Dr Farid A Malik

In defence of human rights, the term “workers’ paradise lost” was extensively used by western democracies in the 20th century. Now, the tide has changed; democracy has been hijacked by the establishment and the people’s power has been lost. The democratic future of mankind is in the lurch. The world order has to be re-assessed […]

Political historians believe that democracy was born around 430 to 420 BC in the bazaars of Athens. The marketplace was also a trading centre for ideas and opinions, which are essential ingredients for democracy. Obedience to a common will comes through participation into forging it, if only by opposing it. Communications are the life blood […]

Pakistan is at the crossroads again. Due to gross mismanagement and poor governance there is mass discontent. The status quo is no longer an option. Ten manipulated elections and four martial laws have been counterproductive. There was a similar situation in 1970. To defuse the tension, Yahya Khan, the second khaki dictator, decided to hold […]

We, the first-born free generation of Pakistan, have experienced both the rise and fall of our own nation. First there were the ‘toadies’ and then the ‘lotas’ who managed to take control of the country themselves, got rid of the principled workers of the movement and eventually caused its decline. Since 1958 nation building has […]

The first free and fair elections of 1970 were disastrous for the Ayub lotas (turncoats). An honest ballot knocked out heavyweights like Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, Chaudhry Muhammed Hussain, Anwar Bhinder, Yasin Wattoo, Ayub Khuro, Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry, Masood Sadiq, Yousaf Khattak, Mian Salahuddin, Ahmed Saeed Kirmani and Khawaja Sahabuddin to name a few. The election […]

Transition to real democracy has been a major challenge in Pakistan. We, the students of the 1960s and 1970s, have been fighting for this end since our school days. First we challenged the controlled and manipulated democracy of Ayub Khan, called “basic democracy” (BD). There were pitched battles on The Mall, Lahore, with the establishment […]

On October 30, 2011, the kaptaan’s (captain’s) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) emerged on the political horizon as a force to be reckoned with. The chants were loud and clear: “Kaun bachaye ga Pakistan (Who will save Pakistan)? Imran Khan, Imran Khan.” In 1940, Minto Park was where Maulana Fazalul Haq presented the Lahore Resolution that ultimately […]

A doctor friend of mine made an interesting observation recently. According to him, the PPP wants to sell Pakistan while the PML-N wants to buy it. This begs the question of who will build it. The season of buying and selling has started again. Public sector enterprises (PSE) are back on the market for sale. […]

Haula haath (cover-up) and phoola haath (abandonment, dereliction) have become the norms of governance in the country. These phenomena started to spread with the first martial law government of General and self-proclaimed Field Marshal Ayub Khan. When martial law was removed the process was continued through a branch of the khakis called the Pakistan Muslim […]

On October 30, 2011, the chants at Minar-e-Pakistan were loud and clear: “Kaun bachaye ga (who will save) Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan”. For some, the charged crowd brought back memories of the 1940 Lahore Resolution, for others the 1971 call of Zuflikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) of ‘Idher hum udher tum’ fame became alive; for […]