An economy growing at an average of 7 percent for six years now with a construction and consumer boom, a rising middle-class that has just voted out a government, a free press, a thriving fashion scene. Another emerging market star?
Yes, but this is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, better known these days for its suicide bombings, a nuclear arsenal and labelled as the epicentre of Islamist extremism including perhaps the last redoubt of Osama bin Laden in the lands straddling the Afghan border. “Jihadistan” as one reader wrote on this blog. 
What is the reality ? Are there two Pakistans? Is it really Pakistan: Now or Never ? Or is the image of Pakistan clouded by TV pictures of blood and gore in its streets, feeding insecurities while shutting out the important political, economic and social transformations that are underway in a nation of 150 million people.
Author William Dalrymple travels through the harsh scrublands of Sindh, home to Kalashnikov-wielding landlords and honour killings, and then back up the Punjab and he doesn’t find a country flirting with state failure or anything even approaching the “most dangerous country in the world” as it has been so commonly branded in recent months, right down to a group by that name on Facebook.
Instead, as he writes in the New York Review of Books, he found a countryside that “was no less peaceful and prosperous than that on the other side of the Indian border”, and a far cry from the violent instability of post-occupation Iraq or Afghanistan. Pakistan’s cities are changing beyond recognition with shopping malls, expensive cars, and a burgeoning fashion scene with gay designers and amazingly beautiful women, he says.
And capping all this is a middle class that grew almost out of nowhere in a country once famously known as the land of 22 big feudal families, one of them the Bhuttos, for the absolute political and economic power they wielded. And it is this enriched and empowered urban middle class that has finally moved from their “living rooms onto the steets, from dinner parties to political parties,” Dalrymple writes, leading a lawyers’ movement that swelled into a full-scale pro-democracy campaign that has arguably seen off a military dictatorship
Shades of India, the world’s most populous democracy? No, this is Pakistan, but then the world prefers its stereotypes simple. India successful, secular and forward-looking; Islamic Pakistan, a failure. Are they really different, is it time to break down the stereotypes then?
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DEMOCRACY, PLURALISM and DIALOGUE
We all know and should know the importance of these principals. We are used to hear all these principles in the media, seminars, Academies and institutions. In the current global scenario, it is an “esoteric” may be the “exoteric” fact that we are playing with all these beautiful TERMS and rhitorics to fulfill our own interests and become powerful, other wise we are abusing these beautiful terms. Economically, on humanitarian ground, in health facilities, Education and in standard of living WE ARE ALL NON DEMOCRATIC, UN PLURALISTIC and RADICALS. These are jargons repeated to easily access the resources, to exploite the ignorants and to INFLUENCE the world to achieve the goal which may be pure personal and intrinsic.
Let the INTELLECTUALS come forward to expose the imposters, to identify the HANDS and BRAINS behind the actual scenes. May be things are not as are played and displayed.
S. Nazar Fatimi Chitral
- Posted by s nazar FatimiTerrorism, Radicalism, Fundamentalism is the remnants of the CRUSADERS and the Christians who continued Holy Wars against their brother community the AMBIGEANS who followed different, balanced, and non radical idea about CHRIST and the GOD. Further the CRUSADERS fought against the Muslim world for more or less than 200 hundred years in the pretext to liberate the HOLY CITY while the Holy City was always opened for them for pilgrim, and they offered every facility to stay there as guest of the Muslims and even the Jews. The crusaders used to eat the flash of the Muslims and the butchered Muslims were distributed as ration as indicated even by the western historians. Now the Holy City is there but they don’t care about.
- Posted by s nazar FatimiFurther Radicalism, Terrorism and killing the public figures and cultural representatives was carried out by the Iranian and Syrian Fida,i Ismailis specially the Nizari Ismailis. They adopted this killing Modus Operandi to gain power as a megalomania.
Before the advent of Pakistan or any other Islamic country no such example of Radicalism, Fundamentalism and terrorism was prevailed in any corner of the Islamic World.
