Vladimir Putin “Anyone who does not regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart...”
Barack Obama “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition...”
Not many Indians are happy with the prevailing system. Too many disparities have come to be entrenched and too many people have been driven to live on the margins. Crime has been politicised and politics criminalised. The question that faces the nation is how to change the system. Should it be with the gun as [...]
A universally accepted truth is that the government we have is powerless, that the state is non-functional, and that law and order has fled (if it ever has been with us during the past four decades). Thanks to the last of the military dictators and the myriad private television channels he gave us that bring [...]
Since their 2007 launch, the whistleblowing web site WikiLeaks have been the subject of “hostile acts” by state and private security services for spilling the beans on crime, corruption and violence perpetrated by the capitalist deep state. But rather than being deterred by government threats or overt acts of violence, including the murder of two [...]
That Pakistan needs an alternative vision and leadership is beyond doubt. Any forward movement will depend on our national ability to recreate ourselves in our own eyes before we can have an impact on how people think about us or what they are willing to offer. Such were my thoughts as I stood in the [...]
If you think about it, much of the money that has built small pockets of affluence across Pakistan has its origins overseas. Ranging from heroin to exported workers, and from cash skimmed off arms deals to diverted aid, many fortunes in Pakistan rest on illegal foundations. This is why the Pakistani ruling elites are forever [...]
The high-profile clashes between ordinary citizens protesting over increased transport fares and the police in Islamabad and Rawalpindi this past week, and similar clashes in Lahore the previous week should hopefully turn our attention away from the tired old theme of bomb blasts and religious extremism. It is conceivable that, in days and months to [...]
The other day I had a conversation with a man less than half my age, a well-educated democratic Pakistani, and on-the-ball as far as happenings are concerned in what is not Jinnah’s Pakistan but rather a mishmash of Ziaul Haq’s theocracy and a corrupt, dysfunctional, governance-free autocracy. A question I posed: who now is the [...]
Just how much disregard does the army have for rules and civilians? Let’s rewind to a year and a half ago. On Sept 30, 2008 the front page of Dawn announced: ‘Kayani shakes up army command’. The accompanying article reads: “In a major reshuffle in the army’s top command, Chief of the Army Staff Gen [...]
The discussion in Turkey on a botched coup attempt some years ago raised some hopes of Pakistan following a similar route. Operation Sledgehammer, as the attempted coup in Turkey was codenamed, involved senior military officers and aimed at creating internal chaos to allow for a military takeover. The Turkish military is generally uncomfortable with an [...]
The National Assembly is anything but an extended version of the so-called Quetta Shura. It is the same body that first sanctioned, and later praised, the all out Army offensive against militants in Swat, FATA and other areas. This very congregation, after a few customary protesting grunts and puffs looked the other way as the [...]
With the fairly substantive and meaningful shake-up in the top hierarchy of the Pakistan Army now complete, the key issue of Lt Gen Shuja Pasha continuing as the ISI head being the last major decision, it can be said without doubt that the politicians have surrendered the policy control and initiative on all key national [...]
There can be no doubt that the past seven years, since private media channels went on air in late 2002, have created a kind of revolution in the country. Never before in the history of Pakistan have so many different opinions aired so openly on television channels. The majority are fiercely hostile to the government. [...]
Militants affiliated to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been on the run for sometime now after losing their strongholds in Swat and the rest of Malakand region, South Waziristan, Frontier Region Bannu and parts of the tribal areas of Kurram, Khyber, Mohmand and Darra Adamkhel. Recently, they lost almost all of Bajaur due to [...]
Why must I continue to dwell on the VIPs? Only because they are a social evil number one. We need an antidote to the virus they suffer from, found only in the Third World. It’s been largely eradicated from the developed world. Anyone inventing a cure deserves the Nobel Prize. The disease is as fatal [...]
It is amusing to note that there has not been a thorough discussion in the media on the army chief’s decision to give extension in service to a couple of lieutenant generals on his own — something which has major implications for the state. The little that has appeared in the print media indicates that [...]
It is unfortunate that Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor hijacked a successful trip by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Riyadh. Tharoor’s remark that Saudi Arabia could be an interlocutor for talks between New Delhi and Islamabad was embarrassing. Tharoor may be indiscreet but I suspect that somehow, he got the impression that [...]
It was called the ‘New Left.’ Emerging in Britain in the 1950s, the New Left was the left’s disparaging response to the authoritarian tendencies of Marxism mainly symbolised by so-called ‘Stalinism’. The New Left revisited Marxist doctrines and attempted to bring them more in line with concepts like liberal democracy. The New Left criticised both [...]
I couldn’t believe my ears when responsible quarters informed me of an American-Blackwater conspiracy to isolate Pakistan. According to this heinous plan the objective will be achieved by infiltrating the media, specifically through placing people in responsible positions in the print and electronic media. These plants will then be made responsible for freaking out ordinary [...]
A comparative study of the codified American, Canadian, Australian, Saudi Arabian and Indian constitutions, together with a glance through the unwritten British Constitution, reveals that stability of character is the basic qualification required to qualify as a parliamentarian anywhere around the globe. Although, pre-requisites such as age restrictions and nationality etc are common in both [...]
The territory comprising Bangladesh was once a part of Pakistan. There were more Muslims within its borders than in the western wing of the country. Yet, this religious bond was not enough to keep the two together. The separation was traumatic. It was accompanied by death and destruction. The religious political parties in erstwhile East [...]
Misbah-ul-Haq appointed Pak Test team captain
Swiss ‘Return of Illicit Assets Act’: Pakistan can get billions back!
Cricketer Muhammad Asif finally brings his bride Sana Hilal home, Veena Malik Shocked
Veena Malik seeks court’s help for registration of an FIR against Muhammad Asif
In mom’s wedding sari, Sania Mirza says “Nikah Kabul Hai”; it’s Sania Shoaib from now
What’s going on between Pak cricket legend Wasim Akram & Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen?
Potential to generate 50,000mw electricity from Thar coal field for 800 years
