Let every eye negotiate for itself on March 23, 2014Forget for a moment well-rehearsed arguments about aid from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, rape and suicide cases in Punjab and Sindh, US withdrawal and coming general elections in India and Afghanistan. The negotiations with the Taliban need a wider focus. The Taliban leadership believes middle ground can be found, unless Pakistan rejects their demands […]
The Pakistan-Afghanistan entente cordiale on March 9, 2014Renewed negotiations with the Taliban are coming at a juncture when many developments are going on in the South Asian region. The exit of US troops, the signing of a crucial security agreement, the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), between Kabul and the US and peace talks with the Afghan Taliban are just some of the […]
How to find grace after disgrace on March 2, 2014I was watching a panel discussion on a private television channel yesterday when a well-known politician and sitting MNA, Jamshed Khan Dasti, declared we have immoral politicians. If a politician is immoral and a liar in his personal life, how can he be trusted to make the most moral and beneficial decisions with his votes […]
Pleading insanity on February 23, 2014In January 2014, Muhammad Asghar, a 70-year-old British man from Edinburgh, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death by a court in Rawalpindi. Mr Asghar had initially been arrested in 2010 after sending letters in which he declared himself a prophet. His UK medical records report that he was first referred to psychiatric services […]
Militancy and politics in the shadow of a ceasefire on February 16, 2014Ceasefires are often seen as a simple action to end violence and allow more substantive negotiations to begin. Contemporary conflict resolution models thus posit the ceasefire as a fundamental step in the peace building trajectory. Offering an in-depth analysis of Taliban militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA Pakistan, ceasefires should rather be understood as a […]
On a wing and a prayer on February 9, 2014Despite the concerted efforts by the government to hold talks with the Taliban no progress in negotiations were made possible. Embryonic offers by the government were equally muted by the insoluble conditions put on the negotiating table by the Taliban. Rather than working towards a middle ground, repeated attacks by the militants have killed many […]
Swat deradicalisation project II on February 2, 2014The Counterterrorism International Conference (CIC) was held recently in Riyadh, concluding that the war on terror had now become a global struggle against violent extremism and that it required not only a robust military confrontation but also an ideological campaign to change the minds and behaviour of those susceptible to recruitment for terrorism. One of […]
Swat deradicalisation project I on January 19, 2014A deradicalisation project was launched by the Pakistan army in the Swat region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2009 for the rehabilitation of a cohort of militant detainees, excluding screened out hardcore militants, after they were arrested by the successful military operation in 2009. The programme involved three programmes, ‘Sabawoon’, focusing on juveniles, ‘Mishal’, working on […]
Writing democracy with bayonets on January 12, 2014It was Monday, December 30, 2013. On my way to the hospital, I was listening to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme when Mr Musharraf spoke to the show’s host, James Naughtie, from his farm in Chuk Shehzad, Islamabad. He described the military as “the centre of gravity in Pakistan” and remarked, “In the past, the […]
The not so serious case of reluctant apology on December 29, 2013Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar denies any wrongdoing and refuses to apologise for using unparliamentarily language. In an attempt to handle the situation, Pervaiz Rashid apologised to the opposition members on behalf of Chaudhry Nisar. Ironically, the PTI was most vocal in demanding an apology when, in April 2013, the PTI chairman, Imran Khan, refused to […]