Lessons ofTrumpism: Nations need leaders, not liberators on January 15, 2021The events of the last few days in Washington where, following incitement by the sitting president himself, a hysterical mob besieged, stormed and violently disrupted a session of the Congress, has shamed the vast majority of Americans and embarrassed supporters of democracy around the world. But it has also provided ample raw material to the […]
Salman Taseer: tribute to a true hero on January 4, 2021It is nine years to the day that the life of Salman Taseer was cut short at the age of 66 by an assassin’s bullet. His killer was none other than one of the trained men officially assigned, paid and sworn to protect him from harm. Taseer was a man of many talents:accountant,politician, publisher, businessman, […]
Making light of an elephant on December 22, 2020Just over four decades ago, as I was driving my VW Beetle in Islamabad, a street dog standing aimlessly on the edge of the road suddenly decided to cross directly in my path. I applied the brakes, swerved a little, but a corner of the front bumper of the car collided with his head. With […]
War crimes and election results on November 27, 2020Two recent events on far sides of the globe have given many people in the Third World, from ordinary folks to autocrats and dictators, occasion to gloat and beat their chests triumphantly. Though they are different in every respect, one in the United States and the other in Australia, what ties the two events is […]
Our planet, us and Covid-19 on April 24, 2020Howsoever one looks at it, Covid-19 is unprecedented in living memory. A microscopic, non-living organism has battered every economy and humbled all the great powers. It has exposed man, with his awesome arsenals, supercomputers, interplanetary rockets, and sophisticated hospitals as weak and helpless. Before this coronavirus, all are equally vulnerable. Rich countries and poor tremble […]
Covid-(20)19 and Stupid-2020 on April 10, 2020Practicing social distancing at the officially vulnerable age of 70 as far as practicable and hoping to keep Covid-19 at bay, I would rather not get into controversies. But the number of theories regarding Coronavirus now floating on the internet, and proliferating like the dreaded virus itself, compels me to speak. Only one of the […]
Of patriots, liberals and traitors on March 11, 2020Liberal-bashing is becoming fashionable in Pakistan.Liberals are regarded as unpatriotic and pro-West, inclined to malign and defame their own country. The dictionary definition of a liberal is a person “favourable to progress or reform, as in religious or political affairs, free from prejudice or bigotry, tolerant”. Sounds like the kind of person who can bring […]
Pakistanis have seen it all, what next? on February 20, 2020Over seventy years after independence – and many saviours and experiments later – Pakistan is at the moment struggling to stay in the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and not be blacklisted, like in Iran and North Korea. International leaders, scholars and commentators keep asking “what went wrong with Pakistan” and […]
Dear Kaptaan, this is not cricket on December 30, 2019While granting bail to Rana Sanaullah, a very prominent and vocal leader of one of Pakistan’s main opposition party, aLahore high court judge made this telling and damning comment: “Political victimisation in our country is an open secret.” That too, in his written order, no less. Now, my dear Kaptaan, you, your lieutenants, and supporters […]
Our blinkers, biases and boasts on December 8, 2019It was reported a few days ago that 73 year-old Dr Tetsu Nakamura was shot dead in eastern Afghanistan on his way to work.A native of Japan, Dr Nakamurahad relocated to Pakistan in 1984 to treat patients with leprosy. Two years later, he shifted to Afghanistan, where he had lived ever since, establishing a medical […]