Author: Dr. Awab Alvi

  • Mai Jori’s Huqooq March ends

    Huqooq March ends today on 8th March with public gathering in Gandakha participated by thousands of men and women. Huqooq March started by Awami Party on March 1st to support election campaign of Mai Jori, a peasant woman contesting election of provincial assembly of Balochistan. The marchers arrived in Gandakha today that was received by…

  • Update on PC Hotel Workers Strike – 12 Days

    Read the detailed fact sheet on this dispute and then support these protestors by sIgning the PC Workers Petition to The Hashwani Group It heartening to note that despite all the resistance by the Hashwani Group and the PPP Leader Najmi Alam who threatened the protestors setting up camp outside Pearl Continental to disappear for…

  • Ufone ad ripping at Politicans, possibly taken off-air

    Ufone has to its credit featured some funny advertisement spot for its TV commercials. More recently a certain Ufone ad was pulled off-the-air after a very brief run and is not even featured on its corporate website. As per the editors of Cafe Pyala this ad spot might have been too quickly pulled off-air “According…

  • Media ignoring a 10-day Pearl Continental Hotel workers strike

    For the past 10 days about 150 employees of the Pearl Continental Hotel are holed up in the basement of PC Hotel in Karachi in protest of the sacking of over 100 employees across Pakistan. What started as a simple protest on Constitution avenue in response to the sacking of 4 union empolyees from Karachi…

  • Mai Jori resolves to represent Poor & Marginalized (3rd & 4th day of Huqooq March)

    Mai Jori continues her eight day Huqooq March by going walking through the various villages and towns in her constituency to rally up support for her by-election bid, but more importantly she is the symbol of hope for the down trodden and suppressed women of that area. throughout her journey she is being greeted by…

  • Daniyal Mueenuddin, a Pakistani wins The Story Prize

    A Pakistani-American author—cited for the empathy, depth, and complexity of his work—is the winner of the $20,000 The Story Prize for his book In Other Rooms, Other Wonders At the end of an evening of readings and conversation, debut writer Daniyal Mueenuddin took the stage and accepted The Story Prize for his collection In Other…

  • Offroad Expedition to Poldat – Pictures & GPS Tracks

    This Friday a few offroad enthusiasts headed off to Hingol National Park deep within Baluchistan some 280km from Karachi, reaching Aghore Camp we then dropped off the metaled Coastal Highway and headed into total offroading wilderness going up north some 40-odd km to a location called Poldat. Poldat is a natural mountainous gorge which is…

  • Laidback Show Episode 17 – Expedition Poldat

    Faisal Kapadia and I headed off to Hingol National Park for three exciting days of offroading adventure along with OffroadPakistan for Expedition Poldat. During that trip we recorded our 17th Episode of the Laidback Show – Enjoy

  • Mai Jori leads the Huqooq March

    Mai Jori, a peasant women contesting the Baluchistan Assembly by-elections has embarked upon an eight day Huqooq March (March for Rights) journey across her constituency by foot rallying voters to stand up for their rights and be a part of the change. Mai Jori started on the 1st of March from the village Ghulam Muhammad…

  • Mai Jori, a ‘Peasant’ Contesting Baluchistan By-elections

    Mai Jori Jamali a peasant farmer belonging to a village called Ghulam Muhammad Jamali in Baluchistan filed to contest the bye-election on the vacant seat of Baluchistan Assembly PB 25 Jaffarabad – I on March 10th 2010. Her papers have been accepted and declared correct after scrutiny. Mai Jori is illiterate and helps her husband…

  • Rendezvous with Farah Pandith, US Special Rep for Muslim Communities

    Last week a few “new media” journalists were invited by the US Consulate to an exclusive meeting with Farah Pandith, who has been recently appointed as the U.S Special Representative for Muslim Communities. The usual bloggeratti excitement was held at bay since the invitation card had a blazing “No-Camera” policy, which had most of us…

  • Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim Comments about the Present Judicial Crisis

    by Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim We are again faced with a judicial crisis – not a bonafide crisis but a crisis created for ulterior reasons. Ostensibly the crisis is the elevation of chief justice for the Lahore High Court in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the elevation of the next senior most judge Justice…

  • My Judges or the Highway

    In a frenzy of political maneuvering in Islamabad today, Pakistan is yet again precariously positioned in yet again another stand off. Today the President of Pakistan chose to elevate the chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Khwaja Sharif as a judge of the Supreme Court. The decision was taken and official notification…

  • CPLC in the midst of a Political Turf Battle

    Two days back the Governor Ishrat ul-Ibad had issued a Press Release recommending the appointing of businessman Mr Ahmed Chinoy, as the new head of Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) replacing the outgoing Sharfuddin Memon whose appointment has come to an end. The Governors request was forwarded to the Home Ministry so that the request can…

  • Farhat Taj analyzes Zaid Hamid in strategic depth

    Dr. Farhat Taj wrote a column in Daily Times critically analyzing the Zaid Hamid phenomenon, to say for instance “Zaid Hamid is his use of a particularly narrow interpretation of Islam that proposes a belligerent agenda for the Pakistan Army and drawing on controversial Islamic literature. Thus the authenticity of the hadiths — sayings of…