Pakistan Chronicles

Jan-May 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 May 2023 11:12:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1llr6Y2-YLNuldBY1Yqg8Y3B-Zx6pRIoL?usp=share_link

Robert Fisk on Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 07:02:00 +0000

“In Pakistan, individuals including dictators mattered more than institutions and processes… The governments of the past had not displayed a real allegiance” to Pakistan. “We are a very weak state and also a very scared state. We will take anything and not respond.” The minister said a US intelligence official had told him: “You are so cheap … we can buy you with a visa, with a visit to the US, even with a dinner…”

“I tried, in Pakistan, to define the sorrow which so constantly afflicts this country. The massive loss of life, the poverty, the corruption, the internal and external threats to its survival, the existentialism of Islam and the power of the army; perhaps Pakistan's story can only be told in a novel. It requires, I suspect, a Tolstoy or a Dostoyevsky.

But perhaps it is Pakistan's ability to do harm to itself that most struck me – symbolized, I fear, by the latest and most terrible affliction to strike it: child-kidnapping. Steal a little boy or a little girl, ask the parents for money, and kill the infant if they don't pay.”

Miscellaneous important and interesting takes from 2014 to 2023

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 10:59:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vkjskR9Qdtwku-_gWCa0r28JBC1vfnZA?usp=share_link

Future of Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 10:26:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HDXewNUDGMZLMeeUpPmTI8awm_BhcbAA?usp=share_link

Flood of 2022 and aftermath

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 10:15:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14eebjgq1_i6_cJgA38deRhph_ATbMPje?usp=share_link

Vote of no-confidence 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:45:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14PzM2BHOqr-g8QGLWKF-_cCvgEhRY5JI?usp=share_link

General Elections 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:43:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RkOZVPmBMVctkVlsDm5H8AG3ta06Wq5a?usp=share_link

Year 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:41:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1a9CNn7YxMw_Jj7Ir3mnzAUqqs6RF8FUq?usp=share_link

Year 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:39:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1I5vmrQm8rLL_mt-PiUio70whSFi3Sw6X?usp=share_link

Year 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:36:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Oj4JmFKURCOngJgkCrcAMt9ZnoTcfKhx?usp=share_link

Year 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:27:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cyxMvkO5FJbMA2xudhNrkz3ZKS5iMhVP?usp=share_link

Years 2010-2017

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:25:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SnBDZhpx-CAxPgSrgkLdoOVwt36qmCVJ?usp=share_link

Major Agha H. Amin

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:23:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Z45goU39LR6B7Oaixxx9heN8RfOQkYjX?usp=share_link

Pakistan and Science

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:19:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SRGqcp-PhpD-B2kbj3Yq2eTHO-rtboI6?usp=share_link

Kargil War

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:17:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AVZCv6iHRC1RZXCaZKwEXnzX3aiwPDee?usp=share_link

1971 Indo-Pak War and Bangladesh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 09:14:00 +0000

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MdLeuxr6nLgZCF71BpESZBzyuSgjRhMH?usp=share_link

The Murder Of History

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:51:00 +0000

In this volume, Aziz sets out to correct the injustice that has been committed in Pakistan ever since its creation, and still continues. The history text books in the country have been woefully distorted for political ends. In this book, he has critiqued and provided the corrections for 66 text books being taught in the Social Studies, Pakistan Studies and History disciplines to students from grades 1 to 14. It’s indeed a courageous effort that unfortunately went unnoticed in his time. But then again, according to Aziz, he wrote this for posterity after all.

You can buy the book here.

Source: www.goodreads.com

Pakistan's Establishment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:45:00 +0000

Pakistan's Establishment is a term used commonly by Pakistani analysts for the Military dominant oligarchy in Pakistan. This group of individuals, while not exclusively Military, are considered key decision makers in major policy decisions like Pakistan's nuclear program, the defense budget and the use of Intelligence Agencies in Pakistan.

The best description of the Establishment has been by Stephen P. Cohen in his book the Idea of Pakistan.

Cohen calls this establishment a "moderate oligarchy" and defines it as "an informal political system that [ties] together the senior ranks of the military, the civil service, key members of the judiciary, and other elites." Membership in this oligarchy, Cohen contends, requires adherence to a common set of beliefs: that India must be countered at every turn; that nuclear weapons have endowed Pakistan with security and status; that the fight for Kashmir is unfinished business from the time of partition; that large-scale social reforms such as land redistribution are unacceptable; that the uneducated and illiterate masses deserve only contempt; that vociferous Muslim nationalism is desirable but true Islamism is not; and that Washington is to be despised but fully taken advantage of. Underlying these "core principles," one might add, is a willingness to serve power at any cost.

In addition to influencing policy and accused of manipulating elections, the establishment is considered to be responsible for the creation of a variety of political parties and alliances. Secular and liberal groups in particular accuse it of helping in the formation of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal a conservative religious parties alliance.

General Zia-ul Haq also introduced the concept of strategic depth as part of the establishment's politics. He coined this term in the context of politics and military strategy. After Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets, he looked at Afghanistan as a source of political and military strategic depth for Pakistan. He saw Pakistan's strength in a Pakistani dominated Afghanistan.

Source: Old Wikipedia entry.