Release of Prisoners and A Plea for Compassion on February 26, 2020If Aafia Siddiqui is suffering from various mental illnesses, or nearing the end of life, and it can assured she would not be a threat to society, she stands a chance to be released on humanitarian grounds Bio: The author is a columnist and former contributor for Al-Jazeera America. She has a Masters degree in […]
Appeasing extremists weakens Pakistan’s global standing on October 25, 2018Naya Pakistan is treading further away from Quaid’s Pakistan and the economy is suffering. On September 7, Prime Minister Imran Khan cowed to pressure from far-right groups and asked Dr. Atif Mian, professor at Princeton University, to step down as an advisor from its Economic Advisory Council (EAC). The highly qualified professor, named one of […]
Misdeclaration, mistake, or malafide intent? on July 23, 2018Moments after the PML-N government’s completion of its full term, as former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Nasir-ul-Mulk was about to take oath as Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, the Supreme Court (SC) overturned the April 26 Islamabad High Court (IHC) verdict disqualifying former foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif. Justice Umer Ata Bandial noted that it […]
The expatriate vote and struggle for suffrage on March 17, 2018The results of an election can be surprising but not always for the same reasons. A study featured on the London School of Economics and Political Science site titled ‘The British Asian Vote for Brexit contains a few surprises,’ states that the British South Asian vote, particularly of those that were more wealthy, displayed a […]
Senate elections and the elephant in the room on February 27, 2018Talk about avoiding the elephant in the room. The Senate elections are scheduled for 3rd March 2018. On 21 February 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s verdict barring former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from being the PML-N head happened to have an unprecedented retrospective effect. It stated that the previous decisions of the former prime […]
Lessons hidden in Pakistans shrines on October 14, 2017A day before the Supreme Court issued its controversial judgement on the Panama Papers Case disqualifying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he was on an official three day visit to the Maldives. During his trip one of the last things he did as Prime Minister was to oversee the signing of MOUs on bilateral cooperation on […]
Europe’s conscience and the refugee crisis on March 30, 2017The civil war has displaced almost a third of Syrians. It has caused a worldwide crisis, one that has particularly affected the member states of the European Union. According to the UNHCR hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers have made arduous journeys risking their lives to find shelter and livelihood in Europe. In desperation of […]
Opposition to Trumps Haphazard EO on Immigration on February 24, 2017On Jan. 27 President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a temporary travel ban on citizens and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States. Since then there has been widespread confusion as to the legality and intention of the implementation […]
Pakistans growing rate of executions on August 10, 2015In the famous Liaquat Hussain vs Federation of Pakistan case, the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan ruled the Ordinance establishing military courts to be illegal. This time, because it was an amendment to the Constitution, in a landmark decision a 17-judge bench has rejected all applications challenging the 21st Amendment, which established military courts.In light […]
Why the marches are heading nowhere II on September 17, 20145) Peaceful and lawful protests are a democratic right. Without a democracy — this same one they detest — Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri would not be allowed to voice their dissent. We should celebrate the right to assembly and peaceful protest. That is what sets apart democracies from dictatorships. However, incitement to violence, […]