[Here is the part 4 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”] The Theory of Lesser Evil (TLE) is a manifestation of cynicism. As cynicism finds its meaning mainly in negativity and faultfinding, TLE too believes that everything is Evil; there is no Good. If everything is Evil, and there exists no Good, then what we […]
You can bring the rich to the level of the poor overnight but it takes a lifetime to lift the poor to the level of the rich.– Irish proverb During the 1970s, Pakistan went in for wholesale nationalization of its private enterprises, taking even educational institutions into the state’s hands. This was a move laden […]
[Here is the part 3 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”] The discussion of the political cynicism here focuses only on the sections of society which exercise influence on the formation of public opinion. These sections may be considered as the mainstay of political cynicism in Pakistan. As far as the general citizenry is concerned, […]
The credit for any reduction in poverty in the country goes to privatisation, de-regulation and liberalisation, not to the so called pro-poor expenditures. Over a period of five years between 1999-2004, the government of Pakistan spent Rs.1 trillion on poverty reduction. According to the Finance Ministry, Poverty Reduction Special Programme included budgetary and non-budgetary expenditures […]
Here is the 1st part of this article: Cynicism in Pakistan Cynicism and the politics in Pakistan Among other things, political cynicism destroys whatever little chance may exist for dialogue in a deteriorating situation. This I learned from our own company of friends. Frankly, that learning came at the cost of that company’s dissolution. Actually […]
It’s always been argued that there is no clergy among the Muslims. Is it so? Not the least! In fact, there is all the ‘required’ evidence available to defy this claim. Regardless of the positions and interpretations the Muslim scholars advocate in this respect, there always existed and still exists such a body of religiously […]
A Story of Complicity: Statistical Relationship between a Newspaper and a Politician * The writer supports freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of press as sort of absolute values. * This analysis by him is in good faith and may not be construed as intrusion in anyone’s privacy and freedom. * Since newspapers […]
Note: The day Benazir Bhutto was murdered, December 27, 2007, it was the day when all the semblance of government evaporated in Pakistan; there was widespread anarchy and uncertainty; there was arson, loot, and destruction. Fear prevailed. As if the life and property of ordinary citizens of this country were forsaken by the State! Here […]
This article was written last year in the wake of December 16 APS Tragedy to expose the Politicians’ inaction. It’s still relevant today on December 16, 2015. The road ahead is quite straight Beware of the politicians! They cannot think and act out of their politically blocked mentality! They are a victim of paradigms made […]
“I am a politician; I cannot commit any crime; I am perfectly innocent!” That is how, as we know at least in Pakistan, politicians argue. That manner of political self-defense clears the two-way traffic: criminals may become politicians; and, politicians may become criminals. Pakistanis have enough of both. And the breed is multiplying like rabbits. […]
The two noblest professions are teaching and politics. [Aristotle] Back in 2002 when the 35th Annual Session of Pakistan Philosophical Congress held in the Bukhari Auditorium, Government College (now G. C. University), Lahore. Dr. Naeem Ahmad was Secretary of the PPC (Dr. Naeem had been Chairman Department of Philosophy, University of the Punjab, Lahore), and […]
Here is the first part of this article: A depoliticized Pakistan on the rampage The 2nd and the final part: Depoliticization and its causes What’s a depoliticized Pakistan; how is it different from a politically apathetic Pakistan; how is it damaging both for the society and its state; who does now represent it, such questions were discussed […]
Note: I sent this piece of writing to all the newspapers one by one; none bothered to see it or use it, that I am justified to conclude! Why taxes are not a political issue in Pakistan? All the politics is about collecting and spending taxes; but unfortunately that reality does not translate into political […]
Note: This article was completed on December 31st, 2014, and was originally posted on this Blog in January 2015. Presently there is happening quite a serious debate on the 20 points envisaged in the National Action Plan. Its thrust is on two points: i) All these measures should have been in their place since long […]
Note: I completed this article on December 9, 2014, and wrote: “(Government) ought not to be afraid of martial law the prospects of which are zero presently, rather minus.” Now merely 9 months later the prospects of martial law have grown formidably positive; so what’s the game, politically speaking, let’s try to see: What’s the […]
Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Button says State Aristocracy is being promoted in Pakistan. Here is the story published in Pakistan Observer of September 21, 2015. Bank tax dubbed as irrational Monday, September 21, 2015 – Islamabad—Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Button Sunday said withholding tax (WHT) on bank transactions […]
This book was published by Alternate Solutions Institute in February this year. Originally it is in Urdu, Pakistan Mein Riyasti Ashrafiya Ka Urooj. After the
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Mamlukat-e-Ashrafiya Pakistan – Aik Aur
How vacuous the speeches and statements of state dignitaries look! But it is for them to inaugurate this or that thing, to make speeches! It
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Saqaafati Munaafqat
Lal Masjid is once again making headlines. This time it has been resurrected by the Supreme Court. As a result of a hearing of a
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Secularism is an old song that keeps reverberating in the liberal, enlightened, progressive, leftist, and socialist circles of Pakistan. Earlier this January news from Bangladeshthat
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For us living together requires neither love nor mercy, but rules of conduct; everything be it ideology, faith, or any system of thought, comes after
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How a police officer’s highhandedness in torturing someone special earns him the wrath of the State Aristocracy is evident from the following news: Defence-A SHO
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* The world needs to be changed into a world for individual persons, not for this or that genus of this or that community or
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Pasmaandagi Ki Kitaab
In a previous post, Riyasti Ashrafiya ka Pakistan – 1, a news item was highlighted. It was published in an Urdu daily Mashriq Peshawar on
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What has gone wrong with the US – erstwhile champion of individual freedom, world-renowned political cartoonist, Patrick Chappatte explains very well in this cartoon! This
Few days back (on November 3), I finished reading a rare and old book. If one wants to see a glimpse of the old world, read
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See the following report and be in the know what things are occupying the Prime Minister of Pakistan, no matter they are illegal or not,
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When creative spirit of a nation is arrested from within, it is as vulnerable to external insinuations as is to internal machinations, and can never
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Last night (November 2), I finished reading another book on Stoicism. It was first published in 1908 by Archibald Constable & Co., London. It belongs
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Day before yesterday (Oct 28) I finished reading, Stoicism, by Rev. W. W. Capes. It was published in 1880, as part of a series –
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Is it for the Supreme Court to see what’s happening to the citizens in Balochistan and Karachi? Or there is none to heed? It seems
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The street intellect as a rule and the scholarly intellect generally live and thrive on the staple food of Conspiracy Theories in Pakistan. Nothing is
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The states, or political elites, throughout the world, are successful: they have come to control almost all the aspects of individual citizen’s life in most
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Ashrafiya Ke Turray
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Riyasati Ashrafiya Ka Pakistan –
Pakistan is a victim of political parties whose motto is: politics of the mafia, by the mafia, for the mafia! Every moment and every day
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Halwaee Ki Dukan Ya Pakistan
On October 12, a letter appeared in The Frontier Post. Here is its text: “Hurdles of Pakistani bloggers Why Pakistani bloggers cannot enjoy journalists’ legal
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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!
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Paikaar – Meri Shayeri
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Riyasati Munafqat
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
Please note: This post has been shifted to the Urdu Blog – Civil Pakistan. To see it, click the link below: Shakhsi Hukoomat Ya Ayeen Aur
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
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* 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
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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
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This evening I finished reading, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, by James Rachels (McGraw-Hill College, 3rd edition 1999; previous editions 1986, 1993). I have read
