Sound-bites on June 22, 2012The Pakistan Cauldron — Conspiracy, Assassination, & Intrigue Author: James P Farwell Foreword by Joseph D. Duffy Hardcover: 360 pages Publisher: Potomac Books Inc. (October 2011) Price: Rs. 1595 The shifting sands of local politics, the riotous nature of its circus acts and the principal players responsible for their upkeep make for an interesting case […]
A dodgy doctor and some stodgy elders on June 8, 2012Minor aftershocks from the Abbottabad raid when they hit tend to put a damper on the Pakistan-US relationship. Of the two actors to receive star billing in that operation, one is dead, and the other is behind bars. The sequel featuring a dodgy doctor may not have the same raw appeal as the Osama liquidation […]
The national anthem conundrum on May 25, 2012The headline in a local daily about alleged disdain of Karachi’s elite schools for the national anthem was framed to trigger a firestorm of protests. The outrage came right on cue. A small group of enlightened souls recently gathered to mull over the national anthem controversy over tea and cookies did not look too worried […]
My name is Khan and I am the brother of the Baloch S on May 4, 2012Fatal Faultlines: Pakistan, Islam and the West Author: Irfan Husain Foreword by: Stephen P Cohen Publisher: Harper Collins Pages: 232 When characters in a modernised version of Sherlock Holmes make a passing reference to Karachi — they only have Daniel Pearl in mind when the ISI agents are featured on TV shows — it is […]
Taking a chapter from the 1980s playbook on December 30, 2011These days Pakistan can be found standing at the crossroads mulling over its future role in an ongoing war. A shaky alliance merits the deployment of its sophisticated air defence network on the western front. Its cash-strapped economy in turn merits the reassessment of the defence budget to sustain this expansive proposition. After 26/11, Pak […]
The inconvenient truth according to a little bird on June 3, 2011Some new information surfaced immediately after I hit the send button on my first piece ‘You can’t handle the truth?’ (Daily Times, May 30, 2011) — information that casts new light on the events of May 22, 2011 when an indeterminate number of men stormed a naval airbase and targeted its prized assets. I say […]
You cant handle the truth? on May 29, 2011The guard is on edge. He sits up warily as a small car pulls up by the PAF Museum. But it is just some good Samaritans who hesitantly walk over to the stone slab to deposit a bouquet. The tribute is for the martyrs of the PNS Mehran tragedy who have given their lives protecting […]
The man who made a desert bloom on December 31, 2010“O Lord! We have crash-landed!” was Hafeez Khan’s first reaction when his aircraft touched down in what appeared to him the middle of nowhere. The plane was one that could land on unprepared surfaces, which is just as well since there was nothing remotely resembling a proper airstrip at that time in Abu Dhabi. Awaiting […]