Pakistan army’s prodigal son Major Agha Humayun Amin passed away on 21 February 2025 after a brief illness from complications of cancer. Major Agha Humayun Amin was from a military family and his ancestors served the Raj dating back to the late nineteenth century. His great-grandfather Faiz Baksh was from Aligarh and served in the…
The American war in Afghanistan lasted for two decades and a substantial number of books were written by western military men, diplomats, politicians, and journalists. They provide an outside perspective, and no Afghan has written about the experience of their nation. Twenty Years by Sune Engel Rasmussen is unique as it gives experience of several…
Syed Ali Hamid’s book is a fascinating account of a little-known aspect of the life of Sahabzada Yaqub Khan (SYK) who played a prominent role in Pakistan’s history during his long military and diplomatic careers. The book’s author has compiled an absorbing narrative of events surrounding the years of SYK’s captivity during the Second World…
They do not believe that which they cannot grasp”. – Quran 10:39 October 07, 2023, the attack of Hamas on Israel surprised foes and friends of both Hamas and Israel. This event qualifies as a ‘strategic surprise’ defined here as a single event that changes the trajectory of history and measured not by the intentions…
“There is nothing further here for a warrior. We drive bargains …… old men’s work. Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace. And the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and…
Iranians for millennia have been doing business with the world during imperial and nation-state eras in good and troubled times. Iran has been under American and western sanctions for almost fifty years but it has developed sophisticated mechanisms to survive by using a shadow infrastructure. Iran has developed a complex web of shell companies, middlemen,…
On 31 July 2024, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyah was killed in a bomb blast in Tehran where he had arrived to attend the swearing ceremony of newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. While Israel has not acknowledged but it is understood that Israel conducted the strike. Israel has been conducting targeted assassinations even before…
Iran and Israel are engaged in an undeclared war in the last two decades. It is mainly a proxy war revolving around Iran’s attempts to acquire nuclear capability and Israel’s attempts to thwart these efforts. Since Iran is unable to match the military, diplomatic and economic strength of Israel it has used the strategy of…
From time immemorial humans all over the world have designated rocks, rivers, trees, and mountains as sacred. Pilgrimage sites and rites are shaped by stories and legends passed down through generations. People embark on journeys to a sacred place or shrine for fulfillment of their religious beliefs. It holds profound meaning for the believer as…
Fasting is found in every religious tradition as a form of penance, purification, and spiritual discipline. It is undertaken with the understanding that physical discomfort elevates spiritual status. In Christian, Hindu and Buddhist traditions, extreme form of ascetic practices with prolonged seclusion and fasting is used as a vehicle of purification. Judaism and Islam are…
