The controversy over the 18th Amendment (part two) on May 8, 2020The main objective of the 18th Amendment was to secure the Constitution from subversion by adventurist Generals strengthening the treason clause restraining the superior courts to validate any extra constitutional step; trim the governmental and administrative size of the federal authority reducing it to a small and responsive cabinet; empower the federating units to manage […]
The controversy over the 18th Amendment on May 6, 2020The controversy between the Federal Government of PTI and the PPP-led Government of Sindh (GoS) over the 18th Amendment at a time when the nation is confronted with the Covid-219 pandemic is very unsettling for the entire nation and particularly the beleaguered citizens of Sindh where the cases of coronavirus infection have been rising phenomenally […]
Who should address festering fissures within federation? on April 27, 2020What Pakistan has suffered the most in its short history of 70 years is the absence of good governance or the elite capture of governance, policy and regulation. The evaluation of the governance of the bureaucratic-military and the elected rulers from the inception of the country to this day leaves us in a despairing mood. […]
Is there a perennial threat to our national security-II? on April 25, 2020The COVID-19 pandemic has confronted the world as a challenge of formidable magnitude plunging over 195 nation states into unfathomable political, economic and social uncertainty. No leader, analyst, economist, political visionary and philosopher could forecast how long this crisis will last, how far it will impact the economy of the developed and prosperous nations and […]
Is there a perennial threat to our national security? on April 23, 2020The coronavirus crisis has exposed many a national weakness of the country that include the uncoordinated and, sometimes, glaringly self defeating moves by the federal and provincial authorities for the containment of the covid-19; the opposition’s relentless malicious propaganda; the negative projection of the PTI regime particularly the hostile coverage of Prime Minister Imran Khan […]
We are fighting a war: where is the national harmony, Mr. Prime Minister on April 17, 2020It is painful to see the second largest federating constituent of the federation of Pakistan – Sindh to be at loggerheads with the Government of Pakistan. The past two consecutive PPP administrations in the province have been unhappy with the central authority irrespective of its political complexion. Its differences with the PTI federal regime have […]
The COVID-19 versus the world leaders on April 16, 2020The cyclical afflictions of natural pandemics after every 100 years since 1720 should have been a perfect casus belie for the world leaders to have been perpetually engaged in medical research and the building of health facilities. The loss of life during the plagues of 1720, cholera of 1820 and Influenza of 1920 devastated half […]
The Social Democratic Party — A ray of hope in the political darkness (Part III) on April 12, 2020While friends and well-wishers all over the country have welcomed our initiative of launching the Social Democratic Party, terming it the need of the day, they have, however, wondered how we would confront the well-entrenched tribalism and the chiefs, sardars and waderas. These are the linchpin of the strangulating social and political system that has […]
The life after Coronavirus pandemic on April 7, 2020Prime Minister Imran Khan, in the course of his gradually intensifying war against Covid-19 pandemic, keeps addressing the nation. He has so far ruled out any countrywide lockdown to fight the deadly virus – notwithstanding the mounting pressure from the opposition for such drastic action. His concern was that over 25% of our population comprising […]
The 4th April — A black day in the post-Jinnah Pakistan on April 4, 2020We joined the Civil Service Academy on 29 March 1979 – just a few days before the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto which cast a pall of gloom on the premises and drove home the severity of the tyranny unleashed by the military regime to this odd crowd of over hundred funny, merry, serene, resolute, […]