Dr Qaisar Rashid

Pakistan must know who is about to challenge the writ of the state and why. The challenger will be a former chairlift operator who also used to sell firewood to make both ends meet. A manual worker, Mullah Fazlullah, has now become powerful enough to threaten the lives of Pakistanis by becoming the head of […]

What was being dreaded has finally surfaced as a reality. The anti-drone strike resolve of Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been put to the test domestically, before he could resettle himself in domestic affairs after concluding his recent visit to the United States (US). On November 1, Hakimullah Mehsud, head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban […]

Finally, Nawaz Sharif was listened to. In the meeting on October 23, the patient ear of Barack Obama remained committed to Sharif. No doubt, Obama was also listened to by Sharif sympathetically. Both leaders raised the concerns of their respective countries with each other. Both raised the issues of (mutual) interest affecting their countries. Both […]

What service Pakistan can render to make the transition of power smooth in 2014 in Afghanistan is the question the answer to which the US authorities are looking for. The US comprehends that the transition of power from foreign (US/NATO forces) to local hands (Kabul government) in Afghanistan will be excruciating without the active involvement […]

It is still a moot question whether the future of Afghanistan is connected to totalitarianism or democracy. The Taliban are the proponents of totalitarianism while the incumbent government in Kabul is a proponent of democracy. The second question is will the Taliban come to peace terms with the Kabul government? The Taliban evaluate the political […]

In Pakistan, a generation has been raised that does not believe in an argument predicating on rational or logical thinking. The generation requires necessarily a religious decree (fatwa) to comprehend a point. The trend indicates that the generation has drifted away from the mainstream thought-valuing societal pluralism or heterogeneity and seeking the advantage of scientific […]

On September 21, in a televised address to the nation, Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan (PM), took upon himself to announce a youth empowerment package that comprised six projects: Micro Interest-Free Loans Scheme, Small Business Loans Scheme, Youth Training Scheme, Youth Skill Development Scheme, Fee Assistance Scheme and PM’s Scheme for Laptops Provision. Rs […]

In the middle of this year, when Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister of Pakistan, it was thought that he would have learnt from his past mistakes. The omens are that this may not be the case. When the government of Sharif was ousted in 1999, the masses could not protest against his unconstitutional removal […]

Finally, Pakistan has conceded the fact that its national security is under threat and it needs a policy to brave the threat. With that two vistas are opened: first, Pakistan needs to do introspection on the causes that have brought Pakistan to such a pass; and second, Pakistan needs to formulate a policy that encompasses […]

On August 26, Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, met Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, in Islamabad and, on the next day, in Murree. It was the first visit of Karzai to Pakistan since Sharif’s government took over. Karzai’s visit took place in the wake of Kabul’s visit of Adviser to the Prime Minister of […]