:

The last two days, almost whole Pakistan was closed, social and public life was at a standstill, telecom services were suspended – Moharram!

A member of the national assembly is disqualified by the Supreme Court for holding a fake / forged degree. See the details and especially her reaction; she did not a bit feel ashamed of her misdeed:

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Monday declared Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Sumaira Malik as ineligible for holding a fake degree, Geo News reported. 

The SC had reserved the ruling in a case pertaining to alleged bogus degree of PML-N leader and MNA Sumaira Malik. The court also declared 2008 notification as null and void, declaring her successful in 2008.

A three-member bench of apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed announce the verdict reserved on October 09, 2013.

It is worth mentioning here that Malik Umar Aslam Awan had filed civil appeal

Minister threatens cops over traffic citation

MULTAN: Provincial Minister for Auqaf Haroon Sultan Bukhari on Saturday refused to pay a Rs750 fine when he was stopped by the Motorway Police for speeding on the National Highway near Mian Channu.

According to the Motorway Police, Bukhari was on his way to Muzaffargarh when the car he was travelling on was clocked at 125km/hour.

Police said when Inspector Nasrullah Baloch stopped him and told him that he had been speeding, the minister introduced himself.

Police said the Bukhari told Nasrullah that he did not have the authority to fine a provincial minister especially in the Punjab.

Motorway Police told The Express Tribune that they had evidence that the minister had been driving at 125 km/hour on the National Highway in

[The Express Tribune, November 18, 2013] 

By Huzaima Bukhari And Dr Ikramul Haq   

Pakistan, drowned deep in debt, is sinking deeper and deeper with each passing moment. The situation, if not remedied on a war footing, will eventually lead the country to an economic collapse. During the last three months, the debt burden has soared by Rs 980 billion – an unprecedented increase pushing the total domestic debt up to Rs 15 trillion. This does not include borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avert a serious balance of payment crisis. The Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was very critical of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government for increasing the debt burden of the country by 100% in five years, but its own record during three months is more deplorable – adding Rs 11 billion a day is awfully gruesome!

On 30th June 2013, the federal government’s total domestic debt

We are not a normal nation and live down inside the proverbial well made of our own presumptions. Thus we are a perfect subject matter for psychologists to study. In addition, we are never ready to admit that, instead declare others abnormal. That makes us own a stinted mindset in our heads. What’s wrong with this mindset is that it never allows us to live normally, to have introspection, to see ourselves in a critical mirror, to identify our mistakes, to understand our inconsistencies, to grant others the same rights and freedoms that only we rightfully claim to possess and enjoy. It is this mindset that does not let us come out of our obsession of a charismatic nation (for whom things will happen on their own without any effort), and finally it is this mindset that never permits us to move ahead and improve ourselves.

Forget the present crisis

[The Express Tribune, November 3, 2013]

[The Express Tribune, October 27, 2013]

I completed this article on April 2, 2007, after about a month when on March 9, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, refused to budge before the mightiest generals of Pakistan.

Like millions of other Pakistanis, I too was excited; yeah there was a way out of the quagmire Pakistanis have been put into by the Riyasati Asharafiya (State Aristocracy). However, I was trying to see this development on the political horizon of Pakistan from a very different angle: from the perspective of a theory of knowledge. The title I gave to this article was: Pakistan – victim of a dangerous theory of knowledge

I sent this article to The News, which carried it by a different title:
Judiciary’s first ever NO

Here is this article:

The following news story tells how Boots are replacing Books [Also compare the British Rule with the Pakistani Military Rule (including the Pakistani Civilian Rule)]:

Military rule legacies: Enter the boots, exit books

ISLAMABAD: Cycles of military dictatorship have left behind their fair share of legacies – amendments to the Constitution, controversial changes to school curriculum, the list can go on.  Some of these bequests have not only caused confusion, but also severely damaged national intellect and heritage.

Against this backdrop, the demolishment of libraries and recreational areas established during the British era at railway stations, more often than not to turn them into police stations, is one such example.

According to records, libraries have been shut down in the name of sanctity, sensitivity and national interest, to give way to more thanas. Consequently, even during Gen Pervez Musharraf’s ‘moderate’ military rule, countless precious books were discarded.

The

The Express Tribune of October 26, 2013 placed a tweet of Maryam Nawaz Sharif on top of its front page. Here it is:

“Education could be your wisest investment”

Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Twitter

One may ask: did your investment in education prove wise?

Or what else proved wise?

Is it because of your education that this newspaper highlights your tweet on its front page?

Or it is something else?

Such as Riyasati Ashrafiya’s (State Aristocracy’s) clout? And, Pakistani Media’s complicity with the Riyasati Ashrafiya?

Whatever it is, it is not your education, Ms. Maryam Nawaz Sharif, that the media is trying to make you another leader for the hapless citizens of Pakistan!

There are tribal citizens who favor Drone attacks!

“. . . interviews by The Economist with twenty residents of the tribal areas confirmed that many see individual drone strikes as preferable to the artillery barrages of the Pakistani military. They also insisted that the drones do not kill many civilians—a view starkly at odds with mainstream Pakistani opinion. “No one dares tell the real picture,” says an elder from North Waziristan. “Drone attacks are killing the militants who are killing innocent people.”

See the following news report by The Economist:

NATIONAL surveys find that Pakistanis are overwhelmingly opposed to CIA drone strikes against suspected militants in the tribal badlands close to the Afghan border. The strikes are seen by many as an abuse of sovereignty, a symbol of American arrogance and the cause

LAHORE  – Renowned singer Zubaida Khanum passed away in Lahore on Saturday night. Her funeral will be held at Westwood Colony Raiwind Road on Sunday (today).

Zubaida Khanum was introduced in film Billo by Baba Chishti in 1951 and got breakthrough from famous film Shehri Babu in 1953.

She sung (sang) lot of super hit songs in films during her short but valuable stay in the industry. Zubaida Khanum’s Pinjabi songs are still very popular since she is known as an evergreen singer, and would remain so.

Legend Zubaida Khanum also sang popular naat ‘Shah-e-Madina’ decades ago.

Zubaida excelled singing for Punjabi and Urdu films. Composers like Rashid Attre, Safdar, Saleem Iqbal and Chishti were definitely

[The Express Tribune, October 19, 2013]