The Nishtar Hospital inquiry should worry Punjab for reasons larger than the nine names now facing disciplinary action. The reported failure was not only that a patient was operated upon before mandatory HIV-screening procedures had been properly completed. The deeper failure was that a tertiary hospital could not reliably move a laboratory result through the […]
Editorial
BLA’s War on Balochistan
The suicide bombing at Chaman Phatak in Quetta has arrived like cold water thrown over national morale that, only a day earlier, had been lifted by words of appreciation from abroad for mediation in the Iran crisis, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledging that Pakistan had done an “admirable job” as the primary […]
A Fighting Chance
In Tehran, as Washington weighed its next move and Middle Eastern capitals watched the Strait of Hormuz, Chief of Defence Forces Syed Asim Munir sat across from Iran’s top leadership with a message the region urgently needed: no power can win from a burning Gulf. His meetings with President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, […]
Counterterror Test
Pakistan’s counterterrorism challenge is once again showing itself in several theatres, all at once. That Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are being forced to fight militants in conditions closer to a battlefield than a police beat should be enough to remind the state that this is no ordinary law-and-order problem. Just days after militants had rammed an […]
Tehran Test
After weeks of war, threats and uncertain diplomacy, Field Marshal Asim Munir’s official visit to Iran – his second in little more than a month – has come as the clearest sign yet that the US and Iran may be inching towards a peace framework. The army chief is expected to discuss US-Iran talks and […]
Capital and Credibility
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Qatar’s Taameer Group comes at a time when Pakistan is trying to convert diplomatic goodwill into investable projects. The delegation was told that Pakistan is removing obstacles through the Special Investment Facilitation Council, with tourism, hospitality, real estate and construction identified as priority sectors. The group has expressed interest […]
Weak Hand
Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar has taken notice of two crimes that should have moved the needle without any public uproar. In Sanghar, a woman has reportedly been murdered in the name of “honour” after being declared Kari. Meanwhile, the plight of a teenage girl allegedly raped in Ghotki has gone on to cause a […]
Climate Test
The State Bank has done what many political speeches have failed to do. The warning is as stark as it could be. Climatic disasters in Pakistan are said to have been higher than both global and regional averages in 2000-24, as well as in the preceding two decades. The Bank’s half-yearly economic report also noted […]
Signals and Smoke
India’s Pakistan policy has always carried two scripts. One is written for the world, full of restraint, dialogue and civilisational memory. The other is written for domestic consumption, where Pakistan is reduced to a permanent villain and every crisis is converted into a test of nationalist muscle. This has shown both scripts at work again. […]
Hostage Politics
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has announced another round of protest politics at a time when Pakistan can least afford another spectacle. The opposition alliance and PTI say demonstrations will focus on inflation, fuel prices, loadshedding, lawlessness and Imran Khan’s treatment in jail. These are real public concerns. Yet the party has again tied dialogue to the release […]