Journalism Pakistan
Journalism Pakistan
Freedom of expression shrinks in Pakistan as PECA Amendments take toll: report اظہارِ رائے کی آزادی محدود، پیکا میں ترامیم سے میڈیا کو شدید دھچکا: رپورٹDawn urges Indian media to abandon war rhetoric ڈان کی بھارتی میڈیا سے جنگی بیانیہ ترک کرنے کی اپیلIndia bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels following Pahalgan attack پہلگام حملے کے بعد بھارت نے پاکستان کے 16 یوٹیوب چینلز پر پابندی لگا دی'In A Different Realm' offers a philosophical take on cricket's greatest innings ان اے ڈیفرنٹ ریلم کرکٹ کی عظیم ترین اننگز پر ایک فکری نقطۂ نظر پیش کرتی ہےCoordinated or coincidence? Identical tweets by Pakistani journalists raise eyebrows ہم آہنگی یا محض اتفاق؟ پاکستانی صحافیوں کے ایک جیسے ٹویٹس نے سوالات اٹھا دیےThe PSL paradox: pageantry or progress? پی ایس ایل کا تضاد: دکھاوا یا ترقی؟Sher Afzal Marwat launches personal attacks on journalists after PTI expulsion پی ٹی آئی سے نکالے جانے کے بعد شیر افضل مروت کے صحافیوں پر ذاتی حملےJournalist Sanaullah Khan alleges FIA blocking accounts of YouTubers and families صحافی ثناء اللہ خان کا انکشاف: ایف آئی اے یوٹیوبرز اور ان کے خاندانوں کے اکاؤنٹس بلاک کر رہی ہےA launch in style: Dr. Nauman Niaz unveils 'In A Different Realm' ان اے ڈفرنٹ ریلم کی رونمائی: ڈاکٹر نعمان نیاز کی کتاب Sindhi journalist AD Shar brutally murdered, PFUJ declares three-day mourning سندھی صحافی اے ڈی شر کا بہیمانہ قتل، پی ایف یو جے نے تین روزہ سوگ کا اعلان کر دیاAJK government registers case against newspaper and staff آزاد کشمیر حکومت کا اخبار اور عملے کے خلاف مقدمہJournalist Arzoo Kazmi alleges FIA threats, possible arrest over reporting صحافی آرزو کاظمی کا دعویٰ: ایف آئی اے کی دھمکیاں، رپورٹنگ پر ممکنہ گرفتاری

Political stunt or meaningful gesture?

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published March 26, 2013 |  By Chatterbox

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Political stunt or meaningful gesture?

LAHORE: I guess I'm a bit pissed at JournalismPakistan for missing an important bit of news. JP Chief Editor Steve Manuel made the excuse he's out of the country and, therefore, not always in the loop. The Managing Editor, Imran Naeem Ahmad is strangely and conveniently incommunicado. Meanwhile, recently Pakistan Muslim League (N) chief, Nawaz Sharif, graciously reopened Lahore's iconic Pak Tea House. This was the news they missed.

 

The favored meeting place of writers, poets, artists, intellectuals and journalism, Pak Tea House had remained closed for over 13 years.  What really bugged me was that the one day I pick to go to Karachi and I missed something like this. I'm told there were quite a number of really 'cool literary' people I missed as well.

 

Ah well. Why cry over spilt milk?

 

Let me rejoice in the fact that this amazing institution is once more. When it was shut down in 2000, due to lack of business and a few unpleasant incidents, the literary community lost yet another place to meet. Over the years there have been others that have tried to capture the spirit of the Pak Tea House but failed. Just not the same.

 

Lords Restaurant in Lahore was second-hand place for writers and journalists and in Rawalpindi there were two places of non-descript nature near Liaquat Bagh that journalists and writers frequented. The same in Karachi. The Press Club is not the same as these alternative meeting places. They all flattered to deceive.

 

It's not easy to cough up past patrons such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ibne-e-Insha, Agha Shorish Kashmiri, Sadaat Hasan Minto and Ahmed Faraz. 

 

Perhaps Nawaz Sharif was being genuine when he said he was proud to reopen Pak Tea House and perhaps he was cashing in on a good thing. After all the elections are just around the corner and why not garner whatever support from wherever, however?

 

One way or the other it will be good to see the doors of this incredible place, so close to the historical Anarkali Bazaar, YMCA and the Punjab University's Art Department, open once again.

 

Before Partition, Pak Tea House was known as India Tea House and was owned by a Sikh family. After Partition, a person named Siraj-ud-Din rented it from the YMCA administration and renamed it Pak Tea House. However, in the 90's the tea house ran into all sorts of problems and the owners decided it would be better to shut it down and open a new business in its place.

 

However, the literary community fought tooth and nail against this and even went to court. The tea house interior and exterior has been renovated and brought back to its original glory. 

 

No wonder Sharif looks so pleased.

 

Can't say how I feel about Steve and Imran.

 

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