In 1979, Nicaraguan soldiers stopped an American correspondent covering the deteriorating situation and summarily executed him. The American public was appalled, support for Anastasio Somoza flagged badly after that, and his regime soon collapsed. Similar dynamics may be underway in Pakistan. The murder in May of Asia Times Online’s Pakistani […]
BANGKOK: Irfanul Mulk may have been able to find temporary shelter in Thailand, but those who forced him out of Pakistan are now flexing their muscles to bring him back. Irfan, 27, left his village Taban in Punjab’s Sheikhupura district after he and his two brothers Furqanul Mulk, 21, and […]
As foreign reports claim that Pakistan is among the least secure countries for women, local NGO Aurat Foundation reports that violence against women decreased by 6.41% in 2010 compared to figures from 2009. The NGO’s report, titled Violence Against Women in Pakistan 2010, revealed the ‘surprising’ fact that 8,000 cases […]
Barelvi scholars have condemned both Osama bin Laden and the United States as “killers of thousands of Muslims”, while demanding the release of the “heroic” Mumtaz Hussan Qadri, the self-confessed killer of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. Speaking at the annual degree awarding ceremony at Aiwan-i-Iqbal for 40 religious scholars on Saturday night, Idara Sirat-i-Mustaqeem head Dr […]
More than 1,100 people have been shot dead in political violence in the Pakistani city of Karachi since the start of the year, campaigners say. The Human Right Commission of Pakistan criticised city officials for failing to stop the targeted killings. Much of the violence is associated with battles between […]
// Over the last many months, there has been a sudden surfacing of mutilated corpses bearing torture marks of students, political workers, rights activists, all who had earlier gone missing. – File Photo // http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?correlator=1309796368221&output=json_html&callback=GA_googleSetAdContentsBySlotForSync&impl=s&prev_afc=1&pstok=YvB5WAwWanMKBRDAlbcH&client=ca-pub-8258178831251847&slotname=Dawn_ROS_Banner&page_slots=Dawn_Home_Ip_top_728x90%2CDawn_ROS_Banner&cookie=ID%3D7bc0595e8816825a%3AT%3D1303908499%3AS%3DALNI_MaWM22AkqRAF5fH1tLDjMKxcxeZPw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2F2011%2F07%2F04%2Freluctant-pakistanis.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fdawn.com%2F&lmt=1309796367&dt=1309796370517&cc=100&biw=1007&bih=458&ifi=2&adk=2388668355&u_tz=120&u_his=14&u_h=768&u_w=1024&u_ah=738&u_aw=1024&u_cd=24&u_nplug=7&u_nmime=23&flash=10.0.2&gads=v2&ga_vid=1922897649.1309796021&ga_sid=1309796021&ga_hid=1539439516&ga_fc=true // Qadeer Baloch misses a thousand heartbeats each time he lifts the sheet of a […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani military continues to nurture a broad range of militant groups as part of a three-decade strategy of using proxies against its neighbors and American forces in Afghanistan, but now some of the fighters it trained are questioning that strategy, a prominent former militant commander says. […]
The True Concept of Islamic Jihad By: Laiq Ahmed atif Jihad is an Arabic word that means striving for a noble objective. With the study of the Holy Quran it becomes very clear that calling people for Jihad means striving for a noble cause and objective. It can be carried out in […]
A viral video of Ameer Jamat-e-Islami (JI) Munawwar Hassan defending the silence over the rape of women and condoning imprisonment of female rape victims if they fail to produce four male witnesses in accordance with the Hudood Ordinance, has deeply outraged many sane people in Pakistan. According to Hassan, if a woman cannot […]
Armed men on Friday kidnapped two Swiss in south-west Pakistan, news agencies reported. The two Swiss entered Baluchistan province from neighbouring Punjab province around 5pm local time and “had been registered by police at a check point” as tourists from Switerland, a local police official said. Their abandoned vehicle was […]
Two months after the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, posters emblazoned with images of the burning World Trade Center towers appeared at the country’s largest university advertising a literary contest to glorify the slain al-Qaida chief. Times of India LAHORE: Two months after the covert US raid […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Islam’s greatest threat comes from those who claim to be serving it – extremist militants, Shehrbano Taseer, daughter of slain Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, said June 27. Shehrbano said that militants, whom she repeatedly called “hate mongers,” have misinterpreted Islam. “Islam is a peaceful religion,” she said. […]
There was a time when Maajid Nawaz and T.J. Leyden would have never been in the same room, let alone share a stage and handshake. Nawaz was a British leader of the Hizb ul-Tahrir, a radical Islamic organization that recently made headlines for its alleged infiltration of Pakistan’s army. Leyden […]
SIALKOT: The intervention of ‘elders’ in Sialkot’s Urdu Bazaar may have prevented a riot, but a Christian family accused of blasphemy still fears for its safety. Gulzar Masih, who runs one of Sialkot’s oldest book depots, was accused of telling his employees to blaspheme. The accusation was made by Khurram, […]
ISLAMABAD: A top Taliban commander has threatened to carry out attacks on nine more key installations in Pakistan similar to the strike on Mehran Naval Base in Karachi to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden. “The revenge game has already been started from Pakistan. The attack on Mehran Naval Base […]
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan ranks 12th on an index of failed states around the globe, according to a new report prepared by the Fund for Peace, an independent non-profit research and educational organization that works to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security in the world. Its neighbor Afghanistan ranks seventh. […]
QUETTA: The hardcore sectarian outfits find the deteriorating security conditions in Balochistan, particularly in Quetta, conducive to target the Hazara-Shias. The violence against them is not ethnic but sect-based and confessions given to the police by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi cadres confirm this. http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/30/murders-of-faith-in-a-land-of-violence.html
The only cure for Qadianis (Ahmadis): Al Jihad Al Jihad… Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwat calendar, 2010 On June 10, 2011, the All Pakistan Students Khatm-e-Nubuwat (End of Prophethood) Federation issued pamphlets branding members of the Ahmadiyya community as “wajib-ul-qatl” (obligatory to be killed). The pamphlet, circulated in Faisalabad District of Punjab Province, […]
By Major (Retd) Zubair Khalil Khan Arrest of serving Army Brig. Ali Khan along with one Colonel and four Majors very explicitly certifies how deeply the Jehadis have penetrated the ranks and files of Pakistan Armed forces. Brig. Ali Khan currently posted at GHQ was heading the Army Rules […]
Pakistan is decorating bus stops with Koranic verses and Islamic calligraphy to give a more spiritual flavour to the capital Islamabad, long considered one of the country’s most liberal cities. The Capital Development Authority plans to roll out 100 new bus shelters – known locally as sunshades – painted with […]