One of the most acclaimed poets of Urdu, Mirza Assadullah Ghalib was apt when he said: CHIPAK RAHA HEI BADAN PAR LAHOO SE PAIRAHAN; AB HAMARI JAIB KO HAJAT-E-RAFOO KYA HAI (the flap of my pocket is torn and sticking to the bloody body; thus what is the need for recrafting it…). Though the legend…
Adeel Azhar: Assalam-o-alaikum and welcome to yet another episode of SBP podcast. I am your host Adeel Azhar. I hope that this podcast series will be adding to your knowledge because we bring you the people who are right behind the action, who are taking important decisions sitting at the Central Bank and are developing…
Question: About yourself, professional achievements and accolades Ans. I was selected as a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and serve on the Board and the Executive Committee of the American Pakistan Foundation. Previously I served as President of The Citizens Foundation-USA, a non-profit dedicated to building schools for underprivileged children….
Co-Chairman Pathfinder Group Zarrar Sehgal: I would like to welcome you on behalf of the Pathfinder Group to the annual Pakistan Breakfast at Davos. Obviously we had to take a two-year break because of the pandemic but this has been an annual feature at Davos, going back many decades where we had the pleasure to…
Dr. Huma Baqai, Rector MITE & Moderator: Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim. Good afternoon, Assalam-o-Alaikum and it is absolutely heartening to see a houseful on a Sunday afternoon, which is probably indicative of your commitment to this very critical, important initiative. When I walked into the hotel this morning, there was this lady standing there, and I asked her…
The Taliban 2.0 regime has stayed put in power for more than a year. As they marked their one-year rule on August 15, 2022, it was a muted affair. The mood in the capital, Kabul, was dull and there was hardly anything to cheer for the militia leaders, who are longing for recognition to this…
As Sri Lanka boils and goes over the brink, there are some parallels for Pakistan. The South Asian island-nation state is literally unnerved and apparently has no contingency plans to stay afloat. What has happened in Colombo is not an inertia affair, but a sustained collapse of head and heart while ruling the tiny entity,…
Naseer Turabi, a legendary Urdu poet, could not have prophesied it better. He was in tears on hearing the news of the Fall of Dhaka in December 1971, and he penned his emotions instantly by saying: Vo ham-safar thā magar us se ham-navā. ī na thī, Ke dhuup chhāñv kā aalam rahā judā.ī na thī;…
Pakistan’s defence is impregnable. This is not a hyperbolic statement, rather one that confirms on merit and a diligent track record of history. Yet why is Pakistan so insecure when it comes to fissures from home and abroad? Pestering political crisscross, economic dysfunction, religious radicalism, media bizarreness, policy confusion and last but not least, a…
Anti-Americanism has never ever united Pakistanis. It was a ploy. It has always been a theatrical call by politicians leaning on the right side of the divide, primarily reactionary-or-orthodox elements. Nor has campaigning against Washington brought in dividends. Rather, this love-hate-card was used for petty personalized objectives, and none other than the administrations in the…