The present phase of terrorism, radicalism, and fundamentalism started when in the WEST the Idea of Clash of Civilization was adopted by the elements having political interest, undergrounds, Mafias and conspirators who were ambitious to snatch the immense resources of the world of this area. The second motive behind was RISING of CHINA as a super power.
Without generating pseudo Taaliban the Americans and Westerns could not proceed forward, and could achieve their goal. Even in Pakistan the the ruling elites who could not give the country a system in the 60 years were so allured by the influx of dollars that they offered their services to destabilize the area.
These elements themselves are very strong and stable but the country they ruled is the weakest of the world even being an atomic power. This atomic power was also abused and used to grip the country and the nation not to gain the national pride. Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq are there to sell the nation for dollars. The Americans and the Westerners themselves not do dirty things, but they select/choose people like our elites and rulers to do these dirty things in the disguise of Taliban or Terrorists. Community, Jamaats, Tablighee, Islami and Ulema are not involved not directly nor indirectly in these dirty activities.
Millions Dollars, twenty truck ammunitions, hundred truck ration, intact logistic system, target identification, correct linkages and communication system, sophisticated guide line system is not simply maneuvered by the so called Taliban themselves. It is the Institutions and their co-ordinted and integrated system which is sustainable, durable and directional. Other wise a group of troop may have driven them out in a single day or two.
Please STOP to befool the world. Esoterically all know, that you are befooling them.
S. Nazar Fatimi
AllAH WILL SUSTAIN AND MAINTAIN PAKISTAN. THE CONSPIRACY OF THE ENEMIES OUTER AND INSIDE WILL RESULT IN FAILURE. I FORESEE PAKISTAN COME OUT OF THESE GAUGMIRE AND DEVIL FORCES. YES, MAN PROPOSED GOD DISPOSES. WHO ASSISTED PAKISTAN CAME INTO BEING BUT ALLAH AND THE NATION ITSELF. AT THAT TIME WE HAD NO FORCES AND ARMY AND WE WERE MORE STRONG. NOW WE BEING ATOMIC AND THE WEAKEST NATION. IT IS NOT THE FAULT OF THE NATION MD COMMUNITY. IT BECAUSE THE COUNTRY RULED BY THE STOOGES OF THE ALIEN POWER WHOME WERE SAID TO SELL EVEN THEIR….BY THE AMERICANS WHO TESTED THEM MANY TIMES AND IN MANT WAYS. THENATION IS ALL RIGHT INSPITE OF ITS FAULTY AND UNINTEGRATED POLITICAL, JUDICIAL,EDUCATIONAL AND SECURITY SYSTEM. THINGS R OFTEN HAPPENED AS THEY R PREDICTED,PLANNED AND RIRECTED. SO WILL BE HERE. FEEL CONSTRUCTIVE, ein humm bigzarad (persian Quot), THE MIST AND FOGGY ATMOSPHERE WILL VANISH AND THE SUN WIKK RISE BEYOND THE CLOUD.
- Posted by S Nazar FatimiS. NAZAR FATIMI, CHITRAL
I SAY THE WISDOM, RULE OF LAW, HUMANITY, ISLAM AND HARMONIOUS DEVELOPMENTS WILL PREVAIL AND THE COUNTRY INSPITE OF ALL ITS ODDS WILL FLOURISH. IT WILL OCCUR AS WAS OCCURED IN 1947. ALL THE DEVIL FORCES WILL BE UNIMAGINABLY WILL BE DEFEATED AND THE NATION WILL BE FLORISHED AND PROGRESS AND WILL JOIN THE CIVILISED NATIONS. YES, ALL HURTING AND DEMAGING THE THE NATION BUT THE SAVOIR IS THE MOST POWERFUL.
