Get Involved
-
Get Connected
Tag Archives: Pakistan
Outsourced: Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry Reinstated
March 16, 2009: Chaudhry (center) surrounded by celebrating supporters
In the latest news from the South Asian continent, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has finally been reinstated to his bench (for the second time). To truly appreciate this news, we have to do a bit of a recap. Former Pakistani President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, first appointed Chaudhry to the bench in 2000. Until he was elevated to Chief Justice in 2005, Iftikhar Chaudhry did not seem to go out of his way to carve an independent path for the judiciary, usually voting with the majority; he even sat on the bench during the case that legitimized Musharraf’s military takeover. Regardless, when Chaudhry became the youngest ever Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, he really dug in his heels and started work that made him a “symbol of justice” in the eyes of many.
From creating a “separate human rights cell at the court” to forcing Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to admit they were holding people in secret custody, it’s very easy to say that Chaudhry quickly got on the wrong side of the government. In March 2007, Chaudhry was asked to step down but instead refused Musharraf’s reprimands and faced the charges — actions which propelled him to a hero status for thousands of lawyers, who stormed Lahore, Pakistan in protest. Thankfully, in July 2007, Chaudhry was reinstated.
Check This: Obama's New York Times Interview
Our belief and expectation is that we will get all the pillars in place for recovery this year. Those are the things we have control over and we have confidence that working with Congress we can get the pillars of recovery in place. How long it will take before recovery actually translates into stronger job markets and so forth is going to depend on a whole range of factors, including our ability to get other countries to coordinate and take similar actions because part of what you’re seeing now is weaknesses in Europe that are actually greater than some of the weaknesses here, bouncing back and having an impact on our markets.
– President Barack Obama (to the New York Times)
Not going to lie, this pretty interesting interview with Obama the New York Times had a few days ago distracted me from the original post I was working on tonight. If you have not already read it, I encourage you to read (or listen to!) the interview now. The financial crisis, foreign policy, and Gitma: it’s virtually all covered. Granted, it’s not a perfect interview — the reporter, in one ridiculous question, asked President Obama if would label himself as a socialist — but it’s a nice look into our president’s current thought process. The transcript is a little lengthy, but it goes by quickly. Again, check it out.
Posted in Barack Obama, Blog, The Media
Tagged afghanistan, Air Force One, banks, Barack Obama, democrats, Financial Crisis, foreign policy obama, interviews, Liberal, new york times, newspapers, obama, Pakistan
Leave a comment
Outsourced: India's Muslims
Taj Hotel — November 26, 2008
The nine [bodies] are the Pakistani Muslim terrorists who went on an utterly senseless killing rampage in Mumbai on 26/11 — India’s 9/11 — gunning down more than 170 people, including 33 Muslims, scores of Hindus, as well as Christians and Jews. It was killing for killing’s sake. They didn’t even bother to leave a note.
All nine are still in the morgue because the leadership of India’s Muslim community has called them by their real name — “murderers†not “martyrs†— and is refusing to allow them to be buried in the main Muslim cemetery of Mumbai, the 7.5-acre Bada Kabrastan graveyard, run by the Muslim Jama Masjid Trust. (“No Way, No How, Not Here” –Thomas Friedman)
I regularly read Thomas Friedman’s column in the New York Times. His column from Wednesday — titled No Way, No How, Not Here — is just fabulous, not to mention interesting. It explores the Indian-Muslim reaction after last November’s terrorist attacks. Many generalize all Muslims as the same, but this is broad generalization is far from accurate. “Indian Muslims are proud of being both Indian and Muslim, and the Mumbai terrorism was a war against both India and Islam,†as one Muslim said, interviewed in the article. Read it now; I genuinely recommend it.
Posted in Blog, India, International, Outsourced, Progress
Tagged hindus, India, indian muslim, muslim, new york times, Outsourced, Pakistan, taj, taj hotel, taj mahel, terrorist attacks, thomas friedman
Leave a comment
History 241
“Where are we going to set the ski scenes for the movies?”
- Juan Cole, on why India and Pakistan can’t resolve the issue of Kashmir.
(Bollywood Cinema)
Random Thought
Pakistani President Zardari answered questions about his nation’s involvement with the Mumbai attacks tonight in a television interview.
I personally believe that President Obama ought to do all interviews with these two guys standing behind him. There is something about armed, ceremonial guards that really makes a man look “Presidential.”