The Judicial Salvoon December 29, 2019The short order of the ‘special court trying Musharraf had left many questions unanswered. The detailed order that followed had no ambiguity as to the intent and purpose of the court and the mindset of the chief judge. Legal shortcomings apart, the language of the said decision has attracted scathing criticism at home and abroad. […]
Status Quo Vs Changeon November 28, 2019Inertia is a ‘property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless that state is changed by an external force’. Status quo has its inherent inertia. It requires effort, persistence, perseverance and patience to bring about a change in the status quo. The […]
Wisdom and follyon November 9, 2019Hazrat Ali (RA)said, “The richest person is he who has knowledge and wisdom, and the poorest is the ignorant who does not even know that people laugh at him”. Knowledge and wisdom are two different things. A knowledgeable person is not necessarily also wise. Wisdom is a blessing of God. It is a reward for […]
The March on Islamabadon October 24, 2019Before the Partition, students all over India would get together to spoil a religious party’s anti-Pakistan rallies, gleefully chanting the slogan, “Birla kithailihayehaye”, ‘Down with Birla’s money bag’. They thought it was Birla’s money behindtherallies. The Barelvi scholars supported Jinnah. The Deobandis, tooth and nail, opposed him. Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani was an honorable exception […]
The speech and beyondon October 8, 2019An expectant nation waited for days before PM Imran Khan’s maiden speechat the UNGA on the 27th of this month. A young anchorperson said thattowards the end his eyes were filled with tears. So many others expressed the same emotion. The speech was hailed as “historic” by many a media house in Pakistan. From that […]
People and politicson July 20, 2019The founder of the nation died. His only sister, the ‘Mother of the Nation’ was not allowed press coverage for two long years. Nothing happened. Liaquat Ali Khan, the ‘leader of the nation’ was killed. Ayub Khan, the then C-in-C, cut his London tour short and rushed to join the nation in mourning. According to […]
Seeing signson June 18, 2019Most Pakistanis are Muslims by faith and spiritual by default. To the uninitiated superstition appears as spiritualism. The conceptual uniqueness of unity in Islam, however, is different. Many Pakistanis ascribe the creation of Pakistan to a higher spiritual purpose. Jinnah, settled in London, “was ordered by the Prophet (peace be upon him) to proceed to […]
The crisis of political leadershipon September 1, 2018A bus carrying a hundred politicians crashed near a farm. The farmer dug a mass grave and promptly buried them all. The police chief asked him, “were they all dead?”. “Some said they were not. But you know the way politicians are”. The quip is purely American. On this side of the seven seas politicians […]
India — playing with fireon February 25, 2018India continues to indulge in blatant, unrelenting ceasefire violations, all along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary. In its recent frenzy, it seems to be possessed by a demon crossing all the limits of sane human behaviour. Scores of civilians have been unnecessarily killed including women and children and many more wounded. […]
Nowhere to goon January 13, 2018‘Na jai raftan’ (nowhere to go) and ‘na pai mandan’ (no place to set a foot). This describes the predicament the politicians in Pakistan have brought upon us to bear. To be, or not to be, that is the question: whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, […]