Deadlocked Doha Talks & Continued Uncertaintyon October 20, 2020Over five weeks into their first face to face meeting, the Afghan government and the Taliban delegations have yet to agree even on the so-called standard operating procedures (SOPs). Quite a dismal outcome of the huddle that began at Doha with big fanfare on September 12. And as the Taliban ramp up their attacks – […]
Pentagon wars meant to please military industrial complexon September 11, 2020As Taliban and Kabul government negotiators undergo the compulsory week long Covid-19 induced quarantine, a couple of developments ahead of the impending intra-Afghan negotiations (IAN) are unmistakable; First, Amrullah Saleh, the vice president made a comment that evoked unusually harsh responses not only by several Afghans but also American leaders; “No Afghan politician of national […]
Status Quo & Absence of durable closureon August 14, 2020Immediately after the 2002 elections, General Pervez Musharraf called up the maverick MQM leader Altaf Hussein to request him for support in government formation. By doing so Musharraf surprised and shocked many. “How can the head of state call up a person wanted on so many criminal charges,” quipped a German friend then living in […]
Status Quo & Absence of durable closureon August 13, 2020Immediately after the 2002 elections, General Pervez Musharraf called up the maverick MQM leader Altaf Hussein to request him for support in government formation. By doing so Musharraf surprised and shocked many. “How can the head of state call up a person wanted on so many criminal charges,” quipped a German friend then living in […]
Open letter to PM, COAS: FBR and police running down Pakistanon July 10, 2020Pakistan is currently facing many conspiracies, mostly internal. One of them by the bureaucracy, led by the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR). The objective; to fleece business and corporate sector, hound honest businessmen and scare investors away through an obstructionist policy. No wonder, shipping carriers are leaving this country one by one. IT companies and […]
Ugly Racism rears its head – yet againon June 6, 2020“I can’t breathe.” These final words by George Floyd, before he breathed his last, revived bitter memories of a similar ordeal that David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man went through in a Sydney prison in 2015. He was being restrained by five guards whose weight and pressure eventually silenced Dungay forever. Floyd, 46, asphyxiated the […]
How Bureaucrats Embarrass Political Bosses?on May 21, 2020The constitution of Pakistan is a sacrosanct document which draws its strength from the consensus it enjoys by all and sundry. Its Article 260(3) (b) clearly defines the term “non-Muslim.” “non-Muslim” means a person who is not a Muslim and includes a person belonging to the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Budhist or Parsi community, a person […]
FBR destroying Pakistan’s interests/imageon May 4, 2020Let us browse two contrasting stories; Iran – currently under crippling US sanctions – is going out of way to woo Afghan government and traders into the Chabahar Port, offering free land for infrastructure to handle their imports and exports. Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, on the contrary, is hell-bent to disincentives Afghan Transit and Bilateral […]
India tastes its own medicine: “Impunity for Non-State Actor Violence”on April 30, 2020The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report delivers a stinging unexpected bolt to an infatuated Indian leadership; recommendation that India be declared a “country of particular concern.” As the narrow-minded, RSS-inspired Modi team ramped up propaganda against Pakistan, allowed its things to persecute Muslims in all possible ways and poked fun at minorities […]
Pakistan – at the mercy of cartels & SROson April 7, 2020The FIA report on sugar and wheat flour crisis came as no surprise. Surprising, nevertheless, was another round of finger-pointing among the three mainstream parties, PML-N, PPP and PTI. This accusatory mode suits all the vested interest i.e sugar producers because it easily masks the sinister cobweb of mighty cartels that operate across the country […]