Archive for December, 2009
heer ranjha or terror, taliban and totay – where is Pakistan’s cinema?
I just returned from the cinema watching Boz Salkyn, a Kyrgyz movie – a simple story about bride-kidnapping, love and the Kyrgyz people. It has some Heer Ranja aspects. It’s emotional, completely a-political without the aim to critizice society, the state or question religion
The Regional Perspective
I was reading today’s DieZeit articles on Afghanistan, in particular the current discussions in Germany going on over the air strike on petrol trucks in Kunduz and wondering how here in Central Europe the war in Afghanistan is primarily a war over our morale. As McChrystal has suggested we are leading a completely people-centred COIN [...]
History of Durand Line
An insight into areas around Durand Line – the borderline dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan – their history and problems over many centuries and solutions applied. Read full article.
Forgotten Promise – Pankaj Mishra on Kashmir
Pankaj Mishra writes about the neglect of the Kashmir issue on the wide political scale, especially in light of increased focus on the AfPak area from the West that always seems to mention the Kashmir issue as a basis to the problem but never addresses it directly (similarly to the Nuclear Arms threat that Seymour [...]
Dog in the well
In Punjabi folklore there is story of a dog that fell into the village well and died. People asked a wise-man what they should do so that the water doesn’t get infected and people suffer from the diseases because of the dead dog. The wise-man asked them to take out 100 bucket loads of water from well so the [...]
reason vs. polemics – how Pakistani intellectuals face the looming US approach on their country
Qalandar Bux Memon has recently published an article commenting on Hillary Clinton’s visit and her statements in Pakistan. Read it here at the Samosa, but it was also published in DAWN and referred to by Yasir here. I recieved emails from Pakistani Leftist Political Activists who praised the article and I guess it was cheered [...]
Which way, Taliban?
Which way, Taliban? [Article] Flipping the Taliban. Fotini Christia and Michael Semple, July/August 2009, Foreign Affairs Volume 88, Number 4. “For many Taliban fighters, insurgency has nothing to do with Islamic zealotry; it is a way of life.” [Article] Know Thine Enemy – Why the Taliban Cannot Be Flipped. Barbara Elias, November 2 2009, Foreign [...]
on Minarets
1) The first and one of only 4 minarets in Switzerland belongs to the Mahmud Masjid in Balgrist, up towards Forch. Now here in Switzerland, people are scared of the “signs of muslim power” -in Pakistan, this Masjid wouldn’t even be considered Islamic. It is run by the Ahmaddiya, which by law, is considered non-muslim [...]
Twitter
Facebook
RSS
Recent Comments: