Aug
14
by Imran H. Khan
Water was not what I had in mind this early in my read of Quran, but with so much going on related to it, I decided to discuss it earlier than later. Water as we know it is the source of life. When NASA sends its probes to different heavenly bodies, one of the key pieces of information is the presence of water. Indeed one of the key recent discoveries recently have been the presence of water on the poles of the Moon and the possibility of it on Mars. So it is not surprising to find multiple references to water in different contexts in Quran.
“We have made every living thing out of water.” (Sura 21 The Prophets, ayat 30).
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Aug
13
War or Peace on the Indus
Filed Under India, Pakistan, Peace | 5 Comments
by John Briscoe
Anyone foolish enough to write on war or peace in the Indus needs to first banish a set of immediate suspicions. I am neither Indian nor Pakistani. I am a South African who has worked on water issues in the subcontinent for 35 years and who has lived in Bangladesh (in the 1970s) and Delhi (in the 2000s). In 2006 I published, with fine Indian colleagues, an Oxford University Press book titled India’s Water Economy: Facing a Turbulent Future and, with fine Pakistani colleagues, one titled Pakistan’s Water Economy: Running Dry.
Aug
9
Salman Ahmad’s Jihad
Filed Under India, Pakistan, Peace, US Policy, United States, World, education, religion | 1 Comment
by Imran H. Khan
Salman Ahmed is a well known musician out of Pakistan and South Asia. He is the founder of one of the most famous rock bands out of that region by the name of Junoon. He has recently written a book by the name of “Rock and Roll Jihad“. When I first heard about the book and the title it struck me as something odd. Rock and Roll and Jihad had until now not been said in the same sentence. Jihad in Arabic language means to strive. In the Islamic religious sense it means “striving in the cause of God”. Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one’s soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting. Having had seen Salman grow from a cute little child to what he is now, it does not take much to understand how he has used his musical skills to achieve social activism in fighting injustices, bigotry, national animosities, disease, religious misunderstandings, religious radicalism and the list goes on.
Jul
3
Core Competence: J-79, Kelly Johnson and PAF
Filed Under India, PAF, Peace, Technology, United States | 8 Comments
by Imran H. Khan
Core technologies and capabilities that drive the economies take a long time, large amounts of money and even bigger patience to bear fruit. But once they mature, the rewards are well worth the effort. Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” makes a similar case for outstanding achievers, that it is more of their earlier start than their brains that make them excel. It is sustained practice of ones art or profession that over the period of time blossoms into an unsurpassed ability. Developing countries typically try to shy away from making investments in longer gestation technologies and therefore commit themselves to the path of perpetually playing catchup with developed countries. This is a story of a jet engine that propelled Air Forces possessing it into an unrivaled position. Read more
Views: 1192ShareMar
7
Pakistanis are STILL Dying: For What? For Whom? Why?
Filed Under Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Peace, US Policy, United States | 8 Comments
by Imran H. Khan
Little did I know when I first posted this that there would be a number of drone strikes and suicide explosions immediately after wards. I know of no nation in the world that willfully allows another nation to attack and kill its citizens, specially when it has the resources to stop it. The current civil and military leadership of Pakistan needs to be held accountable for allowing Pakistani citizens to be killed, on a nearly daily basis, by its people. I had recorded a talk show on US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan in April 2009. It discussed the anticipated change in the US policy brought about by the new Obama administration. Read more
Nov
16
In Pursuit Of Peace For This One World We All Live In and Share, Our World Our Home
Filed Under Peace | Leave a Comment
by Myra Chaudhary
Myra is a student at Brandeis University studying International Global Studies and Global Economics
“Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.”
(Quran 5:32)
“Seek peace, and pursue it.”
(Bible Psalms 34:14)
“Do naught to others which if done to thee would cause thee pain.”
(Hindu Mahabharata 5.1517)
“I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life”
(Five Mindfulness Trainings of Buddhism)
“You shall not murder.”
(God’s Revelation in the Jewish Old Testament)