Derailing the system on August 15, 2014A prolonged street agitation and persistent political stalemate between the government and the opposition is an invitation to extra-constitutional intervention and may result in the derailment of the democratic system. If Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan do not reach a political compromise, as is evident from the latter’s […]
Lessons from the Lahore killings on July 10, 2014The brutal killing of some 11 protesters at the Idara Minhajul Quran in Lahore on June 17 at the hands of the police reflects the breakdown of the police’s chain of command and violation of the rules of government business in Punjab. For the last six years, Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has been […]
Living with the Taliban on November 11, 2013The mourning of religio-political and most mainstream parties at the killing of Tehreek-e-Taliban Taliban (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack by the US should not be surprising as these parties have been quite consistent for a long time in expressing their soft corner, if not outright support, for the Taliban movement. The Jamaat-e-Islami […]
Punjab budget: neglecting social development on June 29, 2013The budget of Punjab, year after year, presents blown-up figures of development allocations while the actual spending falls way short of the figures shown in the budget papers. In order to divert funds to ostentatious, politically-motivated programmes, such as the Metro bus and the laptop scheme, the government has deprived social development projects. No wonder, […]