Imran Khan change led to what (Part-II) on March 18, 2020Second major plank (the first was discussed in the article published yesterday) of Imran Khan’s politics is that the action against the militant Islamic groups by the military should be stopped immediately and peace talks should be initiated. Many analysts who have followed the Jihadi organisations and rise of religious extremism in Pakistan have explained […]
Imran led change for what? (Part-I) on March 17, 2020Imran Khan has perhaps scored well in the first inning of the first test match of politics played at Minar-e-Pakistan last month. And for the urban middle class political pundits who are tired of corruption and bad governance it was an exhilarating moment. Educated but politically naive youth and many contemporary journalists have pinned their […]
The end of the misuse of the doctrine of necessity on December 30, 2019For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a special court announced the death penalty by a majority vote for a former army chief. The ISPR reacted against the judgment saying that a former army chief cannot be tried for treason and that Musharraf “can surely not be a traitor” as he has fought […]
Some face saving for Pakistan PM: India reportedly lifts 55-day curfew in Kashmir on October 3, 2019According to the Indian media, day-time restrictions have been relaxed in over 22 districts in Kashmir. “Day time restrictions have been relaxed from all 105 police station jurisdictions in Kashmir. It has been done after improvement in the situation,” Dilbag Singh, DGP Jammu and Kashmir was quoted as saying by Indian news agency ANI on […]
On Kashmir on August 25, 2019Hamid Mir hosted his Capital Talk programme on August 19 with a galaxy of senior diplomats as guests who had served as Pakistan high commissioners in India, barring Lt Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib, a defence expert. Besides the normal India bashing, the highlight of the programme was that armed struggle for Kashmir is also legal. […]
India Pakistan conflict on April 17, 2019Recently, Prime Minister Imran Khan who does not tire in saying that he and the army are on the same page when it comes to foreign policy, said that a vote to Modi would be a vote to Pakistan. The logic of his statement was that only a right-wing nationalist party can take bold decisions […]
MBS in Pakistan on February 22, 2019Both Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s PR teams have competitively claimed credit for the successful two-day visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) to Pakistan on February 17 as part of his Asia Tour. This is the kind of civil-military balance we have […]
An Australian’s premonition: the PM who defied logic on February 15, 2019Let me confess that on August 18, 1988, I was wrong about Imran Khan. It so happened that on that day I was in Sydney. I went to see the Pakistan Trade Commissioner, who was a friend. I wanted to give him a surprise, not knowing that I was in for a greater surprise. As […]
How ATC courts can replace military courts on January 20, 2019Isn’t it a matter of shame for democratically elected governments that even after two extensions to military courts through 21st and 23rd amendments to the constitution, over a period of four years, here we are faced with the same predicament to give yet another extension to military courts. I consider it a matter of shame […]
Is Pakistan’s foreign policy paradigm shifting? on December 24, 2018For the second time, there is a glimmer of hope that peace can be restored in Afghanistan as Pakistan has finally pushed the Afghan-Taliban leaders to negotiate directly with the US. Negotiations between the US special representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Afghan-Taliban leaders was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE on December 18. The venue […]