Presently, the foreign policy issues of Pakistan include Afghanistan, drones, internationalisation of the Balochistan crisis, nuclear proliferation and the global war on terror.
Pakistan had come into being in 1947 on the back of what its founders called the ‘Two Nation Theory.’ The Theory was culled from the 19th Century writings of modernist Muslim reformists in India who, after the collapse of the Muslim Empire in South Asia, began to explain the region’s Muslims as a separate political, cultural, and, of course, religious entity (especially compared to the Hindu majority of India). This scholarly nuance, inspired by the ideas of the nation-state introduced by the British Colonialists, gradually evolved into becoming a pursuit to prepare a well-educated and resourceful Muslim middle-class in the region.
Eventually, with the help from sections of the Muslim landed elite in India, the emerging Muslim middle-classes turned the idea into a movement for a separate Muslim homeland comprised of those areas where the Muslims were in a majority in India. However, when the country’s founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah - a western-educated lawyer and head of the All India Muslim League (AIML) - navigated the Movement towards finally reaching its main goal of carving out a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia, he was soon faced with an awkward fact: There were more Muslims in India than there were in the newly created Muslim-majority country of Pakistan.Jinnah was conscious of this fact when he delivered his first major address to the country’s Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947.Though during the Movement some factions of his party had tweaked the Two Nation Theory to also mean that the Muslims of India desired an Islamic State, Jinnah was quick to see the contradiction in this claim, simply because more Muslims had either been left behind in India or refused to migrate to Pakistan. Islam during the Movement was largely used as an ethnic card to furnish and flex the separate nationhood claims of the Muslims. It was never used as a theological roadmap to construct an Islamic State in South Asia. In his August 11 speech, Jinnah clearly declared that in Pakistan the state will have nothing to do with matters of the faith and Pakistan was supposed to become a democratic Muslim-majority nation state.He went on to add: ‘ … you will find that in course of time (in Pakistan) Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims; not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.’Some extraordinary circumstances (World War II, the receding of British Colonialism and rising tensions between the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities in India) had combined to hand Jinnah a Muslim-majority country that had fewer Muslims compared to those who stayed behind in India.Within this Muslim community were various sects and sub-sects with their own understanding and interpretations of the faith. Then, the country also had multiple ethnicities, cultures and languages - some of them being more ancient than Islam itself! Keeping all this in mind, Jinnah’s speech made good sense and exhibited a remarkable understanding of the complexities that his new country had inherited. But it seems many of his close colleagues were still in the Movement mode. A number of League members thought that with his August 11 speech, Jinnah was being a bit too hasty in discarding the Islamic factor from the new equation and opting to explain the new country as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Muslim-majority state.
As the Bengalis went on strike and held widespread demonstrations protesting the contradiction in the government’s decision, Jinnah ordered that the Bengali writing system (close to Vedic and classic Sanskrit) be replaced with Arabic script and even with the Roman script. It was as if the government was suggesting that Bengali could not be adopted as the national language because its writing system looked too much like that of Hindi. Jinnah’s desperate attempt to replace the Bengali writing system was vehemently challenged by Bengali intellectuals and politicians and he had to beat a hasty retreat on the issue. But Urdu did become the national language. The Bengalis’ resentment found immediate sympathisers within other non-Punjabi and non-Mohajir ethnic communities.
Sindhi, Pushtun (and eventually Baloch) intelligentsia were alarmed by the way the state and government had treated the Bengalis’ demands, and foresaw the same happening to their own languages and ethnic cultures. But instead of anticipating future fissures in the country on ethnic lines, the League (after Jinnah’s death), became even more myopic and wallowed in its self-serving naivety about using Islam as a slogan that was supposed to dissolve ethnic nationalism among the Muslim majority of the country. The slogan might have worked to haphazardly pull together the Muslim minority of various ethnicities and cultural leanings of India during the Pakistan Movement; but there was no guarantee that it would be able to do the same in a country where this minority had become an overwhelming majority. Ideally a system and constitution advocating direct democracy should have been worked out to facilitate and streamline the political and cultural participation of all ethnicities in the nation-building process. But this wasn’t done. Political and cultural expressions of ethnicity were immediately treated as being threats to the unity of the nation and the answer to this threat, ironically, came from elements, most of who were once staunchly against the creation of Pakistan. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, though steeped in the progressive Modernist Muslim tradition of Sir Syed’s ‘Aligarh School of Thought,’ was, however, willing to continue to use Islam selectively to maintain the cherished unity of the Muslim majority of Pakistan. Being a Mohajir, he wasn’t the ‘son of the soil.’ Meaning, unlike most Sindhis, Pushtuns, Punjabi, Baloch and Bengalis, he was born outside of what eventually became Pakistan and didn’t have a large constituency based on language and ethnicity in the country. So it is understandable why the notion of Islam being a unifying factor was important to him.But the question was what kind of Islam?
