Articles Archive for February 2009
News & Politics »
Eighteen months of military operation has produced little results. The army achieved some significant successes last year, when they pushed out the militants from most of the areas, but an ill-fated peace deal signed by the provincial government allowed the militants to regroup and return to Swat.
Editorial, Opinion »
Why has it taken the government this long to respond to the desperate calls of the beleaguered people of Swat? Schools were being blown up every day, as were video parlours and barber shops. Taliban opponents were being disfigured, beheaded, and their bodies displayed at public squares. Women were being ordered to stay behind the chadar and chardivari or face the consequences and children were deprived of polio vaccines.
Arts & Culture, Movies »
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button seems as if it was designed with the awards season in mind.
News & Politics »
Though the main reason for Khwaja Hoti’s resignation was his rivalry with the chief minister’s family – which is headed by the latter’s father, former federal minister Azam Hoti – the nature of the allegations made by him against the ANP leadership could put the party on the defensive and damage its credibility. Khwaja Hoti isn’t known for his political maturity or the soundness of his decisions.
News & Politics »
Some military commanders contend that the May 21, 2008 peace accord that the ANP-PPP coalition government in the NWFP signed with the Swati Taliban gave enough time to the militants to regroup and redeploy. The peace agreement collapsed in July 2008 and a new military operation was launched. However, it failed to dislodge the militants and now the military is in the midst of its third big action in Swat.
News & Politics »
Police constables serving in Swat routinely place ads in local newspapers announcing their resignation from service to avoid a Taliban backlash.
Society »
Painter, printmaker, architect, professor and sculptor – the father of contemporary Pakistani art, Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq remains alive in the memories of those whose lives he touched in his eccentric but gentle ways.
The Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture commemorated his 10th death anniversary on January 20. Friends, family, students and colleagues gathered on the campus lawn, around the sculpture bequeathed by the artist, symbolising his vision for the school. Behind the sculpture, a large unfinished portrait of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, which has been hanging in Ardeshir Cowasjee’s house since Akhlaq’s death, stood facing the gathering.
Society »
Some of the boldest posters included one showing the swastika transforming into the Star of David – let’s not even try to imagine the reaction a Jew would have upon viewing it. Next, a poster on mass consumerism highlighted the Jewish monopoly over the global corporate culture, with the names of the corporations creating the lines of the Star of David.
Arts & Culture, Movies »
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi can be viewed at least once for the performance of King Khan.
News & Politics »
“I’m not in favour of the imposition of the Taliban-style Shariah,” he says, “but we must acknowledge the reality that there are parallel states running Swat. In a large part of Swat, the Taliban have already enforced their version of the Shariah. And I know the local people are happy with their form of Qazi courts where speedy justice is provided.”
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