Dr Mohammad Taqi

Never a dull moment in the land of the pure, is there? Just as one is about to look past a real or made-up disaster, new tomfooleries appear on the horizon. A certain Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid has now declared war on the Pakistani liberal intelligentsia. More specifically, Sir Zaid — as his followers affectionately […]

If the recent slew of ISPR press releases is anything to go by, the Pakistani brass is one frustrated lot. What they thought would be a slam dunk is turning out to be a drawn out battle of nerves in which there are few, if any, legal and constitutional options for them to achieve their […]

This newspaper of record reported on December 20, 2011 that during the so-called Memogate case hearing at the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan, one member of the bench, Justice Saqib Nisar “while referring to the former US president Bill Clinton’s book, asked about the people who had contacted American administrators on Kargil issue”. The reference, […]

The issues surrounding the alleged memo, apparently written by a US citizen Mansoor Ijaz, sent via another US citizen General (retd) James Jones, to a third US citizen Admiral Mike Mullen, have now been taken up by the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to adjudicate. The Pakistani apex court had been moved via multiple petitions […]

If the Pakistani media persons giving high fives to each other were anything to go by, it seemed the greatest thing since sliced bread had hit the news last week. And no, it was not the Amazon’s Kindle Fire book reader. What was being welcomed with an equivalent of celebratory gunfire on the social media […]

“In the foreseeable future, Islam will remain a factor in Pakistan’s politics. Musharraf and his likely successors from the ranks of the military, promising reform, will continue to seek US economic and military assistance; yet the power of such promises is tempered by the strong links between Pakistan’s military-intelligence apparatus and extremist Islamists” — Pakistan: […]

“Now, too, revolt is in the air. The Arab Spring, the Occupy Movement and this huge popular assembly in Lahore: which will succeed?” wrote Tariq Ali in his write-up titled ‘Imran Khan’, which appeared in the London Review of Books last week. Before arriving at the monumental conclusion that Imran Khan presumably is the Pakistani […]

In the wake of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally at Minar-e-Pakistan Lahore last month, a flurry of reports and opinions has appeared. These perspectives range from laudatory and supportive of the PTI and its leader Imran Khan to strong criticism and downright condemnation. A lot of information and perhaps disinformation has been circulating on the […]

So Halloween came to Lahore a day early, especially — but not exclusively — for Mian Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Apparently, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally has scared the bejeebers out of an already jittery PML-N. The PTI did put up a very impressive show and political players would ignore it only at […]

“Your Excellency doesn’t understand. A man is a Punjabi or Bengali before he is a Hindu or a Muslim. They share a common history, language, culture and economy. You must not divide them. You will cause endless bloodshed and trouble” — Quaid-e-Azam to Lord Mountbatten. The self-appointed guardians of Pakistan’s physical and ‘ideological’ frontiers are […]