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LUMS recently released a newsletter on their National Outreach Programme (NOP). It gives a nice overview of the motivation, current progress, and future ambitions of the NOP initiative. LUMS is actively seeking funding support for this programme. You can view the newsletter as a PDF file here: NOP Newsletter 2009 If you wish to make any donations, you can find a pledge form at the end of the newsletter. |
| Syed Babar Ali missed the reunion with the North America alumni last June due to an unavoidable clash of meetings. To make up for his lapse, he is coming again! Alumni, their spouse and friends are also welcome (everybody pays for self and accompanying members). What? Dinner with Syed Babar Ali When? Saturday, October 10, 2009 Time? 6:00pm - 8:30pm City? New York, NY Location? Ali Baba's Terrace, 862 Second Avenue - (46th and 2nd) Why? Because SBA rocks. Email address for RSVP: 
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To keep alumni informed about the developments at LUMS as well as alumni news/achievements, the alumni department has developed a midyear newsletter. The first edition of this newsletter is embedded at the end of this post. Alternatively, a PDF version is also available: LUMS Alumni Newsletter 2009 |
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Continue reading LUMS Alumni Newsletter 2009.
| Some quick observations made by Pervez Hoodbhoy after a relief trip to areas around Mardan for refugees from Swat, Buner, and Dir: 1. There are several tent cities along the Islamabad-Swabi-Mardan stretch. It is said that about 2 million people have been displaced. We spent some time in one of them (Sheikh Yasin Camp) but decided against depositing our precious supplies there. Every NGO in the world, Islamic and secular, seems to be in the camps. Yes, this is a real struggle for hearts and minds that will determine the future direction of the war -- and everyone knows it. A strong army presence in this particular camp helps assure a moderately fair distribution mechanism, maintain law and order, and deal with Taliban elements who may have infiltrated the refugees. I had a chat with tough machine gun-toting junior officers who suggested that we go to places that have received no aid rather than in their camp. Good advice. |
 (Image courtesy: Khuban Omer Khan) |
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Continue reading Refugees from Swat and Burner.
By Ali Farid Khwaja
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Pakistan seems to have occupied a central space in the policy debate and foreign policy agenda of President Obama. Besides getting a lot of attention from the administration, lawmakers and think tanks, the country has also been committed substantial foreign aid package by the US Government. President Obama announced a total aid package of US $10bn to support development work and military operation by the Pakistan army. The aim of this multi-faceted aid and support package is to garner Pakistan's military support in dealing with the situation in Afghanistan, fighting the insurgent radical groups inside Pakistan and to control the threat of religious radicalization inside Pakistan. However I think that cooperation and collaboration between US and Pakistan will remain at a bottleneck until the conspiracy theories and perceptions of the US Af-Pak agenda which exist inside Pakistan are alleviated. I believe the biggest threat to US Pakistan relationship is the trust deficit which exists between the two countries, along with irresponsible media frenzy and aggressive posturing from US administration on the risks, threats and state institutions in Pakistan. |
Continue reading On Why the US Foreign Policy Will Fail in Pakistan.
| Some LUMS and GIKI alumni have launched a new social gaming network - Varsity Heroes. The idea seems quite interesting and within a few days of launch they have attracted hundreds of users. In their own words, "Varsity Heroes is a more fun way of social networking where you get to diss other networks, take up guns against them and remind them of their grannies. All that in 2 minutes a day". Check out Varsity Heroes here. Continue reading this post to read a comic about their story. They have a facebook page as well. |
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Continue reading Varsity Heroes: Time for Major Ownage.
by Khuban Omer Khan
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Nadeem Aslam's latest book The Wasted Vigil is set in Afghanistan where people of different ideologies and religion cross paths, while searching for something or someone .When I read Aslam's book I was taken aback by numerous misquotes attributed to the Quran. To find out more about Aslam, his book and why he chose to defame the Quran, especially in the current climate, I attended a reading of his novel at LUMS. I asked him, "Mr. Aslam, your fictional book is based in reality, it's not make believe right? And in it you have described the mindset of a jihadi. Now, an American journalist who has written a review of your book in the New York Times has said that 'those unfamiliar with Islam may misconstrue your characters' thoughts as being consistent with the faith'. How would you respond to this statement? Also, do you have any obligation to your reader to present an informed fictional account or can you write anything at all without any obligation to the audience of the message's veracity?" Discomfort was writ large on the faces of much of the uber-liberal audience. It was as if I had attacked the man simply by asking him why he chose to misquote the Holy Book. While Aslam struggled to answer, he was politely interrupted by the moderator, who did not want a discussion on religion (even though she had earlier commented on how the book revolves around religion) and an audience member who said, "well this is how jihadis think, it's time we accepted that." After that I was silenced. |
Continue reading Misquoting a Book in the Name of Fiction.
by Muneeb Ali
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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. |
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Continue reading The Taliban Cancer .
by Pervez Hoodbhoy
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For 20 years or more, a few of us in Pakistan have been desperately sending out SOS messages, warning of terrible times to come. Nevertheless, none anticipated how quickly and accurately our dire predictions would come true. It is a small matter that the flames of terrorism set Mumbai on fire and, more recently, destroyed Pakistan's cricketing future. A much more important and brutal fight lies ahead as Pakistan, a nation of 175 million, struggles for its very survival. The implications for the future of South Asia are enormous. Today a full-scale war is being fought in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Swat and other "wild" areas of Pakistan, with thousands dying and hundreds of thousands of IDPs (internally displaced people) streaming into cities and towns. In February 2009, with the writ of the Pakistani state in tatters, the government gave in to the demand of the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban Movement) to implement the Islamic Sharia in Malakand, a region of FATA. It also announced the suspension of a military offensive in Swat, which has been almost totally taken over by the TTP. But the respite that it brought was short-lived and started breaking down only hours later. |
Continue reading Towards Theocracy? .
by Muneeb Ali
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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. |
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Continue reading Inching Closer to a Failed State .
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