Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged Terrorism on June 22, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Media outlets reported that 16 Pakistani Christians were kidnapped by militants in the NWFP on Saturday, although sources reported that they were released hours later. News reports differed on the number of people kidnapped. Although several sources, including The News, reported that 25 Christians were abducted, more recent wire services confirmed that the number was [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, Op-Eds, tagged Media on June 19, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Today, I happily stumbled upon an article on the DVD release of Pakistan’s “first slasher film” in the Washington Post’s metro-targeted publication, The Express. Originally entitled Zibahkhana, [which literally translates from Urdu to "Slaughterhouse"], the film’s official English title for Western consumption became “Hell’s Ground,” and was released last year. The Express, in its review [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, tagged Economy, Karachi on June 4, 2008 | 3 Comments »
A friend of mine referred to me a great series conducted by National Public Radio [NPR] this week. Entitled, “The Urban Frontier: Karachi,” Steve Inskeep, from NPR’s Morning Edition, aims to introduce people who are trying to reinvent one of Pakistan’s historic cities. NPR noted about Karachi, “It is a place where so many people [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged India, Kashmir on May 27, 2008 | 8 Comments »
On Sunday, Pakistan’s acclaimed rock band, Junoon, performed in Srinigar, the summer capital of the Indian-administered region of Jammu & Kashmir, (J&K). The concert, organized by the NGO, the South Asia Foundation, was “also a part of celebrations held to mark the inauguration of the Kashmir Study Institute at Kashmir University,” reported BBC News. Junoon was the [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged Education on May 5, 2008 | 6 Comments »
A friend directed me to a feature article in yesterday’s NY Times. Entitled, “Turkish Schools Offer Pakistan a Gentler Vision of Islam,” the article discussed the advent of Turkish schools that have come to Pakistan “with an entirely different vision of Islam. Theirs is moderate and flexible, comfortably coexisting with the West while remaining distinct [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, Contributions, tagged Economy on April 23, 2008 | 5 Comments »
There has been increasing concern growing over the global food crisis, which has affected numerous countries across the world, including Pakistan. This week’s Economist cover story [see attached image] noted, “For the first time in 30 years, food protests are erupting in many places at once.” Our contributor, Abida Mukhtar, a consultant based in Lahore, [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged Media, PEMRA on April 11, 2008 | 5 Comments »
On Friday, Pakistan’s government moved to lift harsh restrictions on the media that were imposed by President Pervez Musharraf during his emergency rule in November 2007. The PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) amendment bill, introduced by Information minister Sherry Rahman, proposed “an end to curbs on live broadcasts and punishments for journalists ranging [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged Balochistan on April 6, 2008 | 4 Comments »
The volatile situation in Balochistan can be described as Pakistan’s “forgotten conflict,” a title most recently bestowed by the International Crisis Group in October 2007, when the organization wrote,
“Violence continues unabated in Pakistan’s strategically important and resource-rich province of Balochistan, where the military government is fighting Baloch militants demanding political and economic autonomy. President Pervez [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged AQ Khan, Nuclear on April 2, 2008 | 3 Comments »
On Wednesday, a very interesting interview in Pakistan’s The Nation garnered the attention of several Western media outlets. In the interview, published today by The Nation’s Urdu language newspaper, Nawa-i-Waqt, Pakistan’s infamous nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, (widely known as AQ Khan) said he hoped to be freed by the new Pakistani government and called [...]
Posted in Backgrounders, News Briefs, tagged PPP, PML-N, Coalition on March 26, 2008 | 3 Comments »
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s The News reported that the ruling party of the country’s new coalition government, the Pakistan People’s Party, “will set up a new institution for accountability after abolishing the National Accountability Bureau.” All pending cases in the NAB against [former PPP stalwarts who switched over to the PML-Q] Faisal Saleh Hayat and Aftab [...]