- Posted by S Nazar FatimiS. FATIMI
Yes ! ALLAH has blessed Pakistan and GRACED with immence potentials. It may have been proved a great nation like JAPAN and China BUT four VIRUSES clung to this country which was the DREAM of IQBAL and Achievement of QUID E AZAM and non combatant muslim community of India. At that time all were muslims and became pakistani. Now we have turned into BEGGERS, the NATIONHOOD has been dissolved, NO JUSTICE, even the judges are craving for JUSTICE, Atomic Power But we have been defeated by the most WEAK enemy like Hindustan many times on whome we had governed for a thousand years. No culprit of Pakistan yet been punished and No TRAITOR put to justice. On the contrary the lovers of the country martyred i.e Hakim Saeed, Salahud Din, Air Chief, General of Medical Core etc etc who were true Pakistanis .
The four viruses GENERALS, (unjust) JUDGES, JAGIRDAARS, and JOURNALISTS. All these sucked Pakistan like vampire and NOW the American’s new element Mullah has emerged who is being trained, supported, sponsored, given target and monitored very precisely and with entire sophistication. They are financed , powered and given VIP treatment. There is ALHAMDU LILLAH No JI, JUI/P or Tablighee among them. They are American Oriented and SOPHISTs. Americans, Isreal and Indian R named for the current ugly crises BUT all would say, it is impossible without some power element co-ordination from within with immence RESOURCES and LOGISTIC SUPPORT, INFORMATIONS, LINKAGES and SAFE and protected HEAVENs.
Have you heard any culprit from thousands put to justice and punished? The Elites and the snatchers of the public exchequer now sending their mony out, and NOT BRINGING TO PAKISTAN to escape and leave the boat in huddle. The Army ruled the country Directly and Indirectly for decades, never mind BUT could not give system/SOP to the country. The Above FIVE elements are the most POWERFUL BUT Pakistan is weakening day by day. Some individuals and Institutions are more powerful than LAW. There is no law,no marshal law, no Islamic system, no democracy(merely civilian rule is NO democracy), no security, no peace, no employment, no leadership, no certainty, no institution to secure the country or save the people from being butchered openly in the CHOWK. What an ironic being an atomic power. The Americans have planned to destroy by the pretext to save the world declaring our country as virus and source of problem. In NWFP Taliban and in KARACHI MQM were not established by themselves, They were engineered and generated. Then who else left to protect PAKISTAN ? YES I hope and it is my PURE REASON that the victory be to ALLAH and the OTHERS will themselves be ruined. We have left NO STRAW UNTURNED to destroy it and accumulated for ourselves BILLIONS, a lot of new Jagirdaars and Industrialist have emereged. The people of Pakistan are the most patriotic, sacrificers and loyal but the MENACE are the ABOVE ELEMENTS. What would you say ??? S. Nazar
- Posted by S Nazararticle…
Some hotels don’t conforms the descriptions, that is why real reviews of people who stayed there are very useful….
- Posted by articleWhen Pakistan was created back in 1947 - many prominent Indian and British figures such as Earl Mountbatten thought it wouldn’t survive. And why would it? A poor country, uneducated workforce, no industry and no institutions. Thankfully Quaid-E-Azam M. A. Jinnah worked hard enough to give us some semblence of a state before passing away.
Despite what the Western media says, we want our country to be sucsessful and prosperous. We’re told women are second class citizens and can’t walk on the street on thier own. That’s Saudi Arabia - not Pakistan. Go to any Bazaar in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad et al, at the weekend and all you’ll see is women shopping and buying clothes. The majority of graduates from Pakistani medical schools are women (with MBBS degrees).
Treatment of minorities is another major concern for the world media. Cricketers have the highest status in our country. Our best batsman - Mohammad Yousaf (Youhana) - was a christian who converted to Islam. Our best spinner is Danish Kaneria - a practising Hindu. The last chief justice of Pakistan was Rana Bhagwandas (Hindu). And a lot of prominent business men from Karachi (city of over 10 million) are Hindus and Parsis. Hardly a society where minorities are treated like animals. While there are people who discriminate against them - they exist in every country.
