Shaukat Qadir

This piece concludes my attempt to sell you geography; the hard sell, if you will. Climate is a product of geography.  Whether it’s hot or cold, wet, dry or humid; it’s a by-product of the latter. And geographically speaking, Pakistan is a rare country. Despite its small size, it has considerable access to the sea; […]

In 1925, Paul Scopes, a Tennessee school teacher was convicted of violating the state’s laws. Yet all he had done was to teach “any theory that denies the story of Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals”. Scopes had, of […]

Captain Safdar, the son-in-law of our not-at-all Sharif ex-Prime Minister, epitomises the cancer that continues to spread within our society and shames us all no end. And yet, I am certain, he feels proud of his “courage and staunch beliefs”; to our utter, everlasting disgrace. Many friends have inquired why I have discontinued my efforts […]

The National Defence University, where I also go occasionally to waste the time of the good folks there, holds an annual National Security Workshop (NSW), essentially for parliamentarians. I think this event numbers is close to topping my ‘most useful’ list of things to do. This year’s NSW is drawing to a close and, as […]

I am taking a break from geography lessons to bring my readers good cheer. In the aftermath of Nawaz Sharif’s ouster, suddenly, everything seems to be sorting itself out. Indeed, within our state of extreme politico-economic instability I spy more than a glimmer of hope. But first allow me to ask the following: Was Nawaz […]

Before I continue to sell geography to my readers, allow me a slight digression, if you would be so kind. Of the sort that leads me to put forth what I believe to be an eternal truism. Namely, that of the seven deadly sins — man is primarily driven by avarice. As a corollary, this […]

“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” Marc Anthony’s infamous words as he addresses the Roman rabble following the murder of his one-time friend. This line from the Shakespearean tragedy has always fascinated me. For hypocrites they are all of them, Et tu, Brute? Yet today I come to you with neither tales […]

My words last week brought me much flak, which was but to be expected. Aside from those who threw a few crumbs of praise my way, there were some who scoffed, many who thought it a case of rather “too little too late” and a vast number who were critical of what I had ‘inked’. […]

My words last week brought me much flak, which was but to be expected. Aside from those who threw a few crumbs of praise my way, there were some who scoffed, many who thought it a case of rather “too little too late” and a vast number who were critical of what I had ‘inked’. […]

In the wake of last week’s article, I found myself confronted by two recurring questions: what are we to make of the Chinese support that came as soon as our Foreign minister landed in Beijing; and can we recover from where we are today? The first is easily enough answered. At the core of suzerainty […]