Shaheen Sehbai

In today’s technology-driven world, the first solution that is offered, if something stops working, is to reboot: the computer, laptop, the phone, tablet or the operating system. Why not try it with our political, economic and power structure, while we still have some time left and the working machine does not completely shut down, unable […]

The tone was set by none other than the man who could have done it and whose words all would take seriously. He did it in time. The message was given and received by all those who needed it. Pundits are now linking whatever has been happening, and whatever may happen in future, to what […]

What is happening to Pakistan is hard to grasp, harder to explain, difficult to stop and almost impossible to reverse. Everyone is up against everyone else. No rules of the game are being followed. There are no referees, no boundaries and no idea of what a win would look like or a loss would mean. […]

Nawaz Sharif and his daughter are casting themselves in the revolutionary/resistance mode, especially after lately realising that they have little room to stay politically relevant. This has become clear after the Supreme Court verdicts that have just been announced and the NAB court verdicts that are going to come soon. Many existing and some older […]

When everything and everyone has become suspect, when no one can claim to be even half perfect, when we cannot agree on a document of national consensus, not even on what has been written in the constitution, when levels of morality, be it public, personal, political, financial or religious, have tanked, when values have vanished, […]

It should not have been so but the situation is turning out to be a battle of words and nerves between former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. Other players are watching from the sidelines, but they cannot stay neutral if the contest gets out of control. In […]

A major newspaper sometimes known for its objectivity and independence wrote this on Wednesday about national politics: “This is a no-holds-barred confrontation that may spin completely out of control.” In an editorial it said, “The Balochistan episode has demonstrated the power of the deep state and its apparent ability to manipulate the system from within […]

So much has happened in just two weeks, drastically changing the mood of the people and the mode of politics. Politics first. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has become so virulent and toxic that he does not appear to care about anything, neither for his party, nor for his governments in Islamabad, Lahore, Gilgit and […]

Pakistan swung in many directions last week, not knowing whether it was moving towards a safe and secure future or going back to its dark and troubled past, under the illusion that it was going somewhere. Remarkable things happened and when combined, these can be described as attempts by all stakeholders to bulldoze their way […]

Whoever thought of it, or did not, has gravely erred. The genie of religious fanaticism, that was practically bottled with great courage by the State, once in the Lal Masjid operation and again when the killer of late Governor Salman Taseer was hanged, has been let loose, needlessly once again. The creator of the currently […]