Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain

Once again the prophets of doom and gloom are out in full force. Political parties sitting in the opposition are chomping at the bit for a ‘midterm’ election. The reason is, as always, related to the weather and has little to do with any political realities. As every observer of the Pakistani political scene knows, […]

In the midst of all the national and international turmoil around us, one news item that ‘hit closest to home’ for me was the news from India about 12 women who died in a public hospital because they received tainted intravenous solutions. I can empathise with the physicians in that situation. In the Pakistani public […]

The federal cabinet was recently reshuffled, downsized, right-sized or just pruned. Whatever, but still we do not have a minister for three important portfolios, Petroleum, Water and Power and Foreign Affairs. An oversight or a deliberate political manoeuvre, that remains to be seen. When ministers were appointed for Postal Affairs and Minority Affairs but not […]

On January 27, Raymond Davis of the US Consulate shot two people and killed them in the city of Lahore. The basic facts are that Davis was driving by himself in a congested urban area when he was accosted by two men riding a motorcycle. According to some eyewitnesses interviewed by TV crews at the […]

Too many things are going on worth writing about. But for me something more important than all the major stories filling the newspapers and TV headlines is the one about Basant (festival of the kites). Evidently, the governor and the chief minister of Punjab have agreed that the people of Lahore will be allowed to […]

Whenever I think of autocrats who style themselves as ‘presidents for life’, I am reminded of an old joke. Bad enough that half of all marriages end in divorce, but then the other half end in death! Something similar is probably true of dictators. After years of ‘mistreatment’, many are finally ‘divorced’ by their ‘subjects’ […]

By the time this column is printed, the New York Jets (an American Football team) will either have qualified to play in the ‘Super Bowl’ or else will have been eliminated in the Sunday evening game by the Pittsburgh Steelers. For most of my adult life I have been a fan of the NY Jets […]

The recent Tunisian ‘revolution’ of sorts brought forth a few interesting memories and some provocative ideas worth thinking about. Clearly the most important impetus to the agitation against the now absconding Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was the alleged corruption that his wife and her family were involved in. There is an old maxim […]

The assassination of Salmaan Taseer must be condemned by all those who believe in the rule of law. Religious fervour is no defence for unlawful and illegal behaviour. That said, it is also important to resist the temptation to condemn all those who are beholden to the blasphemy laws as an article of faith of […]

My first column in this newspaper every year is about predictions I made the previous year, how right I was, and then about predictions for the new year. So first about my predictions for the past year (‘Old predictions and new’, Daily Times, January 4, 2010) and how well I did. “President Zardari, Prime Minister […]