Dr Mohammad Taqi

Two attacks ravaged Balochistan last week. Despite coming within hours of each other –and efforts by many to tie them together — both violent attacks were distinct. In fact, two very different groups have claimed responsibility for the assaults. The distinction is imperative as one-size-fits-all solutions do not work. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) took […]

A day after the new Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif took oath, a missile strike believed to have been fired from a United States drone killed seven militants in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan Agency (NWA). The target was a Taliban commander Bahadur Khan alias Muttaqi (no relation to former Taliban […]

Last week President Barack Obama delivered an extraordinary speech at the National Defence University at Fort McNair, Washington, DC. The speech that addressed an array of issues from the post-9/11 hunt for al Qaeda to the concerns regarding the civil liberties in the US has drawn flak from both the left and the right. The […]

 There have been four official coup d’état in Pakistan’s history but no third term for a civilian head of the government. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is all set to cross that threshold. From his exile on December 10, 2000 to his eventual return on November 25, 2007 he has had plenty of time to reflect […]

The bloodiest election in Pakistan’s history is over and the country’s first democratic transfer of power ever will take place shortly. We had discussed the expected results in this space last week. The only thing to add is that the country’s polity did indeed take a decisive right turn. But no account of the elections […]

The democratic dispensation in Pakistan has completed its constitutional term for the first time in history. A lot has been written about the constitutional achievements and governance including handling of the terrorist menace by the political governments at the federal and provincial levels. Balance sheets for leaders and parties are being rolled out in the […]

On the eve — or is it the dawn — of General Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s second tenure extension, there have been assorted noises in sections of the media, especially two English contemporaries, about Pakistan’s deep state, ostensibly, having second thoughts about the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This would neither be the first time nor the last […]

So we are back to medieval times and the medieval discourse whether music is halal (permissible) in Islam or is explicitly haram (forbidden). A deeply disturbing news item appeared in sections of the Pakistani press this past weekend. On August 27, 2012, a senior journalist and the op-ed editor of a major national English newspaper, […]

We have been discussing an op-ed, “Balochistan: sectarian strife or Hazara community targeted?” written by M Surat Khan Marri that appeared in these pages a few days ago. In his condescending piece, Mr Marri has alleged that the Hazaras are Iran’s proxies who are allied with the Pakistani state and are working against the Baloch […]