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 […]
The Vultures Are Circling on April 4, 2024Hiding behind the dagger and stabbing with the cloak! This is how Ken Clarke ridiculed the attempted failed coup against Gordon Brown in 2010. The orchestrators of this coup, Labour’s own Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt, lacked both ambition and talent. That is why this coup started with an erroneous and empty email before midnight. […]
Masters of Can-Kicking on March 9, 2024Elections have come and gone but their remnants can still be felt like aftershocks of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. Amidst it all – the high and mighty of Pakistani politics fight it out, sitting in an arena which mostly resembles a WWE ring, with all its fakery and downright lunacy. And what about the ever-burdened […]
The Night After on February 22, 2024A royal mess if ever there was one. That is how the February 2024 elections are being viewed generally. And that sentiment is not wrong! The muddle the two leading parties find themselves in goes to prove one thing – the short-term memory of the electorate is just that, short. The poor end of the […]