Conceptualising problems on February 5, 2011A popular political discourse attributes Pakistan’s political, economic and internal security problems, especially civic violence and terrorism, to the outside world. The US and India are often accused of destabilising Pakistan. This perspective, widely advocated by the political far right and the Islamists, highlights the question: “Who has targeted us?” External factors and players do […]
Seeking solutions through the army? on January 29, 2011It is the irony of Pakistani politics that politicians criticise the army for undermining the political process but they do not hesitate to seek out the army top brass to serve their partisan political agendas. For the last couple of weeks, different political leaders have been demanding the deployment of the army in Karachi, Punjab […]
Politics and economy on January 22, 2011Politics and economics are interconnected. Even if we do not go by the Marxist framework that emphasises on the primacy of economic determinants of social and political relations, the interconnections between the two cannot be denied. Politics creates conducive environment for viable and stable economy, which, in turn, helps politics to become less contentious. Stable […]
Religious freedom and political stability on January 15, 2011There is a lot of religious freedom in Pakistan. Anybody can do anything in the name of religion, even kill a person. People can greet and garland a killer in the name of religion. However, this freedom is not equally available to the followers of all religions. Only Islamic hardliners, the orthodox and militants have […]
New opportunity and old challenges on January 8, 2011Reconciliation between the PPP and the MQM is a major relief to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who had been running around last week to muster support to save his government. The MQM has adopted a two-step strategy to join hands with the PPP. In the first stage, the MQM is returning to the official […]
The path to nowhere on January 1, 2011The PPP-led federal government faces multiple problems in the beginning of the New Year. However, there is at least one good development. The self-proclaimed informed people have once again been proved wrong because their prediction about the collapse of the federal government in December did not materialise. This was the third or fourth deadline for […]