Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan

An All Parties Conference (APC) called by Awami National Party (ANP) to evolve a national consensus on the issue of terrorism and devise a collective strategy for dialogue with militants was held in Islamabad on February 15, 2013. A total of 27 political parties and lawyer organisations took part in the conference, including the mainstream […]

Peace between Pakistan and India faced a serious threat following exchange of fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, and the resultant casualties on both sides in the second week of January. Each side accused the other of provocation and violation of the ceasefire agreement the two countries signed in November 2003. The […]

The end of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s dharna (sit-in) in Islamabad last month with a government-Dr Qadri joint declaration had led many to believe firmly that a last ditch bid to sabotage the forthcoming elections had been thwarted. Nevertheless, certain developments with ominous signs on the national political horizon in the last few weeks have again […]

Pakistan’s religious parties and Islamic scholars have been overly obsessive about the idea of replicating at home political and constitutional models from the Middle East. Perhaps this is owed to the inherited legacy of old, close religious, cultural and spiritual affinities between the Muslims of South Asia and the people of the Middle East, including […]

Last month, the Union Government of India headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh carried out a massive cabinet reshuffle. In the process, 22 ministers took oath, 17 of them being new faces. Singh himself has said of the new cabinet that it is a combination of youth with experience and relevance of portfolios. Almost all […]

A meeting held recently in Islamabad and attended by four of the six component parties of the erstwhile MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) has announced the decision to revive the religious conglomerate without taking two of their former colleagues on board. The parties that comprise now the revived MMA include Jamiat-i-Ulema-e-Islam of Maulana Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F), Jamiat-i-Ulema-e-Pakistan […]

Despite being geographically contiguous, Pakistan and Russia had remained politically distanced from each other during the last about six decades. The framework of the Cold War and the east-west confrontation defined the relations between the two countries during that period. Another factor that obstructed the development of close and friendly relations between Pakistan and Russia […]

President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was in Lahore last week. Presiding over a meeting of the PPP Parliamentarians and party office bearers in the provincial metropolis, he called upon them to get ready for the next general elections, which he said would be held on time. […]

The next government at the Centre would be a coalition led either by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N, with no chance for a third party to emerge as an alternative, notwithstanding the boastful claims of sweeping the May 11elections in a ‘tsunami’. In most likelihood, it will be the PML-N, […]

On Friday, June 22, the national assembly with an overwhelming majority elected Raja Pervez Ashraf, the nominee of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and allied parties as the prime minister of the country. Raja Pervez Ashraf was elected as the member of the national assembly from Gujjar Khan and had been secretary-general of the party, besides […]