Andleeb Abbas

Parliament is the centre of a democratic system, where the members of parliament, representing their constituencies, strive to act as lawmakers to improve the political delivery of the government through a system of checks and balances. Issues are presented and relevant laws debated, revised, amended or rejected by the majority-vote rule. Lately there has been […]

Occupation is a multi-meaning word. The immediate understanding is from an employment perspective of what sort of work or business one does. The other meaning is occupying or controlling another territory by force. The occupation of occupying land has been the main cause of war and conflict in human history. Thus, history will either tell […]

What do you say about a country that is one of the highest charity givers in the world and one of the lowest taxpayers in the world as well? It says a lot. That Pakistanis are not stingy money hoarders, nor are they cheats and deceivers but that they are extremely wary of entrusting their […]

What happens when crime controllers become crime causers? What happens when law enforcers become law breakers? What happens when those who are supposed to provide security become security hazards themselves? Mayhem results, chaos rules and frustration increases, leading to volatility and reactivity. This is exactly what we are witnessing in our society and country where […]

Gullu Butt truly represents what ails this society. Normally, in our stories or plays, there is a character who does not only develop a repute for being renowned for some comical satire but also some message that he conveys due to his silly behaviour. This character is usually benign and is used to give a […]

You are better off dead than alive. This is the state of despondency prevailing in the country. Instead of law and order that is a basic human right, we face lawlessness and disorder where in our houses, on the streets, or at airports your chances of coming out safe and sound may just be a […]

  The budget came and went. The government desks in parliament thundered with applause, the opposition desks whimpered in protest. The thick budget document and the long budget speech deterred many from making an instant informed comment. However the tradition of having a budget with deficits in nearly everything in the previous year and then […]

A ship without a captain will inevitably go round and round, and sink. That seems to be the case of many of our public sector organisations that are still in search of a person to marshall their disengaged troops and reverse the ill and appalling fortunes of their institutions. The public sector is notorious for […]

Knee-jerk and ad hoc planning can never be a substitute for proactive and pre-emptive leadership. Despite the fact that a democratic government for the first time did a full term and has now transferred the reins to another democratic government, the country is still being run on a ‘make do’ temporary basis. Major institutions are […]

First, it was the prime minister shamelessly insisting on touring the UK in the midst of being convicted for contempt of court. Now it is the president merrily packing his bags to go gallivanting to the Chicago summit when some segments of the country are aghast at the government relenting to open NATO supplies, despite […]