Comments on: Breaking: Musharraf declares State of Emergency

By: Biology and Zoology

Biology and Zoology — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:09:06 +0000

Biology and Zoology…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

By: Best Selling Tips

Best Selling Tips — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:08:07 +0000

Best Selling Tips…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

By: Federal Government and Politics

Federal Government and Politics — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 06:19:36 +0000

Federal Government and Politics…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

By: Dubai » Blog Archive » Breaking News - Musharraf declares State of Emergency in Pakistan

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:43:34 +0000

[...] spree wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBreaking News – Musharraf declares State of Emergency in Pakistan Other opinions: Sepoy at Chapati Mystery Comments section at All Things Pakistan Thoughts on Musharraf’s Speech Not surprisingly, Musharraf used the increasing amount of terrorism as a justification for declaring a state of emergency. He painted quite a bleak portrait of a country infested wit… Read the full post from Pickled Politics Tags: Current Affairs, Pakistan via Blogdigger blog search for dubai travel. [...]

By: Sofia

Sofia — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:13:14 +0000

Maler Kotla? a hyderabadi?? nah..i’m from UP

Guido, I didn’t get your point

By: Desi Italiana

Desi Italiana — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:14:57 +0000

Jasmine–

A great article I came across on Bhutto:

“Thank You, Suicide Bomber! No one is Talking about my $1.5 billion Anymore!”

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?192758

By: Jasmine

Jasmine — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:37:40 +0000

Why did you ever think that Benazir was a good think? She’s got more money stashed away than in Imelda Marcos’ shoe closet

By: Jakey

Jakey — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:32:18 +0000

Sofia, I didn’t say India was a perfect democracy. It’s still realtively young and has some way to go but that’s better than a military dictatorship.

By: Jai

Jai — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:19:12 +0000

Maybe Sofia’s a Gujju Vohra or one of the Hyderabadi crew

By: Jagdeep

Jagdeep — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:12:01 +0000

What part of India is your family from Sofia? Are you a MalerKotla Punjabi?

By: Guido Faux

Guido Faux — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:11:56 +0000

“sweeping statement”

Of course it is. If we’re talking democracy we’re talking aggregates.

All it takes is a critical mass who don’t adhere to the unwritten rules and it’s game over.

By: Sofia

Sofia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:50:59 +0000

Guido, I find your comment on ingrained cultural tendencies a bit of a sweeping statement. And it is important to distinguish whether the culture you are talking about is one of the masses or of the ruling elites, as this would lead onto why democracy is not successful.

As for religion and state, Sonia I do agree that nationhood is not necessarily attached to religion, what I was trying to point out is that the failure of Pakistani politics is not just about its disparate groups that were put together because of religion. Pakistan may have been a homeland for muslims of the sub continent, but any idiot would be able to see that it was only a homeland for those muslims who were able to migrate and would not have had the infrastructure to support all. Also there was the question of when exactly it became an “Islamic” republic.
Jakey, as someone who visits India regularly and still has lots of family and friends there, it makes me laugh when people say India is first of all a democracy and secondly secular…I would call it limited democracy and secularism.

By: sonia

sonia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:18:55 +0000

after all, look at all the massacres muslims have been inflicting on muslims around the world.

By: sonia

sonia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:18:13 +0000

And we would be having massacres without any religion being involved, we’re that nutty.

however we dont have the horrible Hudood ordinances, so, we’re not that nutty

By: sonia

sonia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:16:25 +0000

yes Sofia there is plenty of massacring and fighting and of course religion plays a big part, but the concept of nation-hood is not tied to people’s religion, but rather their ethnicity – for Bangladesh. A crucial distinction. If we insult the nation, people feel you are insulting ‘bengali-ness’, insulting the fight to get away from Pakistan, not insulting their Muslimness. You see – it does make a difference, if you are trying to criticize religion. if you are trying to criticize nationalism and patriotism, then people will get all funny and say stuff like oh you’re being anti-bangladeshi. So it is useful to be able to critique religion without getting tangled with the nationalist feelings – it makes it much easier.

By: Jakey

Jakey — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:50:32 +0000

Fortunately India is secular in principle and this is what has saved it from the kind of chaos we are seeing in Pakistan today. Pakistan is a more theocratic nation. All over the world from Northern Ireland to the Bulkans to Africa we’ve seen that sectarian policies based on one religion or one race or one language have led to bloodshed. Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan because people in East Pakistan rejected the western wing trying to impose Urdu on them. Yes, politicians are trying to take advantage of religion in India but ultimately these politicians will fail. The rise of militant politics in India is directly proportional to India’s grand old Congress party going rotten because of its long years in power and becoming synonymous with corruption.

Secularism and pluralism go hand in hand. If a multicultural country like India is to survive it has to be secular. Nehru and Gandhi saw this wisdom at the time of Independence.

By: Guido Faux

Guido Faux — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:35:24 +0000

“what kind of culture are you talking about?”

Whatever particular facet causes them to break ‘The Rule’. Does it really matter which?

By: Sofia

Sofia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:26:49 +0000

ingrained cultural tendencies?? what kind of culture are you talking about? ethnic cultures, religious cultures, political cultures?

By: Guido Faux

Guido Faux — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:18:26 +0000

Democracy is not just about written rules. There is one very important unwritten rule:

“Thou shalt not resort to violence when an election is lost”

That rule appears to go against some deeply ingrained cultural tendencies in certain parts of the world which is why democracies there rarely last.

By: Kismet Hardy

Kismet Hardy — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:56:01 +0000

“Musharraf used the increasing amount of terrorism as a justification for declaring a state of emergency.”

Wonder where he learned that little trick?