Shiraz Paracha

  In responsible and mature societies, teachers, doctors, police and security forces and people providing other essential services don’t stage strikes over minor issues or for personal interests. Political parties don’t block roads and close businesses either; military don’t play psychological games against own people, religious leaders don’t give verdict on the purity of someone’s […]

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit has been postponed when reportedly India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and possibly Nepal refused to participate in the conference that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November. If these SAARC member states had requested the postponement of the summit due to the India-Pakistan recent tension, […]

 I was bored and frustrated by watching Pakistani and Indian warmongers rejoicing exchange of barbs and talking about a possible India-Pakistan war, as if it was a game. I decided not to watch this nonsense. After that I turned to international TV channels. There every TV channel was showing the speech of the US Secretary […]

Imran Khan often gives example of Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson’s resignation after the name of Mr Gunnlaugsson appeared in the Panama Paper Leaks. Imran Khan always positions himself on high moral ground, such a position demands vigorous fact checking. A true leader should tell the complete story or at least provide the full […]

The growing number of beggars, homeless and refugees on Paris’s Champs-Élysées street and in other posh areas is causing tensions and political divisions in France, which is a country with a colonial past and polarized history. The French economy is under pressure, too. Some blame former President Nicolas Sarkozy for the current situation. Sarkozy was […]

Aha! You are coming from Islamabad? What is going on in Islamabad? How is that country? Is there lot of trouble? How long are you going to stay here? On Thursday afternoon, two White men in light grey suits with contrasting reddish ties – not very shiny though – intercepted me at London’s Heathrow Airport […]

  The stark reality is that some generals have harmed Pakistan more than anyone else did. Today, while we remember the Black Day of July 5, 1977 with regret and disgust, on this day, we should make a promise to ourselves that: We will not accept and respect generals who will violate the constitution, who […]

Yesterday our student Shahzeb died. The death of young, smart, energetic and very lively Shahzeb has shocked all of us. This morning, I went to Shahzeb’s home in Muhib Banda village near Mardan. Shahzeb’s aggrieved father told me that yesterday, at two in the afternoon; his son went with his friends to the nearby canal. […]

Apparently, the PPP is indulging in power politics similar to that of the 1990s. Allegedly, the ISI under General Hameed Gul had helped Nawaz Sharif to win the 1990 elections but only after two years, Nawaz Sharif fell out with his mentor generals and the establishment’s Godfather, then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. General Ziaul Haq’s […]

Today is Mothermma Benazir Bhutto’s birthday. Ten years ago on this day she had sent me the following message in response to my email wishing her happy birthday: “Dear Shiraz Paracha Sahib, I thank you for the warm message on the occasion of my birthday. I first started on the political journey when Quaid-e-Awam was […]