Urgently required: a national threat assessment on May 25, 2019The subject is a repeat. The substance; only partially so. This is a subject close to my heart and an issue that needs attention with an increasing urgency. I have been trying to peddle this idea for more than a decade but, with very indifferent success. It was the American War of Independence that finally […]
“Making love not war” with India on September 30, 2018If an individual or even a family lives in an unfriendly neighborhood, it is possible to change the neighborhood. If the accommodation is rented; just find another and shift. If the accommodation belongs to the occupant, he or she might suffer an economic loss but the shift is still doable. Not so with a nation-state. […]
Challenging the Chief Justice of Pakistan on September 19, 2018Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, has publicly criticised all those who have opposed the dam building projects and labelled them as having an agenda. Well, I have an agenda, that is the interest of my country. I am sure his is the same. However, we seem to be standing on the opposite side of the spectrum, […]
Addressing the PM again on September 16, 2018It was very heartening for me to note that we, as Pakistanis, are trying to regain some of our lost dignity. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, came on his brief visit and left, unnoticed by the public. There was no massive holdup of traffic, no convoys rushing, sirens blPMaring, running over the odd citizen. […]
Addressing the new PM: between austerity and irrationality on September 9, 2018Everyone in power picks up buzzwords. It seems that, on becoming PM, Imran Khan has added to his list ‘austerity’ alongside his seasoned favourite ‘corruption’. A laudable end by all standards and he has won some appreciation from many quarters. He has begun his austerity drive by deciding not to occupy the huge and ostentatious […]
Is Afghanistan destined to instability? on September 2, 2018A few days ago, Lt Gen (Retired) Talat Masood writing for another daily outlined the challenges in the formulation of Pakistan’s foreign policy. A very well informed and reasonably argued article suggesting that Imran Khan may not be able to ignore these challenges hence he should to devote himself to looking inwards; a desire Imran […]
When Intelligence Chiefs Meet on August 19, 2018An event that occurred some weeks ago and seems to have gone relatively unnoticed and uncommented upon was the meeting of the Russian, Iranian, Chinese intelligence chiefs with the Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). They met a couple of days before the event was made public on July 10, 2018. The announcement came, […]
IHK: The Haystack in which the needle got lost on August 5, 2018Sometime back I raised the question, “Was justice really delivered?” I ask again; of the election commission, the supervising judiciary, and those overseeing election matters, has justice been delivered? For I fear these are the haystack wherein justice, the needle has been lost. And, I bemoan that fact. I have long contended that prevalent injustice […]
The curious case of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on July 26, 2018The election is over. Currently, better minds than mine are commenting on it. Hence it would probably be best if I wrote about another matter. I am a proud former soldier. But, I am not among those who fails to criticize when someone, including the army, errs. And the army errs frequently. Perhaps that is […]
The farce the benevolent play upon us on July 15, 2018I take the title for this piece from the second line of a verse by Ghalib, arguably, Urdu language’s greatest poet, the line reads: “Bana ke fakeeron ka hum bhes Ghalib, Tamasha e ahle karam dekhte hein”. I am not sure it’s an apt translation, but then I am no philosopher-poet; merely a former soldier […]