Shaheed Salman Taseer died as he lived: on his feet standing up for his beliefs, for the inclusion that Quaid e Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah spoke of on 11 August 1947 in his policy statement on his vision for Pakistan to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Taseer was also a living example of the PPP’s […]
The Longest Night
Twelve years is a long time in Pakistani politics, but when I think of Benazir Bhutto on this day, my heart still contracts with the sharp pulse of an open wound. 27thDecember 2007 changed Pakistan in every sense of the word. Despite being asked to recreate my memories of that fateful day, it is difficult […]
Inside Pakistan’s most famous murder trial
Among the many controversies that clouded the most famous trial in Pakistan’s history, the martial law regime’s brutal vitiation of the political atmosphere is often better remembered than the inner workings of the actual trial that led to the judicial execution of Pakistan’s first elected Prime Minister (PM). By transforming the country into a dark […]
Women were never silent
Every country’s story is incomplete without its women’s voices. Pakistan is no different. On International Women’s Day we should always take stock of the good, the bad, and of course the ugliness that holds women back in the dark. For a country where 48.8 percent of the population are women, Pakistan ranks 143 out of […]
The Goldilocks Moot
Bottom line: My readout on the meeting between Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Dr Manmohan Singh in New York is that it met its expected low bar. It didn’t do more than break the diplomatic ice, which it was set to do. Nor did it evolve into an opportunity for some serious peace takeaways, which […]