Courage of conviction on July 30, 2021While most of us fast, we seldom adhere to the revelation of the Quran, which marks Ramadan as a month for reflection. God is admonishing the believers to reflect on the meaning of the Quranic stipulations by using one’s logic and reason while fasting. Every Muslim is responsible for his or her conduct personally when […]
A new Intifada? on May 21, 2021Dozens of bombs and constant shelling by self-propelled guns targeting the densely populated coastal areas of Gaza was the response to the Palestinian organisation Hamas firing dozens of rockets at Israel. This in itself was a reaction to the extreme right-wing Israeli extremists entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque under cover of the police, Israel police; later […]
France – a real friend in need on May 7, 2021Pakistan is staring down another home-made calamity. Known for its provocative editorials and cover images, particularly on politics and religion, French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” suffered a deadly jihadist strike on its offices in Paris back in 2015 as retribution for printing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Last September, the weekly republished these images […]
The third wave and the vaccination emergency on April 30, 2021Covid-19 has struck Pakistan with a third wave and has the country head-locked in a vice-like grip. This has come as a shock to many. For unlike Europe and the rest of the world, including neighbouring India, where the virus had been hurtling along at accelerated speed, Pakistan had so far been doing quite well. […]
Time for a Confederate States of India? on April 23, 2021India, South Asia’s largest country, stretches from the top of the Himalayan North right to down to Kanyakumari on the southern tip. Globally, it is the second-most populous country after China and, by landmass, the seventh-largest. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are distinct from their neighbour, despite sharing a common history, culture and languages. To a […]
Hybrid warfare, pandemic style on April 9, 2021The Corona pandemic that the world is struggling with for the second year now has brought home to us some important lessons about ourselves. The first thing to realize might be that in a thoroughly interconnected world not only people, goods and ideas travel but so do viruses using people and goods to hitchhike around […]
Afghanistan Peace still a far cry on April 2, 2021The new US Administration’s starting position bodes ill for the US-Taliban “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan,” concluded in Qatar’s capital Doha about a year ago while not many are surprised that it has not ended the four decades plus long war so far, it is becoming increasingly questionable that it ever will. The major […]
An independent State Bank on March 26, 2021As early as July 1, 1948 the Governor General of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah issued an order for the establishment of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to regulate the issue of bank notes and keeping of reserve for seeking monetary stability in Pakistan. Generally to cooperate currency and credit system of the country […]
Democracy doesn’t happen easily on March 19, 2021Pakistan’s democracy has been shaken again by the Senate elections. A majority is important for the ruling government coalition because laws passed by the National Assembly (NA) have to be approved by the Senate as well. Controlled by the opposition till now the Senate was preventing this, severely impairing the political effectiveness of the govt. […]
The making of a criminal state (Part II) on March 13, 2021The role of the ECP has been questionable, they miserably failed to implement the recommendations given by the 5-member larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmad relating to the Senate elections. While it directed that polls would be held through secret ballot according to Article 226 of the Constitution, […]