Category: Crisis

  • The Carbon Tax Fiasco

    Cyril Almeida a columnist in Dawn has penned an excellent article on the recent controversy regarding the petroleum carbon tax. It is a fact that in March 2009 the government had imposed a Petroleum Developmental Levy which resulted in an increase in the price of petroleum goods by a few rupees. The then, newly restored…

  • Pakistans Future woes maybe linked to exponential birthrate – 550 Million by 2060

    A report by the Foreign Policy Magazine shows an interesting trend to the global birth trends in the world The study purports that economic stability contributes to a lower population growth and conversely instability and poverty catapults the birth rate to exponential proportions. As a country transitions from poverty to affluence, birthrates plunge—from six or…

  • A Swati Doctor Interviewed about the War in Swat

    A few members of the Peoples Resistance group visited Banares Colony in Karachi, Pakistan and interviewed an IDP refugee Doctor from Swat who shares his thoughts. I would also like to quote a short section from the email by Abira Ashfaq which had accompanied this video It seems like one can always accuse people who…

  • Judicial Taliban

    Lawyers have emerged as a great force in Pakistan who carries weight in the future law making and day to day running of the judiciary as well as executive in the country. Pakistan’s short history is full of lawyer’s contributions and in particular judges who never bow before a dictator to take oath under any…

  • Foreign Policy ranks Pakistan as the 10th Most Failed State

    Nothing to be proud off but in a survey conducted by Foreign Policy Magazine where they evaluated 177 countries across the world Pakistan was ranked as the 10th most failed state where Somalia was ranked as the most failed state followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan, Chad, Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Guniea and then Pakistan…

  • Wired and Active discusses the IDP Campaign

  • The displaced vs the well placed people of Pakistan

    “The twins were born as the mother desperately struggled with the pangs of pain, the sound of falling artillery shells, the suffocation of gun powder and the stench of decaying dead bodies. By the time it was morning, the family realized that one of the two babies, had not survived the ordeal of childbirth. The…

  • Report on the IDP situation

    Report by Wali Haider from ROOTS Talking to the displaced people in various IDP camps, or in the homes of friends/relatives during my recent visit to Takht Bhai and Charsadda they have taken refuge it is obvious that for them the objectives of the army operation remain unclear. At the same time their suffering as…

  • The women who walked – and walked

    This is an abridged version that was published on 4th June in The News extracted from a recent report by AIRRA (Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy) based in Peshawar, whose members traveled to the IDP camps for these interviews. We write here some of the stories the women of Swat told us. They…

  • People’s Republic of United States

    The United States comprises approximately 4.5% of the world’s population and consumes 25% of the world resources. According to the US department of Commerce, the 2008 deficit on international trade in goods and services was $677.1 billion. This is down from $700.3 billion in 2007 but still 4.7 percent of GDP. In order to cover…

  • A Global issue of Terrorism – Stop Criticizing Pakistan

    Pakistan has been in massive fluctuations since the Pakistani government started operation in Swat and the other heaven like valleys in Northern Areas against Taliban. Some of the parties are criticizing the Government owing to operation. All the International countries like US, European etc are also in the favor of operation against the militants. Before…

  • IDP Crisis, More transparency, please

    Voices of reason and critique are often drowned in the sounds of gunfire and heavy artillery shelling. This current operation ‘Rah-e-Rast’, or what is being termed as a ‘War for Pakistan’s survival’, has resulted in an exodus of almost 3 million people which might just be another number for those who are at the helm…

  • Dorab Patel on Judicial Aloofness – CJP’s meeting Richard Holbrooke

    Mr Shakil Jafri editor of The Financial Daily asked me to reproduce as an article what I had written on CJ meeting Richard Holbrooke. With the intention to expand on these few paragraphs I chanced upon some reflections of a past judge which I added to my statement and am reproducing it below. Members of…

  • CJP Iftikhar meets Holbrooke?

    There is a news item which may go unnoticed that the Chief Justice of Pakistan had a meeting with Mr Richard Holbrooke in his chambers on Friday. We as members of the civil society have struggled long and hard for his restoration and we continue to respect the Supreme Court, but for matters of dignity…

  • IDP Crisis: A tragedy of errors and Cover-ups – HRCP

    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has published a very comprehensive report on the IDP situation in NWFP titled A tragedy of errors and Cover-ups:The IDPs and outcome of military actions in FATA and Malakand Division its quite a comprehensive report. I have taken the liberty to extract some critical sections which caught my…