Let rivers flow! on September 28, 2019The British Raj, which had taken over Mughal India from the hands of the East India Company in the late 1850s, took upon itself the mission to prevent Afghanistan from falling into the hands of its rival power, Russia. It dreaded a situation, whereby the enemy could reach the warm waters of the Arabian Sea […]
Strategic notes on September 24, 2019The JUI-F had hardly spelt the word “Islamabad lockdown,” the strategic community–a new nomenclature for the establishment plus–started weighing the proposed mode of protest and the intentions attached, which are not less than overthrowing the PTI government, against the fluid strategic environment. Through this, India has strangulated Kashmir and the US hangs around looking for […]
The fault lies in elite capture on June 25, 2019The government has almost caved in to the pressure of the political system designed to serve the objectives of every power and entity other than the people of Pakistan. It has abandoned its election manifesto. It has neither been successful in its austerity drive nor has its frvour for accountability yielded great results. The budget […]
Combating the tobacco epidemic on May 29, 2019The World No Tobacco Day is observed on May 31. It has been a practice since 1988 when the 42nd World Health Assembly passed a resolution asking national governments to control the ‘tobacco epidemic’ by discouraging both consumption and production of tobacco. There are mind-boggling statistics that the World Health Organisation has projected about the […]
The way we go about governance on April 24, 2019The benefits we were promised when the Pervez Musharraf regime embarked on its reforms programme have yet to trickle down to the masses. The people, it seems, have yet to learn about the true spirit of democracy. Some sections of the society are painfully loud in cursing the parliamentary form of government and spoiling for […]
Ideal vs real on March 14, 2019It may sound little bit surprising if Pakistan declares its victory in war on extremism, which it launched over a decade ago. The speed in which the government is making arrests and seizing assets of proscribed organisations, its success against terrorism appears to be in a matter of months, if not weeks. We may term […]
Rethinking governance on September 21, 2018Dr Arif Alvi, a democrat par excellence and, the founding member of PTI, has assumed the office of the President of Pakistan. He will be holding this ceremonial office out of constitutional necessity. What he had desired once was a role in the nation-building drive his party has undertaken and his critical faculties will remain […]
Democracy and peace on September 11, 2018There is a correlation between social inequality and the scale of violence in human society. The powerful sections patronise gangs and use their influence on police and courts to retain their power and position. Professionals, bureaucrats, and traders look towards stick-wielding generals to put an end to chaos and anarchy: they are ready to exchange […]
Towards an inclusive growth strategy on September 7, 2018‘Green Pakistan’ has assumed centre stage with the change of government. Keeping in line with the spirit of the time, Pakistan Navy, kicked off the tree plantation drive in the neighbourhood of Naval Headquarters, Margalla Hills, where frequent incidents of fire and activities of timber mafia have considerably damaged the forest. The one million pine […]
Nationalism, bureaucracy and security on February 25, 2018Lack of positive and coherent nationalism poses a security threat to Pakistan. After seven decades, the country is no more able to bear the burden of ideology on the face of global strategic imperatives. The vacuum has been filled by ethno-nationalism. Given the current situation in which provinces have been transformed into autonomous units, Pakistan […]