Steve Coll’s new book is an excellent account of events of the last two decades in Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Steve has all the credentials to embark on this project. He is one of the best and well-informed journalists and his previous book Ghost Wars is the most authentic work of the history of Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) war…
Europe and Asia are geographically one land mass, British geographer Sir Halford J. Mackinder maintained as far back as 1904 that whoever controlled the Eurasian heartland would control the world. Soon after, Nicolas Spyman countered with the thesis that whoever controlled Eurasia’s rim would control the heartland and the world. China’s Belt and Road Initiative’s…
Imran Khan won over the hearts of the masses by his very candid and honest manner in his address to the nation as PM. Delivered from the heart in plain words, his talking points scribbled in his own handwriting he meant what he said. The nation has been waiting to hear from their leaders for…
According to the Zodiac sign July 25 is a day of strong intellectual energies and a powerful time to be born in. Given the feudal tendency to coerce/ intimidate voters in the rural areas, even if the Pakistani voter votes with his head and not depends upon his heart alone or a combination thereof, even…
Winners and losers of Elections 2018 have kept up the national tradition, whereby the winners praise the elections while losers reject it. Participation in the elections was enormous, and nationwide. According to Election Commission of Pakistan, voter turnout was over 55.8 percent while over 47 percent women also cast their ballot. For the 272 general…
Pakistan‘s third-ever democratic elected process leading to the transition of power took place on 25 July 2018. More than 100 political parties contested the 272 seats in the National Assembly (NA), the balance reserved seats being allocated on a proportionate basis with an outright majority would need to have 172 seats. A quick look at…
When criminals or the corrupt disguise the original ownership and control of the proceeds of criminal conduct by making them appear to have derived from a legitimate source, this is known as money-laundering. Billions of dollars of criminally derived money is laundered through financial institutions every year globally, however criminal money can be laundered without…
Dear Readers, Struggling for 22 years to break the hold of status quo parties over politics and the strangle-hold of corrupt leaders over the destiny of the nation, Imran Khan reached the pinnacle of national politics. Having won the July 25 elections, he was officially named as the candidate for Prime Minister (PM) by the…
Though the usual feudal modus operandi for obtaining votes, particularly in the rural areas, is through outright coercion and/or intimidation, it also depends upon who counts the vote, and even more importantly, who gets to collate it. With rigging/tampering with ballot and ballot boxes fairly widespread in 2008 and 2013, the Election Commission of Pakistan…
The month of July has special significance with regard to the struggle of Kashmiri people. Two events “Martyrs day” and “Kashmir’s Accession to Pakistan day” are commemorated on 13 and 19 July respectively. Martyrs’ Day is observed in Kashmir and the world over in remembrance of 22 Kashmiris killed on 13 July 1931 due to…