Former Pakistan foreign secretary Shahryar Khan and former Indian diplomat Satinder K. Lambah are reported to be meeting in Dubai today to ease tensions between the two countries and firm up a planned meeting between Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Manmohan Singh leaders in New York next month.
Why Dubai?According to the paper, the Nawaz Sharif government has been keen from the outset to remain engaged with India and to move forward through constructive and result-oriented dialogue.
ramana wrote:Dawood Ibrahim will host them both.
Doobai is like the space port cafe in Star Wars where all the dregs hangout and double cross each other without conscience.
The scum bag in his previous avatarAccording to reports, unknown gunmen targeted the veteran politician near Zero Point in the federal capital
JKLF Yasin Malik met chief of Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed... He appreciated the effort of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who took great interest to introduce the Kashmir issue on international level in the capacity of former Federal Minister
So, one after another, those who thought of themselves as the greenest are being shown by the 'greener than the greenest' that they are not so. The list is impressive. Fazlur rehman, Qazi Hussain, Munawar Hasan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed et al. The rogue gallery is being built.anupmisra wrote:Bach gaya sala
Sheikh Rasheed escapes unhurt in firing attackAccording to reports, unknown gunmen targeted the veteran politician near Zero Point in the federal capital
TSP is a bundle of contradictions because it always wanted to fit its square peg of the exclusivist new religious identity in the inclusivist round hole of millennia of history, culture, heritage, legacy and common ancestry.Jhujar wrote:The Pakistan IEDddodology: History of a grand concoction
Yeh NC Inbreds Abhi Tukk Ro Rahe Hain
Jinnah ordered that the Bengali writing system (close to Vedic and classic Sanskrit) be replaced with Arabic script and even with the Roman script. It was as if the government was suggesting that Bengali could not be adopted as the national language because its writing system looked too much like that of Hindi. Jinnah’s desperate attempt to replace the Bengali writing system was vehemently challenged by Bengali intellectuals and politicians and he had to beat a hasty retreat on the issue. But Urdu did become the national language. The Bengalis’ resentment found immediate sympathisers within other non-Punjabi and non-Mohajir ethnic communities.
Sindhi, Pushtun (and eventually Baloch) intelligentsia were alarmed by the way the state and government had treated the Bengalis’ demands, and foresaw the same happening to their own languages and ethnic cultures.
He does have quite a background.Gus wrote:shaik rasheed - isn't he the guy who boasted of running a safehouse for jihadis on their way to kashmir?
But, you see, all that 'green' effort has come to a nought. He came under the cross hairs of the bad Taliban as early as c. 2008 when GoP issued a threat warning.Joseph wrote:He does have quite a background.Gus wrote:shaik rasheed - isn't he the guy who boasted of running a safehouse for jihadis on their way to kashmir?
Pakistan's ex-minister detained in US airport used to train J&K jihadis
Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government to bar President Asif Ali Zardari from leaving the country to enable him to be present for a court hearing on the Abbottabad Commission revelations.
The apex court has barred Zardari from leaving the country over the investigations to be held on the Abbottabad operation conducted by the United States on May 2, 2011 to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Express Tribune reports.
Oh. . . Zardari made a mistake. He should not have waited till the end. He knew it was coming in some form or another. One by one, other things will be raked up as immunity disappears. However, the SC may not have any authority to prevent the President from leaving the country. It is only trying to act with alacrity. It seems to have exceeded its brief here. If, however, PML-N takes the bait, then Zardari is going to be confined to his country for some time to come.pankajs wrote:Pakistan Supreme Court bars President Asif Ali Zardari from leaving Pakistan over Abbottabad court hearingPakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government to bar President Asif Ali Zardari from leaving the country to enable him to be present for a court hearing on the Abbottabad Commission revelations.
