Rolling back the tsunami on July 16, 2011De-radicalisation is the latest buzzword in political lexicon here and is aimed at making people believe that something substantial is being done for solving problems of terrorism. This fancy word really means counter-brainwashing the brainwashed persons. Edward Hunter, writing for the Miami News in September 1950, translating the Chinese word his-nao, which meant ‘to cleanse […]
The judge, jury and the hangman on July 2, 2011The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in its recent report appropriately titled ‘Balochistan: blinkered slide into chaos’ has highlighted the repulsive role of the armed forces in the issue of the missing and killed persons in Balochistan. It also is scathing on the abdication of authority by the politicians to the armed forces who […]
Not crazy, courageous on June 25, 2011The name Leyla Zana does not have a familiar ring, simply because the problems of this brave Kurd lady do not concern a vast majority on the planet. Symbolising Kurd resistance to assimilation into Turkish identity, Leyla has suffered for resisting the same. While serving a 15-year sentence, she was twice nominated for the Nobel […]
Bridging the Rubicon on June 18, 2011Professor Ghulam Hussain Saba Dashtiari — a popular teacher, renowned literary figure and above all an outspoken, active and uncompromising political activist — was gunned down early this month. The killing evoked some condemnation and censure but it seems that, except for the Baloch and Balochistan, this is now a forgotten chapter conveniently sidelined until […]
Shame on you America! II on June 11, 2011The Palestinian plight stems from the inhuman, illegal and criminal denial of land and rights by Israel with the US’s unquestioningly acquiescent support and, of course, the Arab world’s abject capitulation. This has made a mockery of Palestinians and their rights, as they continue to suffer immeasurably since 1948. All should understand that there can […]
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere on May 28, 2011“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly” — Martin Luther King. The inhumanly brutal, criminal and reprehensible killing of five Chechens including a seven month pregnant woman by the trigger happy […]
One swallow does not a summer make on May 21, 2011Friday, May 13’s National Assembly briefing session has been termed as “historic”, but that it never was. There were no dunce caps on heads, no one stood in the corner and no one had to write 1,000 times: ‘I will never indulge in politics’. It was all hunky-dory, a desk-thumping party where there was a […]
For he, that once hath missed the right way on May 9, 2011Crises are not news here but, of late, they have encompassed the entire economic, social and political spectrum, exposing the prevailing malignant and dangerous situation and indicating that even more distressing and devastating times are to come. The doctors’ strike, uproar over the HEC devolution, anti-extortion industry protests, increasing food insecurity, rampaging inflation, nearly daily […]
Gurba kushtan roz-e-awal on April 30, 2011A severely hen-pecked husband, envious of his ‘wife-dominating’ friend, was ready to give a leg and an arm to become what his friend was. He asked his friend about the secret and was told that it was all very simple. He narrated that his wife had a cat. He told her to keep it away […]
Angry Baloch people on April 2, 2011Governor Zulfiqar Magsi on March 23, during an award distribution ceremony, said that he does not see any progress in talks with “angry Baloch people”, who are engaged in a struggle for their rights. He said that if any progress were made, the situation in the province would have seen positive changes. He said if […]