Correction, please on January 7, 2018Though elections in 2018 are now a constitutionally protected exercise thanks to rumour mongers, poll day seems far and away. How a task made certain by worthy parliamentary parties have been made a subject of confusion? Who is applying the game of deception to confuse voters? Does someone want to steal and snatch the people’s […]
Where the mullah matters on December 4, 2017The 18th Constitutional Amendment was not just about transferring dozens of ministries and their resources to the provinces, it was also about retaining the religious character of the Constitution. It was a deal struck between the ethno-nationalists and mullahs about the future course of the country under democratic order. The question of political stability had […]
Reviving the national spirit on November 22, 2017While weighing citizenship on religious scales remains a major hurdle to evolving a unified nationalism with an origin in geography and civilisation which evolved over centuries, the 18th Constitutional Amendment has put seal on the state’s fate by transforming Pakistan into an ethnic federation. This was done by renaming NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and granting […]
Let democracy deliver on March 7, 2017Georgieva Kristalina, chief executive officer of World Bank, who visited Pakistan early this year found Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar, the both, fully aware of the country’s needs to create opportunities for its youth and contribute towards sustainable growth. The two gentlemen agreed with her that the government should speedily implement structural reforms needed to […]
No confusion, please! on February 28, 2017Anarchy is the right word to describe the nature of threat the authorities are trying to counter in Punjab by calling Rangers in. The province is not in state of turbulence. Lahore does not find it difficult to collect revenues from any part of the province, at least. The Punjab government fears presence of terrorists […]
It is war, stupid! on February 21, 2017Terrorism of the kind Pakistan is confronting now a days is not that the job of few religious zealots who don’t approve the ways of life in the Pure Land. One may criticize and even hate what one does not understand and appreciate but trying to eliminate it altogether requires a lot of planning and […]
Mind the gap on February 14, 2017February 13 is celebrated as the World Radio Day for the last five years. On this day, the broadcasters and listeners record their feelings as to why they love radio and how it is relevant to them. The point of discussion ultimately remains information and how it affects the lives of common people. Since after […]
Deprived of innocence on February 7, 2017Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections has heralded a new era of nationalism that is, quite clearly, xenophobic. The US under Trump is scared and, thus, does not want people from certain parts of the world to even touch its soil. Also, it seems determined to introduce policies of protecting indigenous businesses, which render […]
Gridlock in democracy on January 24, 2017There is no hurdle to democracy in Pakistan but the non-compromising attitude of the adherents of London Plan towards the parliamentary form of Government. Why has the political class not tuned to the presidential form of government? It is not opportune to look back at the socio-economic conditions that had made the idea popular but […]
Neglecting social sector on January 17, 2017One third of population living in extreme poverty is exposed to the threat of dislocation due to droughts and flash floods and vulnerable to deadly diseases owing to disturbed water cycle, natural habitat and crop patterns. Commercialization of agriculture and irresponsible use of pesticides have resulted in contamination of soil, air and water. Clean drinking […]