Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year Pakistani girl student and activist keen on getting education and advocating it for other girls, has been targeted by Taliban!
In this context, I would like to point out two things:
1. Every time Taliban repeat such a heinous crime, there is abundant outrage and endless condemnations both by the state and not-state elements. When such crimes are committed by non-Taliban ordinary or not-ordinary persons, or by the Pakistani state itself, that evokes far less condemnation from the non-state elements as well as other state elements. What does that amount to? That indicates what the Taliban go for is not that new or strange or unacceptable in this land; instead that means the Taliban has no right to do such things, this right belongs to us only!
That brings my second point to light.
2. The crimes of the Taliban put the Pakistani state, the
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Pakistan is a china shop and the bull is its ruling elites. They are on the rampage since the day this shop was established. The stories of which come to light, I say which come to light, tell of the ways the bull is playing in and with the china the shop contains.
The bull of the present government of the Pakistan Peoples Party is a unique bull which believes in breaking the shop itself. The latest story of this dispensation is heart-wrenching and kills the hope that this country could ever be ruled by laws.
Today’s The Express Tribune ran a story “Likely to surrender – Ex-chairman of OGRA plays hide-and-seek with sleuths.” Take time to read this story which reveals how the Governor of Punjab, and Secretary General of Pakistan Peoples Party tried to protect Tauqir Sadiq, ex-chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the main accused
As for Photography, I believe in NO Manipulation!
It’s the Photographer, and then his Camera and the World, the combination of which may produce a work of art!
The availability of an Opportunity for that combination to work wonder depends both on Chance and the Photographer’s Eye.
All the photo-manipulating tools and things like that are not for the Photographer to take advantage of but what the traditional photographer used to do, such as cropping and minor adjustments which do not disturb (which otherwise is known as “improvement”) the originality of the photo taken spontaneously.
A photographer’s Basic Tool is Camera. If in order to produce a work of art, he is dependent on such manipulations, he is not a Photographer, but a Graphic Designer, entirely a different branch of Art where he belongs to try his talent.
I use my camera with this ‘Philosophy of Photography’ in mind, and
* Governments, i.e. ruling elites kill their own citizens, sometimes by their unwise vested policies as in Pakistan, and sometimes using the same weapons they manufacture or purchase with their citizens’ money as in Syria.
* Growing up beyond the boundaries of his own culture is the first precondition of a thinker.
* If your passion starts paying, it means it has the potential of becoming your profession.
* When fascism pervades the air, Philosophy is there to give solace.
* A government does eat our money; it eats our time also.
* When we read a book, and write about it, we try to recreate it, by negating it or by affirming it.
* A nation is known by the values which it not only espouses but follows both in letter and spirit.
* Presently a fierce fight is going on in the Human Mind – to broaden or
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So, this time Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) is on a mission to define Obscenity. It may be a political ploy and what’s the story behind the curtains the managers of TV and Radio channels must be knowing well. Also, the issue of Obscenity may be a covering fire and the intended target is something else, such as editorial independence of the electronic media in Pakistan. Better the electronic media should regulate itself and before the PEMRA comes in to strangulate its freedom!
Many a questions need to be raised about the character and mandate of PEMRA, and a 10 year report card is required to view its role as a facilitator.
The following piece was written in May 2004 and is still relevant:
PEMRA: Regulating the taste of people
The institution of government was founded to protect the life, liberty and property of citizens from the usurpers be
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This evening I finished reading, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, by James Rachels (McGraw-Hill College, 3
rd edition 1999; previous editions 1986, 1993).
I have read a number of books on Ethics; it’s quite different from all others. Though written for the students, it retains the philosophical tenor well. Not only Rachels discusses important arguments put forward by the important schools of moral philosophy, he contributes towards devising a new Moral Theory also.
Distinctively, he equates Morality with Reason. “It is an offense against morality because it is first an offense against reason.”
Have a look at the scheme of the book, not the contents of the chapters. Rachels starts each chapter with a relevant quotation which is enlightening. Copied are these quotations also along with the title of the chapters:
1. What is morality?
We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live.
[Socrates, as reported
It is no gainsaying that the government has completely failed the citizens of Pakistan by mismanaging the electricity generation and distribution. This government-made crisis is immeasurably hurting every aspect of the society. But there is no sign of any realization of the magnitude of the crisis on the part of the present government which through its 5 years of rule did nothing to resolve it.
The electricity tariff is directed upwards with no reason why it is being increased day by day. Somehow back in 2003 at least there was a bit of sense that it needed to be reduced, and a Task Force was formed to see into it. The Alternate Solutions Institute submitted a paper presenting its view on the nature of the crisis and suggested certain long-term policy measures. I wrote that paper, and afterwards also I wrote a number of articles on the electricity crisis.
In
My reading room is 11 X 9 feet. The wall on the left contains built-in-wall shelves measuring 10.5 X 3.4 inches. Against the front wall are placed two steel almirahs. They are all full of books, old, new, and on various subjects. Their number is irrelevant to the purpose of the present writing. Apart from technical subjects such as relating to physical, scientific and technological disciplines, I have books about many subjects and disciplines.
Let me make it clear: my passion is Philosophy, Literature and History. So, books on these subjects abound.
All these books were there randomly stuffed in various shelves. Not most of the times, but some of the times when I required a book, it used to take undue time to find it out of the heap. Also, my mind did not display all the books I had in my personal library, and when looking for a
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As the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has recently clearly identified
who are extremists and who are terrorists, and as these extremists and terrorists are waging a war in Pakistan to impose a world view of theirs on the people of Pakistan through the use of gun, this war in its truest meaning is a war against Virtue. Here are the arguments:
War against virtue
All coercion is part of the war against virtue unless morally and legally justified.
Our share of the terrorists or Taliban has perfected what we have been suffering in our country at smaller or somewhat larger scales for the last six decades: the moral policing. Sometimes it was individuals or well-knit groups, and sometimes it were governments that resorted to moral policing. However, now in the shape of Taliban, the moral policing has reached its climax, i.e. it has become
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