The Supreme Court (SC) having given notice to several respondents in the Manzoor Ijaz – Haqqani Memo issue, the govt resorted to its usual ploy of attempting to frustrate the course of justice. The first salvo was Dr (??) Babar Awan’s vitriolic attack on Tariq Khosa, appointed by the SC as a one-man Commission to…
The New Year is usually associated with joy but this time around a great many countries approached it bad that happened, whether in Pakistan or outside seemed to be our fault or so we were told. And what about our leaders? They being interested mostly in self survival, fell over themselves in keeping the USA,…
Literally meaning the ‘land of the pure’, Pakistan has been in the grip of extremism of one sort or the other – ethnic, linguistic, sectarian and religious – almost since its birth. Six decades after independence, we continue to struggle with basic issues relating to identity, democracy and constitutionalism. Elections are always a saga of…
While the Osama Bin Laden (OBL) raid was indeed disastrous for the Army’s image, to condemn the ISI outright without hard evidence for the horrific Saleem Shahzad kidnapping and murder is terribly unfair. Casting aspersions and accusations on flimsy basis without evidence is normal in a society where defamation laws are neither strong enough nor…
Gen Pervez Musharraf’s personal ambitions neatly coincided with the state of the State in Oct 1999, despite Mian Nawaz Sharif’s “heavy mandate”, his military takeover was widely welcomed by all sections of society. Expected to correct the system of governance turned by a decade of “democracy’ into a complete farce, the premise was that if…
Some critics of the uniform within Pakistan genuinely (and rightly) believe that nationhood stems from Constitutional rule, the real bile and venom emanates from a despicable few mostly in line with vested external forces hostile to the country. Unfortunately the intense negative propaganda is joined by many who act in good faith but do not…
Dear Readers Karachi tethered almost on the brink of anarchy when certain areas resounded with the crackle of automatic weapons as armed gangs ran amok for five long days in an ethnic and political warfare. The situation was ultimately restored as law enforcers stepped in but by that time 100 innocent people had been killed,…
Dear Readers, With the death of Osama bin Laden the world must start refocusing attention to building up Pakistan’s capacity to prevent and combat violent extremism. One of the underlying factors that have pushed Pakistan to the front line of the war on terrorism is the nexus between transnational crime, poverty, and terrorism. Perhaps no…
Any earthly reason why the Pakistani populace should be deprived of their legitimate right to hear (and witness) what is financially in store for them for the coming year? The Opposition has every right to protest using Parliamentary practices procedures (and language thereof), the modus operandi was abhorrent. The National Assembly floor is “Hallowed Ground”…
The Pokhran nuclear explosions by India on 11 and 13 May 1998 plunged Pakistan into a “damned if you will, damned if you don’t” crisis. The gloating rhetoric and venom flowing out of the BJP leadership than governing India was startling, if not altogether shocking. Clearly intent on rubbing our noses in the dirt, their…
