Andleeb Abbas

The sight of Ayyan Ali in her black high boots sitting in a luxury plane ready to fly off and the sight of Gullu Butt striding out of jail in his white patent shoes depict the many shades of grey that exist between this black and white free birds/jail birds combo. Were they escaping from jail? No. Were they evading justice? No. Were they breaking the law? No. Are they innocent? No. Have they … [Read more...] about Legalising shades of grey

Three of the ten most corrupt countries are also three of the least peaceful. The Global Terrorism Index 2015 did a study of the 15 year period between 2000-2014. In this period 25 percent terrorist attacks were held in Iraq, 14 percent in Pakistan and 12 percent in Afghanistan and it is not a coincident that the very same countries rank highest in corruption too. A terror attack needs a huge … [Read more...] about Lubricating terror through corruption

A criminal who has been caught in one of the most publicized corruption deal is brought inside the court by the National Accountability Bureau with VIP protocol. The judge asks the NAB Chairman why has a criminal been given VIP protocol? No response. The judge again asks the NAB Chairman that does he not feel embarrassed or he does not know the meaning of embarrassment. No response. But natural … [Read more...] about A tale of two institutions

Forewarned is forearmed. Not so. Armed are those who know they can pass through the leaking system of countering terror. And leakages are many. When the virus has affected the whole system, doing a localised operation will only result in temporary relief. When selectiveoperations, selective justice and the selective action takes place, it logically results in selective relief. The Lahore blast, … [Read more...] about When you are selective in action

The ride-sharing business is being taken for a ride. The yellow/black cab business had become almost as obsolete as black and white movies. From the fast lane came the likes of Uber to outpace and outsmart the century-old industry of rent a car and hail a taxi. No calls to a number required that respond whimsically. No standing on the streetneeded to hitch a cab. No sitting in a car required with … [Read more...] about Taxing the rides

The bigger, the more technical and the more delayed; the better. This is the formula for creating projects, which are designed to become financial guzzlers and technical maze, where finding when, how much and where the money went becomes almost impossible. Energy projects are ideal for this recipe. Infrastructural projects become layers of deceptive costing while transport projects are made for … [Read more...] about The mega mania

For the VIP movement and the big event, the city was almost paralysed for half the week. Traffic jams and road diversions became the norm. Offices were half shut, and people were advised to stay at home and work. There is an element of fear and resentment in the citizens. Official websites are reprimanded and changed to reflect numbers and pictures that may not be true. Make a guess of whom are we … [Read more...] about Democracy at stake

Old bottle with the same wine is an old cliché. Old bottle with no wine is more current. Every industry screams and yells of crisis. They make appeals, give threatening advertisements, negotiate with the government and finally, a relief package comes along. Somehow, the relief package has a heavy packaging of hundreds of billions. It does look enticing and sound inviting but rarely ever … [Read more...] about Empty Packages

Child labour has savaged into child torture. The story of ten year old Tayyaba is shockingly shameful but alas not uncommon. What is uncommon is the media attention followed by Supreme Court suo moto despite the manipulated patch up between the child’s parents and the accused. Children working as housemaids is almost a norm. Children working in Brick kilns is almost a given. Children begging … [Read more...] about Labour without love