Peace
- Posted by S. AhmedThere is absolutely no doubt that Pakistan is a peace-loving state that is on the rise, It has the potential to be the next Japan, That being said the neighbours of Pakistan namely India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh must reconcile themselves to the existence of the Pakistani nation state. Only when India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh love thier own countries more than they hate Pakistan can there ever be a meaningful peace in South Asia. The western world has its own guilty conscience with regard to Pakistan, After utiziling Pakistan’s geostrategic advantages during the cold-war with the USSR they have now taken Pakistan hostage again to do its bidding in the War on Terrorism, Pakistan as a State abhors terrorism but will never-ever allow any country to interfere in its internal affairs, no matter what the consequences. If there is one thing the world can learn from Pakistan, It is that no-matter what obstacles are thrown in the way of Pakistan, But overcomes the obstacle and is always ready to overcome the next one. We are a resilient and proud nation that desires nothing more or less than to live in peace in the comity of nations and let others live in peace and honour.
- Posted by Dr Idris Shah EbrahimiI, being a Pakistani, am extremely ashamed of Musharraf. The parliament should expel him from the position of President immediately. I don’t see why national interests of a rogue communist authoritarian state like China to be more important than the the security of all countries in South and Southeast Asia. Musharraf has allowed China to build a deep sea port in Gwadar and as if this was not enough he is allowing China to build rail and road links into Pakistan under the name of trade.
History is being created as we speak and if we spinelessly bow down in front of a belligernat regime of China, I have no doubt that it would be opening up the way for Chinese invasion into Pakistan for our natural resources. I hope Pakistan does not become the “next Tibet” to be occupied or rather peacefully liberated by China in a few decades.
The best solution is a Free Tibet and a Free Xinjiang. The world should give them a chance and a helping hand to come out extreme oppression at the hands of the Communists. It is possible only with a unified and coordinated attack by the whole world on diplomatic, military, ecnonomic fronts.
- Posted by Adeel KhanI am a proud Indian, a proud Hindu and to tell you the truth it is really heartening to know that Pakistan is not all Taliban and Al-Qaeda only. I really appreciate Pakistanis taking pride in their secular credentials, free press, fashion and off course beautiful women. I would love to know a lot more about your beautiful country from you guys. You people are music to ears after all those sermons from Osama Bin Laden. Most of the Indians like me and there are many would like to see a secular economically thriving stable Pakistan in their neighborhood. I know there are awesome expressways in Pakistan and the more you will have the better for India as it gives our politicians some kind of benchmark to achieve. Most of the Indians do not have any grudge against Pakistanis, there are some issues with Pakistan as a country, its Military and ISI, even you as people of Pakistan know that, but as a Pakistani you are most welcome in India. Your artists, cricketers and many others already know that. There are lot Pakistani guys dating Indian women, I hope some day we less fortunate guys from India have a chance to date your beautiful women as well.
- Posted by Bijan AroraTo all the Indians and Pakistanis out there, every house has its problems, but lets keep the neighborhood clean and friendly. Stop throwing stones at each other. Lets live and grow in peace.
This article regarding Pakistan is in contrast to what I have read about the country recently. Like most countries, I imagine it to have it’s beautiful scenery and good food of course. I imagine most people to want what is best and safest for themselves and their children. (Except for those that believe in honour killing of their children). I believe Pakistan would be worth visiting one day. But how is a ‘westerner’ viewed by the everyday person over there? How safe would it be for a westerner to walk the street by him/herself? Many westerners would only view Pakistan from what is in the media. Do women by themselves or with others walk the streets of the capital there without fear of attack during the middle of the day? I understand there would be the criminal element - just like every other town or city in the world, but the prevelence of suicide bombings and attacks on foreigners is very rare and some places non existent in many european and asian / pacific countries (unless certain irrational and insane groups have their way). I look forward to reading more views.
