Shaukat Qadir

“Justice”, goes the saying, “must not only be done; it must be seen to be done”. Implying that justice must be transparent and visible. So much so, that there should never even be a perception that whatever happened under ‘due process’ was, in any way, less than justice. My life, like that of all peoples, […]

Those with enough time to spare so as to read my work with care, might recall that, soon after Trump became President and began his [apparently] insane activities, in an article for this daily, I attempted to present a picture of him based on his life as known to the public. Trump was a billionaire, […]

A couple of days ago, a young Pakistani journalist called. He was writing a report on the forthcoming elections. Apart from seeking my views on the election result, he had two specific questions. First, of late, Shahbaz Sharif, COAS, and even Imran and Zardari have commented on the desirability of improving relations with India. Is […]

On June 12 2018, Imran was due to depart for Umra to the Holy Land. For this holy pilgrimage, the ‘Honest Khan’ (HK for short) chartered a flight, taking his newly wedded wife, two of his friends and their wives. One of those friends is somebody called Zulfiqar Bokhari, better known as Zulfi. Apparently Zulfi […]

The dictionary defines a jurist as ‘an expert of law; a judge’. In other words, a judge is assumed to be a jurist and, therefore, any Chief Justice, current or former, must be a ‘supra’ jurist; right? Not only do we have a supra jurist at the helm of the government, at least for the […]

Pakistan is in a state of political turmoil. So, too is Afghanistan. The US’ unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between eight governments, may not have created a turmoil there, but Iran too is not very well placed. India seemed to be the only country in our neighbourhood doing well; but, […]

In the Hebrew Book Torah, there is the story of the Prophet Balaam. Balaam was, apparently, a prophet who strayed and consequently, opposed the Jews, against God’s desire. In his view, Balaam was obeying the instructions of YHWH, the four-letter name ascribed to the God of Israel in Latin script. At some stage, fed up […]

Due to recent developments which have somewhat muzzled our media, a rather muted debate has emerged over the freedom of expression and its role in the media. This, in fact, is the real problem which no one wishes to advert to, let alone publicly address; even where debates have become necessary, they are either muted […]

Recently a young friend, Muhammed Khan from Karachi, dropped in for a visit. In the course of our conversation, he inquired if I had read the book ‘Unrestricted Warfare’ by Qiao Liang and Wang Xiansui. Khan seemed amazed that I had not and promised to send me a soft copy of the book, and promptly […]

There is a huge shift occurring in the power base of Pakistan. And, all elements of power as well as governments, past and present, have brought this about. Not to mention the fact that no aspirant to political leadership, currently on our political horizon, inspires any degree of confidence in me. Moreover, I have long […]