Senate defeat – is NS down and out? on March 19, 2018When rumors are proven right, they are hard news. Throughout 2017 particularly after the Dawn leaks there were rumors that the establishment would not let the PML-N have a majority in the Senate. In the March 3, 2018 Senate elections we saw that the establishment’s political engineering was successful and PML-N was unable to establish […]
FATF grey list implications on March 10, 2018As if domestic political crisis was not enough, Pakistan has been hit by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The lame duck government which is tottering to complete its last few months is telling us that they have got a respite of three months before they are put on the black list (FATF). After a […]
Asma’s restless soul on February 25, 2018Countless people took to the social media to express their condolences over the demise of leading human rights activist Asma Jahangir. In a typical social media style, they prayed that may the deceased lady rest in peace, or RIP. I understand the meaning and purpose of the prayers. But it also makes me wonder if […]
Countering the extremist narrative, one fatwa at a time on February 4, 2018The government has finally managed to get a unanimous fatwa (religious decree) from over 1800 Islamic religious leaders which was named ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’. Though late by almost three years, it can be termed as an achievement on the government’s part to convince religious scholars and Muftis of all sects of Islam in Pakistan to issue a […]
Pakistan’s Chinese umbrella on January 27, 2018US President Trump’s undiplomatic and harsh tweet that accused Pakistan of harbouring terrorists regarding Pakistan has provoked fury in the country, particularly in the hyper-nationalist politicians and media. The problem with practicing politics and diplomacy via 280 characters of Twitter is that it can only give an incomplete version of what was actually meant to […]
24 years of exploitation created Bangladesh on January 17, 2018While Nawaz Sharif may not be Sadiq or Amin, he wasn’t wrong when he said that Pakistan ought to do some soul searching about the secession of East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. However, instead of reflecting, many jingoists pounced on him in the media. One senior PPP leader stood out in particular for […]
What is the real population of Karachi? on January 6, 2018After being coaxed by the Supreme Court, the government has finally held the population census after a nineteen-year hiatus. The constitution demands that the census be held every ten years. The provisional results of the population census are being challenged particularly by the Sindh Government. The campaign was spearheaded by the Pakistan People’s Party sincere […]
Extremism cannot be countered through bigotry on November 29, 2017Islamabad has been under-siege now for 22 days. A lot of time was spent on trying to reason out with the unreasonable leadership of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY). Having done this, the government finally launched an operation on November 25, against the protesting members of this organisation to end the siege of the twin-cities. […]
Well said, Khawaja Asif on October 9, 2017In the din of the Panama leak case, the focus from the real issue is being shouted down by many hyper nationalist; politicians and the media pundits. To me, the real issue is that for the first time, an elected government has declared that it’s time for introspection to find out what was wrong with […]
Well said, Khawaja Asif on October 9, 2017In the din of the Panama leak case, the focus from the real issue is being shouted down by many hyper nationalist; politicians and the media pundits. To me, the real issue is that for the first time, an elected government has declared that it’s time for introspection to find out what was wrong with […]