Andleeb Abbas

The drama continued for five days. The only difference was that it was no longer just another episode of political comedy but a serious and sometimes alarming turn of events that other parties could no longer ignore. He came, he threatened, he spoke, he demanded, he negotiated, he conceded and he left. In this action-packed […]

Never a dull moment. That is what one must say about Pakistani politics. Just when everybody in the country was settling to the thought of an inevitable march towards the 2013 elections, the long march by Dr Qadri has created enough suspense to qualify for a Bollywood thriller. To march or not to march is […]

 More of the same was the sentiment reverberating in the country at the end of 2012. The year started with a belief that if things continued as they were, things would not continue to be. Well, things have remained as they were and yet we keep hoping for a change. The deterioration in the socioeconomic […]

A leader is the one who is accepted by people. With so much written on leadership, this was the pearl of wisdom uttered by President Zardari at the conference “Pakistan Leaders of Tomorrow” organised by the Ministry of Information on the special initiative of the president. This definition of leadership definitely reflects the president’s way […]

To own up, but only in words, is the new trend in Pakistani politics. The most oft-repeated sentence is “Hum mantay hein” (We admit). The Asghar Khan case is termed as historic in terms of bringing to light dark and mysterious areas we all knew existed but were never able to prove in 16 years. […]

Pick up any newspaper in the last decade or so and we will see the headlines and the sub-headlines screaming of blasts, target killings, suicide bombings and so on. Switch on any TV channel and the same happens. The ‘T’ word is the most dreaded word in the country; and brand Pakistan brings all that […]

The right to rule has become the might to rule. Position, status and money all give a heady mindset to their owners, with the result that any regard of rules and laws become a sign of weakness and stupidity. The country is going through its first full term of democracy after a long time and […]

A loud air conditioner droning in the room catches attention and irritates initially but with the passage of time, it becomes a part of the background of the room. Unfortunately, drone strikes in Waziristan have assumed the same status in Pakistan. After an initial bout of disgust and protests, they have become another daily event […]

Proud to be a Pakistani. This T-shirt quote is quite debatable. Is this implying that you can only be proud of the country if you are born and bred in Pakistan? Does it imply that even if you are bred elsewhere you can still be a patriotic Pakistani? This debate has become more debatable as […]

While there is no dearth of ‘black sheep’ in society, the white sheep from Australia is just one more reminder of how deep and wide the net of mercenary corrupters is. With 60 percent of water in Lahore infected due to mixing up of water and sewerage pipes and meat imported from Australia, infected with […]