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 & SROs on 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 […]
Gwadar, security & inclusive development on February 10, 2020The journey from the exit out of the Gwadar Airport to the narrow passage through the old town – barely half a kilometre stretch – to the security check points before the Port Area and on the way to the Kohe Batil is not amusing at all. The first thing that strikes a maiden visitor […]
You must extricate yourself from steel-frame? on January 27, 2020Dear Prime Minister, your transition from a cricket star to a passionate philanthropist to an exuberant chief executive of a country currently riven with power politics has been phenomenal. But something seems to be a miss since you ascended to the coveted throne in August 2018. You seem to have frayed in the maze of […]
Is Khan steel-framed? on January 24, 2020Dear Prime Minister, as I indicated in my first letter, your style of decision-making and implementation has injected immense sense of despondency in the hearts and minds even of PTI vanguard supporters. Access to your office has considerably shrunken. Bureaucrats and “converts” to the PTI have raised steel-frames around you , and thus blinded you […]
Open Letter to PM Khan on January 19, 2020Dear Prime Minister, Personal egos can easily turn even extremely well-meaning intentions into intransigence. Your passion for retrieving “looted money” and eradicating corruption is indeed noble. After nearly 17 months into the office, your rhetoric on corruption remains as vociferous as it has ever been. The consequence; the economy is caught in a vicious spiral. […]
Lawyers’ accountability: it is now or never on December 14, 2019All those present in the room at a hotel in Istanbul were stunned when I informed them about the despicable scene at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC). The participants included Pakistani, British, Afghan and Indian delegates to a consultation on regional security. Nobody could believe that somebody can descend to the levels of animals […]
CPEC — overzealous China, hopeless Pakistani bureaucracy on December 8, 2019Under the CPEC, China has taken care of Pakistan’s electricity requirements. Road network has expanded and continues to expand. Free Trade Agreement got underway on December 1. The CPEC second phase i.e. planning and execution for industrialization has commenced. The flagship venture under Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) did encounter some hiccups but it is […]
Woes of Afghan refugees and businessmen on December 3, 2019A recent Peshawar High Court ruling on Afghan refugees and their businesses activities is a sad reflection on how dismally Pakistan’s state institutions have failed to devise laws and regulations on an issue that the state has faced since early 1980s. The Court comprising Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Mohammad Naeem Anwar has directed […]
Kashmir needs a different strategy on November 24, 2019Is our media coverage relevant to native influential German, British, American or French audiences? Why should these foreigners be interested in what I cannot associate myself with, asked a UK visitor Marcus Tomlinson. Together with the flamboyant UK politician George Galloway, Tomlinson urged the Pakistani officials and intelligentsia at a Karachi event to anchor their […]