History has shown that presidents with spunk have used their power of dissolving the government effectively on May 23, 2015Governors in government have a governing dilemma. Their jobs are defined but their qualifications are undefined. The same goes for presidents in this parliamentary system. To be qualified for these posts the main criteria seems to be to have a nondescript personality, to be mostly on mute on public issues and to be blatantly promoting […]
Napping on NAP on May 16, 2015Karachi bleeds again. This time the Ismaili community was targeted. Shock, red alert, arrests, committees, enquiries, more plans, more inaction. After the Army Public School (APS) massacre, with every single party and person in Pakistan agreeing to a complete elimination of terrorism, how come we keep facing attacks on churches and minorities again and again? The […]
Election crossroads on May 9, 2015Democracy, as a system, empowers people to choose at will. It is a system that gives people the right to accept and reject leaders, policies and programmes. General elections are the vehicle through which these choices are exercised. This is the basic difference from countries that are controlled by either dictators or monarchies that take […]
Deadly discrimination on May 2, 2015President Obama feels contrite and apologises for drone strikes: “I profoundly regret what happened,” he said. “On behalf of the US government, I offer our deepest apologies to the families.” Obama’s aides described this as one of the most painful moments of his presidency. This most painful moment was due to the fact that one […]
Stunted development on April 25, 2015Almost 62 percent of children in Pakistan suffer from stunted growth, according to the National Nutrition Survey, of whom 40 percent are stunted and 22 percent severely stunted. Malnutrition in early years is the major cause of this stalled growth. In many ways this is similar to the stunted development the country is going through […]
Balochistan: a far cry on April 18, 2015The least talked about province in the country got maximum talk time in the last few days, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. First, it was the cancellation of the seminar in the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on ‘unsilencing Balochistan’ and then the attack in Turbat killing 20 labourers. The fact that only […]
Murder, it is on April 11, 2015With power comes license to kill. This is the norm that has become strong enough to override state laws, constitutional articles and human rights. That is why a young, happy-go-lucky teenager with life unfolding all possibilities in front of him becomes the victim of a drunk, arrogant trigger-happy son and brother of a member of […]
Leedership on March 28, 2015Lee Kuan Yew has left the world but he is and will remain in this world for time immemorial. In the present era we have had the privilege of having at least three leaders who left an indelible mark on history for their services to their countrymen and to the world in general. They are […]
Wanted: a foreign policy on March 4, 2015Does a foreign policy mean foreign tours? Does a foreign policy mean foreign affairs? Does a foreign policy mean foreign delegations? These are perhaps the most visible parts of Pakistan’s foreign policy components but are also the most trivial parts of any foreign policy. Foreign policy is a major part of a government’s performance, exhibiting […]
Netanyahuthe irritant on March 3, 2015At the time of writing, Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu was due to address both houses ofthe US Congress on Tuesday, March 3. In wanton disregard of protocol, John Boehner, the speaker,invited Netanyahu to address the Congress. The official protocol permits a head of any foreign government to be invited by the head of […]