Could Imran Fix Pakistan? on August 26, 2018There is an under-lying assumption in Pakistan that personal rectitude will translate into good governance. What Pakistan has lacked over the past 71 years is sincere leadership and, if that missing ingredient is found, the problems will disappear. Almost all the supporters of Imran Khan argue that he is untested — besides the little stint […]
Exactly how doomed are we? on August 9, 2018It seems that the “looming” water scarcity crisis has finally caught the country’s attention. Every television channel in Pakistan seems to be warning the country about the droughts and devastation which could be just around the corner. There are nationalistic exhortations to Pakistanis to contribute to the Dam fund for the building of the Mohmand […]
A few suggestions for the incoming government on July 27, 2018This is a replacement article for one I had to beg this newspaper to not publish on election night. In that article, I had wrongly predicted that the election results would shock everyone. It turned out this wasn’t the case. The results were exactly what newspapers, pundits and my friends in the know had predicted. […]
Of corruption by popular demand on July 11, 2018A column published in Dawn on July 4, written by Mr Adnan Rasool, a political science doctoral student at Georgia State University, finally explained the role of the parliament in a clear and easy to understand manner. In the Pakistani drawing room, politicians are to blame for all the ills of this country. That or […]
The world is burning… and Pakistan fits right in on June 29, 2018For many Pakistanis, Pakistani exceptionalism is almost an article of faith. I once had the honour of asking Ms Hina Jilani at a conference if in her view Pakistan was one freak of a country or if it was just another depressingly familiar post-colonial society. Her answer was a nuanced combination of the two options, […]
Pakistan’s numerous ‘water experts’ on June 6, 2018For the past week or so, I have been somewhat bemused by a flurry of Whatsapp messages and Twitter posts on Pakistan’s impending water doomsday. I have queried many people as to what this is. What did India do that has precipitated such hysteria? And hysteria is the word. There are cartoons making the rounds, […]
National fictions and state violence on May 20, 2018Two important things happened on May 13 and 14: Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) had its rally in Karachi, and the United States opened its embassy in Jerusalem respectively. The PTM rally came about despite pathetic attempts by the state to keep Manzoor Pashteen from reaching Karachi, which he did anyway. Manzoor and the PTM are […]
Finally, a water policy on May 2, 2018Pakistan’s much awaited ‘National Water Policy’ was finally approved by the cabinet on April 24th, 2018. The Policy is remarkable in that all the four provincial governments, run by different political parties, also signed on it. Such consensus on a national policy document is unusual, and the present federal government should be congratulated for it. […]
The middle class and militarism on April 19, 2018A column in the Washington Post by Joshua Kurlantzick titled, ‘The Return of the Men in Green’ khaki in our case, caught my attention. It outlines how militaries are once again politically ascendant in many countries across the world, from outright dictatorships in Egypt to increasing power and legitimacy from Brazil to Myanmar and from […]
A narrative deficit disorder on April 5, 2018Lt Gen (R) Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan, was a beneficent man, who very kindly indulged in long discussions about history and politics with a precocious academic — your scribe. In one such conversation, he asked if it was not imperative for the state to mould and help develop a national narrative and nationhood in a […]