Dr Mohammad Taqi

In November 1917, a British political agent, Harry St John Philby presented his credentials to Emir Ibne Saud of Nejd. Ibne Saud was to revive and/or found the present-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In his book God’s Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad, Charles Allen notes, “Initially Philby toed the […]

Jihadist terror has struck again, claiming 60 innocent lives at the Wagah border near Lahore. While Jundallah and Jamaatul Ahrar — two reincarnations or splinter groups of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — were quick to claim credit for the heinous act, there was a third entity blaming the assault squarely on India. The former director […]

The Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP’s) young chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, made his formal political debut with a well-delivered speech at a well-attended rally at Mr Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum this past weekend. The 26-year-old Bilawal covered a wide range of political issues in his 90-minute address; in fact, way more than the 62-year-old Imran Khan […]

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) seeks to restore its dwindling political fortunes this coming weekend through formally launching its bright young chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at a rally at the tomb of Mr Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Bilawal’s mother and the chairperson of the PPP, the late and much lamented Benazir Bhutto, returned home on October […]

This past Friday, the grand mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdelaziz al Sheikh, addressed over two million pilgrims gathered in Arafat and around Makkah, saying, “Your religion is targeted. Your security, ideology, strength and intellect are all targeted.” He was taking a dig at the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). […]

The initial attempt to dislodge the elected government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) through street protests orchestrated by elements of the security establishment via their political proxies has fizzled out. Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif owes his and the democratic dispensation’s survival in large part to timely intervention by parliament, especially the opposition parties. […]

“Strike harder, squeeze him, don’t leave any slack! He’s very clever at finding ways out of impossible situations” — Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound. Seeing the artist Dirck Van Baburen’s painting Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan on a recent visit to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum brought to mind the above lines from the Greek tragedy and then immediately […]

Pakistan is now into the second month of the twin dharnas (sit-ins) by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Allama Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in and around the D-Chowk of the federal capital. These 30 plus days have shaken virtually nothing. The elected Prime Minister (PM), Mian Nawaz Sharif, though rattled initially, […]

Double trouble Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Allama Dr Tahirul Qadri of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) is still camped outside parliament’s doors. Their hordes have dwindled but their narrative has become increasingly ominous. The two demagogues are clearly targeting not just the elected Prime Minister (PM), Mian Nawaz Sharif, his government […]