Beautiful Tariffs on April 18, 2025Once upon a time in a land – where everything accompanies a side orders of fries, where bald eagles soar and where balding reality TV stars become presidents – a courageous, orange-tinged warrior rose to the highest office in the land. His mission? Should he choose to accept, and he did! To protect the American […]
The Lows Keep On Coming on March 15, 2025Every day, the country hits a new low. The sad incident involving the hijacking of the Jaffar Express and subsequent actions, including a cleanup operation is the latest in a long list of lows! And, that too, at a scale that hasn’t been seen in the past. While it is commendable the way LEAs have […]
Pakistan’s Conundrum – Trump, Trade, Tight-Rope on February 13, 2025Say what you may about Donald Trump, he keeps things interesting! From signing a plethora of executive orders to planning to take over countries to fire federal employees and effectively shutting down USAID – all is par for the course, pun intended. Just like in 2018, the second stint of President Donald Trump has kicked […]
Eternal Hope, Eternal Stagnation on January 18, 2025As we welcome 2025 and start the New Year with a bang – there is hope that this year Pakistan will outshine the previous year, this year missing will be the ones who passed away and not the ones who are still alive, this year the naysayers will be proven wrong and the soothsayers will […]
Value of a Stable Lie on November 19, 2024The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a significant escalatory event during the Vietnam War. It involved two separate confrontations between the United States and North Vietnam in August 1964. First on August 2 – when the USS Maddox, a US Navy destroyer, was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats while conducting an intelligence patrol in […]
The Barbarians Are At the Gates… Again! on July 28, 2024Over five years ago, I had written exhaustively on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism policies, contextualising them within the ambit of national security policy, national interests, national purpose and national identity. It was a time of hope and vigour and a sense that maybe something was in the air that would allow us to move in an […]
In Search of Kalash – The Magic Carpet Weaver on June 27, 2024In a lush green valley nestled between the mountains of the Himalayas lived a carpet weaver named Kalash. His village flourished, its threads woven from the vibrant lives of its people – the merchants, the artisans, the farmers. But a storm loomed, threatening to undo peace and tranquillity. Murmurs of problems and whispers of discontent […]
Hold On to Your Cricketing Hats! on June 7, 2024Another year, another cricket world cup – this time the T20 kind. In a land that is as unpredictable as the cricket itself, the highs are higher than the Himalayas and the lows are lower than the bottom of the Arabian sea! Thus, Pakistan cricket is a tapestry woven with huge talent, relatable heroism, baffling […]
Cometh the Impasse, Cometh the Man on May 20, 2024For the era of distressed tidings around us and the associated stalemate, no one quote can express the way forward than this “those who have come to an impasse should examine their original intentions; those who have succeeded should note where they are heading”. This saying is borrowed from Hong Zicheng, a Chinese philosopher who […]
Sheep of Objectivity amidst Wolves of Sensationalism on April 25, 2024Pakistan – the land of breathtaking scenery, majestic history, glorious bazaars and media houses that reinvent the meaning of the phrase “objective journalism.” In this oasis of unbiased reporting, truth is secondary, facts take the backseat, opinions – loud ones at that – are presented as gospel and neutrality is a dish best served with […]