The apex court has barred Zardari from leaving the country over the investigations to be held on the Abbottabad operation conducted by the United States on May 2, 2011 to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Express Tribune reports.
The report presented by the attorney general mentioned a new group in Karachi, the Muhajir Republican Army. The report called for action against members of the group when they were identified.
A report published in Jang newspaper by Agha Khaild revealed that some officers and an activist of the naval intelligence had formed a gang which was kidnapping traders and industrialists and receiving a huge ransom. The kidnapped persons used to be kept in the headquarters of naval intelligence, adjacent to the Chief Minister’s house in Karachi.
Naval Intel HQ is the best 'safe house' just like GHQ is at Pindi or the other HQ at Aabpara.pankajs wrote:While there are always bad apples what is surprising is that the headquarters of naval intelligence was used to keep the kidnapped persons. How does one explain that? I can understand one of their safe houses being used, away from the prying eyes of higher-ups.
Kiyani is around till November, & Zardari's term ends in September. I think he's safe.SSridhar wrote:Pakistan Supreme Court bars President Asif Ali Zardari from leaving Pakistan over Abbottabad court hearingPakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) has issued a notice to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government to bar President Asif Ali Zardari from leaving the country to enable him to be present for a court hearing on the Abbottabad Commission revelations.
The apex court has barred Zardari from leaving the country over the investigations to be held on the Abbottabad operation conducted by the United States on May 2, 2011 to kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Express Tribune reports.
Oh. . . Zardari made a mistake. He should not have waited till the end. He knew it was coming in some form or another. One by one, other things will be raked up as immunity disappears. However, the SC may not have any authority to prevent the President from leaving the country. It is only trying to act with alacrity. It seems to have exceeded its brief here. If, however, PML-N takes the bait, then Zardari is going to be confined to his country for some time to come.
They should ban the phone and the TV and the electricity ..Pakistan’s telecom regulator has directed all companies to discontinue voice and text chat packages to stop youth from indulging in activities “contrary to the moral values of society.”
[<=/quote]A report published in Jang newspaper by Agha Khaild revealed that some officers and an activistof the naval intelligence had formed a gang which was kidnapping traders and industrialists and receiving a huge ransom. The kidnapped persons used to be kept in the headquarters of naval intelligence, adjacent to the Chief Minister’s house in Karachi.
:He once boasted of running a terror training camp in his house.anupmisra wrote:Bach gaya sala
Sheikh Rasheed escapes unhurt in firing attackThe scum bag in his previous avatarAccording to reports, unknown gunmen targeted the veteran politician near Zero Point in the federal capital
Yasin Malik meets Sheikh Rashid Ahmed
JKLF Yasin Malik met chief of Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed... He appreciated the effort of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who took great interest to introduce the Kashmir issue on international level in the capacity of former Federal Minister
This sort of loose talk(which might not be loose in the speaker's mind) shows the strength of conflict economy in Rawalpindi/Islamabad IMO.Smita Prakash @smitaprakash 28 Aug
@filter_c see Sheikh Rashid intvw : threatens birds won't sing flowers won't bloom for a 100 years in India.
SSji,SSridhar wrote: I expect a 'NO' from Nawaz Sharif..
Habalji,habal wrote: Kiyani is around till November, & Zardari's term ends in September. I think he's safe.
After his return from exile, Nawaz Sharif has shown some maturity in local politics. He entered into a deal with the PPP on democratic charter, largely stuck to it though PPP ditched him, supported the 18th amendment to the Constitution as an opposition party, has gone smoothly with Zardari as President in the last few months etc. Compared to the days when his supporters drove out CJP Justice Shah literally and physically from the premises of the SC, his behaviour nowadays is vastly mature. I expect him therefore to realize that the SC cannot take unconstitutional administrative actions that can also rebound on himself later even though it may look attractive for him to go along with the SC now to decimate the PPP or the Bhutto clan.Mahesh_R wrote:Any reason why NS will say NO ?
Is it to control the judiciary ?
I am sure he does not want to meet the same fate of grooper in one case or the other.