The Unmaking of Pakistan – II on November 29, 2024The misplaced priority for a strong Centre has always put the federal structure of the country at greater risk. For a quarter of a century, the federal structure was hamstrung by conflicts between the eastern and western wings over the division of financial resources and political and administrative positions. After losing the Eastern wing of […]
The Unmaking of Pakistan on November 28, 2024The making of Pakistan is wrapped in myths purposefully weaved into the history of the struggle of the Muslims to carve out a new country in the Sub-continent. These myths have hindered us from determining the kind of state we want to have. Did we want an Islamic country with a system of governance as […]
New Challenges for CPEC on November 19, 2024Donald Trump has staged a spectacular come back. He is going to assume the US Presidency in January 2025. His widely-predicted policies on China, trans-Atlantic alliance, wars, globalization, trade wars, and protectionism would have profound impact on the current economic and strategic international order. Pakistan would be concerned on two counts: the renewed Sino-US rivalry […]
The Brutality of State Organs on September 24, 2024In civilized societies, every institution performs within its constitutional bounds. The constitutionally and legally determined jurisdictions of state organs within federal or state structures are sacrosanct and do not brook any contravention or intervention. These societies have developed unwritten norms, which are unfailingly followed by state employees and the public in letter and spirit. The […]
The Unsettling Situation on September 17, 2024We have apparently a democracy in the country with elected institutions that include the executive, opposition, National Assembly, Senate, four Legislative Assemblies and representative administrations in the provinces. All fit well in the loose definition of an elected political dispensation but fail to withstand strict evaluation of democracy. Our democracy is still passing through the […]
Caught in a Cobweb of Challenges on July 22, 2024We are entangled in a cobweb of multiple challenges that are hampering us to break out of our current serious situation and move forward. The lack of leadership; the want of political will; the political divide; the dichotomy of power; the hybrid governance; the social and economic injustice; the injudicious use of financial resources; the […]
Modi cut to size on June 20, 2024General elections have a corrective mechanism if held in a fair and transparent manner. The voters of India awarded two powerful terms to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014-2024 but cut him to size in the recent general elections. Not only his Bhatia Junta Party was denied simple majority, he himself survived by a thin […]
Shouldn’t We learn from History? on June 3, 2024Nations learn from their history instead of suppressing it. Every nation, in its evolutionary growth, made mistakes and learnt lessons and made course corrections or ignored their past mistakes and suffered from the same consequences. No nation on this planet can claim exception to this repetitive cycle of empathy or ruthlessness of history. The recent […]
A Great Loss to the Muslim World on May 24, 2024The demise of President Ibrahim Raisi of Iran in a helicopter crash on 20 May is not only an unsettling tragedy for the Iranian nation but a great loss to the Muslim world. President Raisi was a bold, wise and able leader. While at the helm, he wisely reviewed his country’s relations with the Kingdom […]
We Are Ashamed, My Quaid (Part II) on May 3, 2024The American author John Maxwell has nicely advised leaders, “You must be big enough to admit your mistakes, smart enough to learn from them, and strong enough to correct them”. We have no leader of this calibre. Six years after the humiliating defeat of 1971, the military brass upset the applecart of the democracy; banned […]