Saad Hafiz

As Field Marshal Ayub famously said in the early 1960s, it is the duty of the khakis to “save the people from themselves”. He forecast that Pakistan would be ready for true democracy two generations hence. Many still believe that Pakistan needs the big stick of the military to survive as a nation state. Military […]

There is no hope in sight that the unquenchable thirst for arms will abate. In fact, the worldwide arms trade remains remarkably buoyant. In 2014, the global shopping spree garnered over $ 25 billion for major arms exporters led by the US, Russia and China. The coveted weapon systems are submarines, jet fighters, missiles, armoured […]

Other countries that are divided by religious extremism can learn from Pakistan that entrenching religious dogmatism and intransigence has devastating consequences for a country’s future. Once bigotry becomes institutionalised, reversing it is no easy endeavour, particularly in the face of violent opposition. Society is easily manipulated by those who want to impose their own views […]

Hope is a precious commodity in the contentious relationship and endemic hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries, bound by geography and a shared inheritance, seem unable to shake the baggage of history. The partition of India was based on the belief that Hindus and Muslims could not live together. In the six decades since […]

A few months ago, Margot Wallström, the Swedish foreign minister, denounced the subjugation of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She focused on the fact that Saudi Arabia bars women from travelling, conducting official business or marrying without the permission of male guardians. Moreover, girls can be forced into child marriages and sexual relationships […]

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president, Asif Zardari, recently accused the military establishment of overstepping its domain. Zardari faced a firestorm of criticism for implying that the generals separate themselves from politics and not interfere in civilian matters. His legitimate concerns were buried under sharp attacks on his and the PPP’s weaknesses, […]

Nationalism can offer a positive vision when linked to dignity and democracy. It serves as the political glue that binds together disparate peoples into a nation state. The ideal state is a secular and pluralistic democracy where citizenship is territorial and all minorities, ethnic and religious, are treated as equals. Millions are devoted to and […]

An existential threat — an expression that gained prominence in the early 1990s — is a threat to people’s existence or survival. However, politicians, leaders, opinion makers, scholars and bureaucrats routinely bracket all crises, problems and struggles as being existential in nature. States have relied on existential threats, fabricated perils and exaggerated fears that are […]

It is an irony that the world’s great religions speak of caring for the sick, the poor and the orphaned, of eradicating poverty and illiteracy, and of practicing mercy and goodwill towards fellow humans, yet these traits are often more evident in the world’s least religious states. In fact, secular states today are faring much […]

Arguably, absolutism has played a part in some of the worst social and political evils throughout history. While there is little doubt that religion has made a valuable contribution to civilisation, religious absolutism has also exercised a pernicious influence at times. No one can deny the atrocities of the Crusades or the Inquisition and other […]