The contribution public school textbooks make to the production of narrow-minded elements, even if all of them do not become suicide bombers, has not received due attention. It is time this attitude was abandoned.
The contribution public school textbooks make to the production of narrow-minded elements, even if all of them do not become suicide bombers, has not received due attention. It is time this attitude was abandoned.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz was one of the most prominent Pakistani poets who won unparalleled global acclaim. He symbolised all that is humane, dignified, refined, brave and challenging and patriotic in Pakistani society. His poetry reflects his intellectual resentment and resistance against an unjust and archaic social order which he rejects on rational grounds as anti human; yet it has no bitterness. The year 2011 will be the 100th birth anniversary of Faiz. The mission of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) of Pakistan is to hold Faiz centenary celebrations throughout the year 2011.
A recent report by Freedom House, Policing Belief: The Impact of Blasphemy Laws on Human Rights examines the human rights implications of domestic blasphemy and religious insult laws using the case studies of seven countries—Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Poland—where such laws exist both on paper and in practice. Excerpts from the Pakistan section are posted below.
Now Kashmir, caught between the influence of militant Islam from Pakistan and Afghanistan, America’s interests in the region and Indian nationalism (which is becoming increasingly aggressive and “Hinduized†), is considered a nuclear flash point. It is patrolled by more than half a million soldiers and has become the most highly militarized zone in the world.
There are only two ways to proceed with the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, says Supreme Court lawyer Rakesh Shukla: retain it or scrap it. Tempering it with pleas to refrain from ‘excessive use of force’ etc will simply not work with an army trained to inflict maximum damage
0 | ... | 6730 | 6735 | 6740 | 6745 | 6750 | 6755 | 6760 | 6765 | 6770 | ... | 8495