The Deoband Declaration on Terrorism: Why Now? Nicely written yet speculative commentary. The conference only restates the position of Islamic rulings and thoughts of those concerned on the issue of terrorism, for the general understanding of specially those who are not literate on the position of Islamic rulings that discourage violence and violent acts committed in the name of Islam and commonly observed in today's world while blamed on the faith of Islam and it's followers in a stereotype effort.

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa Agha on Pakistan Military Re: # 14
Well summed up in a nut shell, saves me from the trouble of rewriting my thoughts on this character Agha.
An accountant at the Defense dept. financed by the US and aided by the not so neighborly India comes to pick on the Army of Pakistan & it's role on stepping in to save Pakistan from the enemies within.
Most of those who are emerging on the screen of Pak politics find it so easy to step in as a prospective leader by sowing the seeds of a theory that they deem suitable for the minds of Pakistani people to accept.
Haven't these pseudo politicians already hurt the nation enough, do we need more of these?
It would be nice if the Pak legislative of future introduces a bill to become law, under the provisions of which, the right to free speech & expression is fully protected but the proceeds from any such publication in future should be entirely secured in favor of reform work to establish appropriate standards of free speech & expression and for holding adult classes on lessons of civics (not to be taught by authors like Agha).

Voting For Change Several of the comments by those who belonged to Bhera, are quite touching, since I also have a similar story on my hand that relates to my parent's departure from Hyderabad Deccan after it's being possessed by India in 1948.
Although I was born in Pakistan I had some knowledge of the names of my first cousins whom I continued to search for and luckily found the last survivor of the three, thanks to internet and the world wide web otherwise I would never have been able to connect with my cousin after more than 50 years .

Do You Have a Substitute? "Freedom of expression" is a lovely term yet, while a great majority of people around the world claim this freedom, what comes to mind is that, how it is defined, what are the parameters? what if any ethics are applicable to this privilege? how, when & by whom should this be exercised and what happens when one surpasses the limits of civility? isn't it a privilege for civilized societies who care to raise their voice and concerns in a civil mode, without inflicting uncivilized statements & profanities, & without transgressing to the extent of being blood thirsty?
In as much as I have seen in my short life of over half a century, we the Pakistanis, have never accepted any and I mean "any" govt to have done good for the nation as a whole. Everyone who ruled this poor nation of ours have at one time or another been blamed for having abused the nation, everyone has typically installed their cronies while in power. I mean there is no exception to this rule be it a civilian govt in Pakistan or the Military dictatorship.
We have not once allowed any govt. to complete it's term, & have typically removed everyone who came to power in as far as I can see.
As an example, even though majority of us happen to be the followers of Deen-e-Islam we don't spare a chance to envy our very own neighbors sharing a a wall with us, when it comes to going beyond our resources we have no reservations, if the neighbor spend Rs 1 on an occasion of their family we feel challenged unless we spend more than that and make sure we do even if we have to resort to money that we secure by unfair and unlawful means(such as bribery). I can go on listing many examples which describe our state of confusion but would rather limit due to space and time it takes to read through.
In my humble opinion and observation we and I mean all of us will have to go back to the basics and adopt what our noble Deen prescribes, and, mind you this should not happen because someone says so or some so-called religious figure imposes so; it should happen from within each of us at our own, a serious effort for soul searching as to where we go wrong and how to correct ourselves as I personally don't like anyone else pointing a finger at me no matter how wrong or bad I happen to be and I expect everyone has the same feeling.
We cannot conclude our current declining state that is taking us nowhere but towards self-destruction unless we assess our own shortcomings and make a sincere effort to fix all of those, yes it takes time and effort but it certainly will be fruitful in the long run as an individual, as a society and as a nation.
I am not a mullah, molvi or a scholar per se, I am just an ordinary Pakistani like anyone else but my inside tells me that before we began to seek the rights & privileges we should allow civility to settle within ourselves since this "might is right" politics cannot survive for too long a period and may spell out the demise of our nation at our own hands(God forbid).
May Allah SWT bless us with the wisdom to assess and evaluate ourselves and enable us to take prudent steps resulting in flourishing decisions for our homeland of Pakistan, & may Allah SWT save us from fitnah amongst ourselves, ameen suma ameen. To end my comments I seek the forgiveness of anyone who feels offended due to any of my comments. Thank you.