Pakistan’s location shackles efficiency & competence on April 11, 2021Does Pakistan’s so-called geo-strategic location shackle efficiency and competence? Does it stymy a realistic reassessment and recalibration of its entire policy-making and governance regime to avoid destroying the only trusted and long-standing relationship abroad i.e. China? Or will those who matter continue exploiting the country’s location in the global geopolitical wars, and thus refuse to […]
Integrity: Lost to Elites’ Whims? on March 10, 2021Leaders across the world are fighting for education and collective interests. They sacrifice careers for moral principles and regulations. Leaders in Pakistan are fighting for personalities and personal interests – even if it means trampling some basic moral values such as honesty, truth, and personal integrity. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – an alliance among […]
Is it over for Ghani? on March 8, 2021A letter that special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad carried with him to Kabul earlier this week has taken Kabul by storm and apparently spelled doom for President Ashraf Ghani’s apparent attempt to hang on to power despite an international consensus on the need to create space for Taliban. The central point of the letter by the […]
Breaking through mistrust juggernaut on February 27, 2021Pakistan Afghanistan conversation continues to improve with each passing day. Special Representative for Pakistan, Ambassador Umar Daudzai’s latest visit to Islamabad marked another big step forward in the bilateral relations. While appreciative of his hosts’ contribution to the Doha Process, Daudzai came with two messages; nudge Taliban into a “meaningful dialogue” , and force them […]
What made Merkel so Special? on February 19, 2021What a stunningly immaculate and spotless leadership it has been! Angela Dorothea Merkel had indicated much earlier of her decision not to stand for election in September 2021. And she sticks to her promise after a staggering career as the central leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the largest political party of Germany. Merkel […]
Indian Crackdown on Dissent: Torn Between Tough Choices on February 11, 2021Fully conscious of its importance to the greedy trans-border multi-national corporations, India has now taken its war against Kashmiri Muslims and protesting Sikh farmers to the social media platform Twitter. First it had over 250 accounts blocked. Indian officials singled out the hashtag #ModiPlanningFarmersGenocide, which some Twitter users have been using to bring attention to […]
Pakistan’s floating Hypocrisy and Contradictions on January 31, 2021Triggered by the latest Transparency International (TI) report on corruption, we are witnessing a contradictions galore in Pakistan these days. An evolving story loaded with hypocrisy and finger-pointing. Reactions by opposition sound so self-righteous as if their rule was flawless and above board. Let us scrutinize this in the light of case studies such as […]
The crisis of conscience that Pakistan reels from on January 18, 2021In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte Friday resigned over a child benefits scandal, involving thousands of parents wrongly accused by Dutch authorities of fraudulently claiming child allowance. In Pakistan, politicians and generals have been wailing that authorities have failed in proving they acquired properties in London, for example, through assets beyond means. Meaning the […]
The shock it gave us all! on January 4, 2021As if driven by intuition, only a few days before MumtazQadri gunned him down at Kohsar Market in the heart of the federal capital of Islamabad, Salman Taseer had tweeted: “I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightist pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I’m the last man standing.” January 4 (2011) […]
Contest between pro and anti status quo on December 11, 2020How do we explain opposition parties’ cacophony of protests and resignations? Is it opposition for the sake of opposition, or a quest for power which PDM wants to achieve through whatever means – even if involved a direct military intervention? Is it a match between the conventional status quo and those opposed to it – […]