US think tanks and the Af-Pak policy on April 29, 2016A recent report in the Times of India (TOI) titled “ISI has infiltrated US think tanks, Pak scholar says” has opened an interesting debate about the Pakistani intelligence agency ostensibly leveraging the United States think tanks’ clout to further its agenda. The report, apparently stitched together from assorted tweets by the eminent Pakistani scholar and […]
Terrorism: is media a watchdog or lapdog? on April 26, 2016Pakistan finally saw democratically elected national and provincial assemblies plod past the five-year finish line — a first in the country’s history. Despite many flaws the outgoing parliamentarians added several constitutional feathers to their caps. From restoration of the judges made dysfunctional by a tin pot dictator to the president giving up his powers to […]
Consent and coercionn in Takfiristann on April 26, 2016After the assassination of its brave leader Bashir Bilour, the Awami National Party (ANP) consultative committee had released a bold statement as a roadmap to confront the Taliban terrorism. We had shared parts of that statement here. Subsequently, the ANP seems to have gotten cold feet and wavered from “the Party’s stated position that extremism […]
Consent and coercion in Takfiristan on April 25, 2016After the assassination of its brave leader Bashir Bilour, the Awami National Party (ANP) consultative committee had released a bold statement as a roadmap to confront the Taliban terrorism. We had shared parts of that statement here. Subsequently, the ANP seems to have gotten cold feet and wavered from “the Party’s stated position that extremism […]
Pakistan: diversity indicted on April 25, 2016Faqeeh e shehr bola badshah se/Barra sangeen mujrim hai yeh aaqa/Isay masloob hi karna parray ga/Keh iss ki soch hum se mukhtalif hai (The city cleric advised the ruler/This person has committed a grave crime/The criminal thus must be crucified/For his views are different than ours!) — Fard-e-Jurm (Indictment).This short poem by the outstanding Urdu […]
Whos afraid of Ayesha Siddiqa? on April 25, 2016There is no indication that the dark night of Takfiri terrorism is about to lift its heinous shadow from Quetta’s Shia Hazara. Are 40 days enough of a respite for the Hazara to be digging mass graves for their loved ones again? The terrorists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) appear to think so. Just as the Hazara […]
UAE and Pakistan: harassing the heretics on April 24, 2016What started in the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms some two years ago has taken on a new and vicious intensity. Some of the sheikhdoms’ own officials were calling it an unannounced ‘operation’ but it is increasingly looking like a witch-hunt to harass and chase the Shia Pakistanis, particularly the Pashtun Shia, out. Since the 1960s oil […]
Anti-terrorism doctrine: too little, too late? II on April 24, 2016Deploying Dr Tahirul Qadri to march on Islamabad with his minions, whether to squeeze concessions out of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or to regain the sectarian ground lost by the Barelvis, was a horrible idea no matter who conceived it. Chances are that none of his foreign patrons initiated the move but might have […]
Anti-terrorism doctrine: too little, too late? I on April 23, 2016Since General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani made his Yaum-e-Shuhada (Martyrs’ Day) speech on April 30, 2012, there had been speculation about at least he, if not the Pakistani security establishment under him, had had some change of heart vis-à-vis the use of jihadist proxies as so-called strategic assets. Then came the COAS’s August 14, 2012 address […]
Three days that almost shook Pakistan on April 22, 2016Once again, the Hazara Shia, perhaps the most peaceful community in Pakistan, has come under the most violent attack. The twin bombings targeting a snooker club frequented by the Hazara youth on Alamdar Road killed nearly a hundred people last week. Most of them were young men and perhaps sole breadwinners for their families. It […]