by. Dr Ejaz Hussain

Cricket is a public passion in the width and breath of Pakistan. Despite field hockey being our national sports, cricket has successfully captured popular perception and international patronage. We can rightfully take pride in our cricket’s history which holds one world cup win along with host of other achievements in all three formats of the […]

Mumtaz Hussain Qadri turned against the state the day when in 2011 he killed a sitting governor. Not only did he murder an unarmed human being he also breached his oath of serving and protecting the state (officials) under the constitution. Qadri later confessed to his crime before the judiciary. However, he attempted to make […]

The other day, Germany-based Bertlesmann Foundation, released its transformation index, which measured the political, socio-economic, managerial and foreoin policy performance of 129 countries around the world. I acted as country expert for Pakistan. The BTI Report 2016 puts Pakistan at 100 out of 129 in terms of political transformation, 103 out of 129 in the […]

The Pakistani state’s monopoly on the use of force has been seriously contested by various terrorist organisations, armed sectarian outfits, nationalist insurgents, armed drug traffickers and extortionists. Such organisations and outfits normally operate from the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), which includes South and North Waziristan. However, they have sleeper cells in major urban centres […]

The other day, on social media, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was seen driving an army van while Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif sat beside him, looking apparently cool and calm. The two personalities were in Balochistan where both, at the same time, inaugurated the M-8, the first ever motorway that will connect strategic […]

Undoubtedly, Pakistan is passing through another critical juncture where extremism and terrorism have engulfed our society and state. The state initially nourished forces that believe in transnational jihadism to establish a universal Islamic state; the one claimed in parts of Syria and Iraq is just the tip of the iceberg. When Pakistani military authorities decided […]

When the nation was still not over the pain caused by the terrorist attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar in December last, this January has unfortunately seen another educational institution, namely Bacha Khan University, attacked by four religiously inspired terrorists well laced with modern weapons and supported with the required intelligence. The […]

As argued in these pages last week, there can be mainly three scenarios that predict the actors behind the Pathankot airbase attack in the first week of January. Since the Indian media, which has a habit of extra-highlighting anti-Pakistan rhetoric, started alleging that the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) planned and carried out the airbase attack, the […]

It is ironic, to say the least, whenever India and Pakistan were able to engage each other in peace proceedings, the process is fractured either by the states themselves, given the bureaucratic mistrust, or by the non-state actors. The most recent case in point of bilateral cooperation was manifested during Indian Prime Minister (PM)NarendraModi’s visit […]

The general elections under the 1973Constitution had to be held before August 14, 1977. Bhutto had started an implicit campaign since early 1976. He invoked his successes with respect to the 1973 Constitution, Simla Agreement, initiation of the nuclear programme, Sino-Pakistan friendship, etc. Moreover, he attempted to sell his performance on the domestic front with […]