Saleem's Post

  The militancy-hit areas of KPK and Balochistan are heavily weaponised.  The warring factions, comprising marauding bands, with a sprinkling of battle-hardened veterans (particularly in the former Tribal Areas), are constantly at each other's throats. Their animosity is based on the Shia-Sunni divide – a power play that is based on ancient rivalries and prejudices. Besides Iran and the Gulf states, sectarian groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq – the so-called Shia Triangle, play their part in keeping the militancy in Pakistan’s restive North-West alive. How were the foreign interlocutors successful in emotionally blackmailing the Pakistani militants? Pakistan inherited a northwestern region that remained in flux for thousands of years. Lacking the fertility of India’s Indus and Ganges valleys, the terrain across the Durand Line is harsh. The Pakistani and Afghani Pashtuns struggle many times more to earn their livelihood than inhabitants of the Indian mainland. The situation...

  Pakistani society is a mishmash of lobbies where it is frequently difficult to differentiate between secular and religious aspects of life.   It is so because vested interests in Pakistan disproportionately exploit religion to influence secular life. The vested interests equally include political and religious groups and bureaucracy. This study focuses on the Qadiani sect as a socio-political lobby that has remained at the centre of political and religious controversy since the birth of Pakistan, particularly after Pakistan’s parliament declared Qadianis a religious minority in 1974.   Mirzā   Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908), was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement,  a breakaway sect of Islam.  There are no two opinions about the religious intolerance in the Pakistani society. Persecution of religious minorities constitutes a long list of embarrassments for the tolerant Pakistani majority.  Soc...