A whirlwind European tour on October 22, 2018In the first week of September, I landed in Stockholm – the capital of Scandinavia. Sweden was the first stop in the five weeks long trip which took me to five countries in Europe. I was in Sweden to attend a youth leadership program which was designed for youth from South Asia. The weekdays were […]
BAP-led coalition secures speaker, deputy speaker slots on August 17, 2018Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) led coalition secured the speaker’s office in Balochistan Assembly as its candidate Abdul Quddus Bizenjo got elected with 39 votes against 20 of the joint opposition’s Haji Nawaz Kakar. For the slot of deputy speaker, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Sardar Babar Musakhel defeated the joint opposition’s Ahmed Nawaz Baloch with 37 votes […]
BAP begins a bumpy ride with Jam Kamal in driving seat on August 17, 2018Quetta: Barring any last minute developments, Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) Jam Kamal appears all set to be elected as the next chief minister of the restive south-western province on Saturday (tomorrow). He was nominated for the post in a meeting held on August 8 between the leadership of BAP, the majority party in the provincial […]
Three quarters of the votes polled in Balochistan went to electables on July 30, 2018The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced complete results of all provincial and national assembly constituencies in Balochistan 64 hours after the close of polls. The long and unexpected delay not only resulted in severe criticism but also raised questions on the transparency of the process by the losing political parties. The voter turnout in […]
BAP leads polls in Balochistan, others complain of delays on July 27, 2018Quetta: The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) is leading polls in the province by winning 12 seats. The Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) and the Balochistan National Party (BNP) are the runners up so far, as both have secured seven seats each. The number of seats won by the PTI and the independents is four each. On […]
Who will represent Quetta’s Hazara community? on July 14, 2018Like the rest of Quetta, election campaign is in full swing in Hazara neighborhoods of the city as well. Minority Hazara community, which has been a target of terrorism since 2002, is actively partaking in the election process by holding campaign events for their candidates. Out of nine constituencies of the provincial assembly in Quetta, […]
BAP candidate among 128 killed in Mastung blast on July 14, 2018QUETTA: Candidate of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) from PB-35 Mastung, Siraj Raisani, was killed along with 128 other people in a suicide blast in Dringarh area of Mastung district Friday afternoon. The bomber targeted a corner meeting organised by Raisani some five kilometres southwest of Quetta. Over 150 were injured in the attack, according to […]
The battle for the heart of Quetta city on July 6, 2018CONSTITUENCY ANALYSISSituated in the heart of Quetta city, NA-265 (old NA-259) stretches from Almo Chowk in north all the way to Satellite Town in south. It’s western flank includes neighbourhoods along Sabzal Road, and Marriabad forms the boundary towards the east. With 320,931 registered voters, the constituency is arguably the only one in Balochistan where […]
Key fault-lines in Balochistan’s electoral map on July 1, 2018Voters in Balochistan will send 51 representatives to the Provincial and 16 to the National Assembly on July 25. The election campaign has begun in the restive province, and candidates are making overtures to woo the voters. Traditionally, there have been three distinct vote banks in Balochistan: ethno-nationalist, religious and a third category of voters […]
Remembering Siddiq Baloch on February 10, 2018On 6 February, Siddiq Baloch breathed his last in Karachi. This legend, normally called Lala out of respect, was the torchbearer of English press in Balochistan, who served through his journalism for more than 50 years. Baloch was born in 1940 in the under-developed but intellectually fertile area of Lyari. He received his early education […]