Results tagged “Muneeb Ali” from LUMS Review

The Taliban Cancer

Posted on April 17, 2009 6:34 PM |
by Muneeb Ali
The recent girl flogging video, public beheadings in Swat, regular suicide attacks, and scary NY Times articles have one thing in common. They all scream out one clear message; the Taliban movement is alive again. This time in Pakistan. The war against the Taliban will not, and cannot, be won on the battlefield alone.

If the Taliban gain strength and mobilize millions instead of thousands of followers, this clash can turn into a genocide. The Taliban will use any such genocide to further shake the status quo. The 1971 Bangladesh atrocities teach us that you cannot use bullets and bombs to stop the will of a people. It only fuels their anger and strengthens their cause. 		    taliban.jpg
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Inching Closer to a Failed State

Posted on March 3, 2009 2:34 AM |
by Muneeb Ali

The cricket team of Sri Lanka was attacked in Lahore, Pakistan today. They received a Taliban-style welcome with AK-47 bullets, rockets, and grenades. While terrorists are carrying out attacks in broad daylight in the heart of Pakistan - literally, those responsible for running this country are fighting over scraps of political power.

The threats to Pakistan are many. The newly elected democratic government is engaged in an internal power struggle and is perceived as doing an awful job at running the country. Al-Qaida and Taliban are strengthening their roots in the north and northwest. They recently forced the Pakistani government into accepting fundamental Islamic law in the once-beautiful-tourist-attraction of Swat. After the Mumbai attacks, there is a looming threat of yet-another-war with India. US drones bomb Pakistani soil on a regular basis, fueling anti-US and pro-Taliban sentiments. To top this all off, Pakistan's strongest institution, the army, is at record unpopularity levels - thanks both to Musharraf and to the US-lead war on terror that the Pakistani army is carrying out. 		    lal_masjid.jpg

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Obama's Silence on Gaza

Posted on January 14, 2009 6:10 PM |
by Muneeb Ali

In the last week before Obama's inauguration, people are almost numb about Gaza. At least most of them. Another graphic image of an unnamed dead child appears and you really don't want to look. This is too depressing to glance over, you justify to yourself. The death toll goes up by five or six, but who is really keeping a count? Oh they still haven't reached a thousand?

A few, however, are still human enough to feel the pain. Fresh photographs of child corpses make them hug their own kids a little closer. For these frustrated souls, the death toll of 975 is not just a number. The sacred land of monotheistic religions is bleeding. Yet again. Where are the hope candles that we all have been burning this past year? Where is Obama?

Obama can condemn the loss of life in Darfur, but not in Gaza? He can "closely monitor" the situation in Mumbai, but for Gaza there is only one President at a time? He can criticize the current President on economy, but not the Middle East? The failing US economy calls for urgent action - we understand. But when Obama tries to talk about the economy while bombs are slicing innocent humans, while hospitals are fast resembling slaughter houses, and while schools are turning in to graveyards, you can't help but wonder if he is deaf or blind or both.

    obama-israel.jpg
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Chances of a War

Posted on November 30, 2008 6:53 AM |
by Muneeb Ali

Pakistanis feared, and expected, that the Mumbai attacks will be linked to their country. The media was curling its fingers around this juicy possibility. Hardly waiting to savor the escalating tensions. Even before they actually existed. Now, the Pakistan Army is considering moving its troops, from the Afghan front, back to where they belonged - the Punjab border. Indo-Pak tensions are, once again, creeping into casual conversations. However, there is little, if any, real chance of a war.

If the Pakistani troops start moving towards Lahore, buckle up for needlessly frenzied media reports. Lets not forget that the Pakistani army is currently dislocated. They will only be returning home. A scenario that neither America or Afghanistan can afford at this time. If the troops start building up across the Indo-Pak border, it means going back to playing cat and mouse. The largely harmless, and occasionally catastrophic, game that both armies are accustomed to playing for the past fifty plus years. 		    India_attack24234.JPG
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Why Celebrate Obama

Posted on November 5, 2008 6:35 AM |
by Muneeb Ali

Obama_speech.png     Not everyone shares the excitement of Obama's election. Specially not Pakistanis. And with good reason. Obama threatened to bomb Pakistan, an ally, while trying to sound tough against Hillary. Over time he backed off, became softer, but not soft enough. Pakistanis are worried about becoming the focal point of the war on terror, instead of enjoying this historic moment for what it is. A time when tears are rolling down and a world is healing, you hear voices that nothing will change or, worse, things will complicate.

Read "Dreams from My Father". He rose from black, poor ashes and made history. He went to Harvard and became the first African-American editor of the Law Review not because of his family name, but his intellect and hardwork. He raised $640 million not by cutting deals with corporations, but by $10 dollar donations from struggling ordinary people. Today is not just about bidding farewell to W., Redneck hate, preemptive wars, and free (falling) markets, but is also about celebrating our common humanity under a 21st century progressive leader.
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