- Posted by Conscientious ObserverIn response to morbidblack’s comments, I must say that it seems he believes all he reads, especially biased opinions that he reads about Pakistan. I think if he follows cricket he must know of Danish Kaneria who is a hindu playing for Pakistan. I personally know successful hindu businessmen living in Karachi. extremism also exists in India, otherwise the Babri mosque incident and the horrific Gujrat riots would not have taken place. Mr. morbidblack is quite mistaken in his opinion when he says that Pakistanis are enamored with India, yes they enjoy bolloywood movies and I think we are glad that we have a Muslim nation of our own where we are proud to be Pakistanis and have our own identity. And Mr. Morbidblack needs to brush up his history on Kashmir. India has it’s insecurities, no wonder bollywood has come up with countless anti-pakistan movies relating to the Kashmir issue, showing Pakistan as the huge villan as if India has been the innocent bystander.
- Posted by Narjis AhmedPakistan is a country deeply embroiled in muslim fanaticism whether the author or other Pakistani’s want to admit it. Though things might be changing, it will never change to the extent that it becomes a free society like the west or India because from it’s beginning Pakistan has always been and always will be an ISLAMIC REPUBLIC. Its law are based on the Sharia which can be argued that they do not favor women in the least bit.
Though Pakistan has a Hindu minority making up roughly 3 percent of the population, other than being mistreated and persecuted for their faith, anyone on this planet has yet to see a hindu Pakistani rise up in society.
As one coment has been posted about India regarding the atrocities going on there, there are always two sides to a story:
1. As many muslims were killed that many hindus were killed in the atrocities that occured in Gujarat….they occured and do not continue to occur.
2.The sikhs were violently suppressed in 1984, because the Sikh bodyguards of Indira Gandhi killed her because she was preventing their movement to create a Sikh country within India.
3. Over 50,000 Kashmiri’s have died in a conflict that covered roughly 60 years due to the presence of Islamic terrorists that want Kashmir to be part of Pakistan. Of course, it is to be noted that the terrorists are themselves trained and sent by the Pakistani government….
On this conflict, during the Independence movement, the ruler of Kashmir had given full control of Kashmir to India and not Pakistan. Since this happened well before 1948….the UN has no right to rule on it much less comment on it.
To make my stance clear….under no circumstances would India want pakistan as many people pointed out. We are a free and sovereign nation which do not seek to dominate anyone economically, politically or militarily. Moreover, only Pakistani’s are enamored with India starting from Bollywood movies to the freedom that the press enjoys. Reporters can only dream of attaining sucess and recognition that their counterparts in India enjoy.
- Posted by morbidblackMr. reporter you should not have compared lion( India)with cat( Pakistan). India is world\’s third economy while Pakistan is no where to see !National pride is very good for the country man but should accept the reality.Before pointing fingers at the giant ,successful democracy of world , the citizen of Pakistan should introspect for their failure. Great will remain great no matter how you try to demean it……
- Posted by clear eyeVery good exchange and very informative article.
What are the motivations of those in the tribal regions for their support of Al Qaeda?
Unfair as it may be the suicide bombings and terrorism in the past few years have colored the view that many in West have of Pakistan. And don’t get me wrong I believe Pakistan is on the right track as the democratic revolt against Musharraf has demonstrated.
I think Westerners(at times myself Included) fall into the trap of labeling the Muslim world as a lost cause due to the preponderance of terrorism that originates here. This has lead to the failed policy of tolerating and supporting the many dictatorships that have characterized this part of the world.
- Posted by Fred PisacaneTo all Pakistanis:
I don’t think Johnny is anti-Pakistan. As an Indian Muslim, I can tell you that usually those who are anti-Pakistan today, would never want Pakistan to become part of India or have a federation of any sort or even common currency.
Anyone from India who is suggesting any of the above is definitely not anti-Pakistan or anti-Muslim.
Because of Partition, Hindu-Muslim relations suffered and Muslims of Subcontinent are divided into Bangladesh, India, Pakistan.
- Posted by Faraz Hussain