Dr Khalil's Intellectual Space

Pak Political Economy +

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Dr Khalil's Intellectual Space

Pak Political Economy +

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Author: Dr Khalil Ahmad

Dr. Khalil is a political economist and a political philosopher. He cherishes a cosmopolitan spirit and considers himself a moralist and a rationalist. He founded the first free market think tank in Pakistan, Alternate Solutions Institute. He wrote/published hundreds of articles on the various aspects of political economy of Pakistan, and on a variety of issues.He is author of a number of books that include "Pakistan Mein Riyasati Ashrafiya Ka Urooj"; "Siyasi Partian Ya Siyasi Bandobast"; "Pakistani KashaKash" in Urdu; and "Charter of Liberty" and "Pakistan's Democratic Impasse" in English.

Drones and a Pushto couplet

These days a Pushto couplet is circulating. Here is its English translation:

Your eyes are like a Drone
I was martyred like a Talib

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The American Contradiction

Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.
[Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826]
American people create abundant wealth. So, they are prosperous and happy. It is only because they are economically freer than many nations on earth. In consequence, that makes them politically freer. What makes all that possible is their declaration of independence, constitution, bill of rights, and their independent courts, which promptly ensure the continuance of rule of law, which in turn help a free media to exist, and it is this combination that guarantees personal freedoms to American people: to do whatever they like to do, of course, under the state and federal laws. Despite their state’s encroachments on their freedoms especially after 9/11, they are free to pursue economic, political, social, intellectual, philosophical, moral, spiritual, aesthetic enterprises, or whatever they like to seek.
In sum, it is their love for personal freedom that characterizes
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Pakistan’s crisis – its roots

Pakistan is in the grip of a deadly crisis. Whether it is political or economic domain, social or religious life, private or public sphere, the chaos is overriding. Watch for the utter disregard for social and moral values, and social norms on the one hand, and on the other for rules and laws, and the constitution, rampant at every level without any exception. That tells not only of the moral bankruptcy of Pakistani society but of the gravity of the deep moral crisis also.
This piece traces the roots of this moral crisis.
The morals of the ordinary people reflect those of the dominant elites of the society. In Pakistan, this broadly includes military, political, religious, and intellectual elites. These elites set the tone and tenor of moral quality and direction of our society. Since it is they who form the ruling class by way of election or military
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The future of PPP after Benazir Bhutto

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is reminiscent of the treacherous and callous murderings rampant under erstwhile monarchies where capturing and holding the throne was the only reigning value. No familial, human or personal relations could come in the way. The same has been happening in Pakistansince its early days. The brutal power politics took the lives of many politicians, to name a few, from Liaqat Ali Khan (1951), first Prime Minster of Pakistan, to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (1979), the most popular leader of Pakistan.  One wonders whether we still live under the Mughal Kingdomwhere there was no constitution, no law, no independent courts or parliament to reckon with; where Aurangzeb Alamgir imprisoned and tortured his father Shah Jehan, and mercilessly killed his three brothers to win the throne.
The fear of murdering Benazir Bhutto was in the air from the moment she decided to come back home
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Who is promoting the Sons and Daughters of politicians – 2

I read regularly The News, The Express Tribune, and Urdu daily Express.
The only reason I read The Express Tribune is that International Herald Tribune comes with it almost free. Just in Rs. 19 one can read both papers.
So, that’s my limitation. I keep an eye how prominently these newspapers place pictures / statements of the Sons and Daughters of politicians. Of course, it’s the prerogative of the administration and the editorial staff of these newspapers how and where they place the pictures / statements of the Sons and Daughters of politicians. But at the same time, as a reader it’s my right to judge what such coverage amounts to and why the Sons and Daughters of politicians are given such prominence. In most of such coverage, I don’t see any news value, relevance, or any such thing, which could justify their placement at such top
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A Note of Thanks from the www.NotesFromPakistan.com

First, note please that the Blog has a domain of its own now: www.NotesFromPakistan.com 
The blog – Notes From Pakistan – started last year (2012) in August. It has yet to see a whole year completed. However, I feel fortunate enough that without any publicity and promotional campaigns, it has been received well. Thousands of seekers, from abroad as well as from Pakistan, visited and read various posts.
I hope they found what they sought for and what brought them here!
Many thanks to all the readers who came to the Notes From Pakistan!
Hope they will keep coming and I promise to be true to the mission and values of the Blog!
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From the electoral to a real victory

[It was the same day last year when the Chief Justice of Pakistan laid the foundation stone of this movement for the liberation of ordinary people of Pakistan from the yoke of elite classes. I dedicate this article to all those extraordinarily valiant lawyers who are continuing the movement unrelentingly. KA]
Now after the 9thgeneral elections, there is much lure and a sort of euphoria among the intelligentsia even beyond Pakistan to dub the results as unprecedented, historic, revolutionary, and what not. In addition, a revived belief in populism is gaining strength. This needs to be clearly analyzed and understood because we as members of civil society ought to be aware of correctly recognizing and meeting our responsibility. That’s my part of euphoria.
It is being argued that the mandate that PPP, PML (N), and ANP have got would have been weightier had the elections been free and
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