Syed Bakhtiyar Kazmi

Taking, rather even not taking, decisions have consequences. It is not for its eloquence alone that the phrase “Justice delayed is justice denied” has withstood the test of judge ‘time’. Not taking a decision when warranted, is in itself a bad decision, and the most critical example for procrastinating in Pakistan’s context is Kalabagh Dam. […]

“There are no accidents,” so uttered the great Oogway of the Kung Fu Panda fame, which by the way is amongst my top ten all time favourite movies, and if anybody is interested, The Godfather tops the list. Anyways, the series of events which have culminated in this particular article apparently lend credence to the […]

For the minuscule minority that has always maintained that democracy as a system was conceived by the ruling elite to serve their own purpose the ascent of the world’s newest president is a gift from heaven; and obviously, such an opportunity to gloat could not have been ignored. I have always maintained that no system […]

The most dismaying episode during last week’s ‘operation lockdown’ was when the chief minister of one province, accompanied by his well-equipped force, attempted to break through barriers to cross into the other province with the objective of taking the capital, whilst the chief minister of that other province, deploying all available resources, had his security […]

Repeatedly, in fact, in every debate, the eventual defence of the democracy-loving civic society when confronted with the argument “What has democracy give to Pakistan till now?” the evergreen reply has been that “Democracy is an evolutionary process.” Unequivocally, even when history itself never attested to this particular hypothesis of theirs, the democracy camp continued […]

The Economist (September 3rd-9th, 2016): “Countries that initially welcomed Chinese loans for infrastructure projects, coming as they do without political conditions, have grown nervous at the scale of their debt. The sight of Chinese workers building roads while domestic economies wobble has stirred popular resentment, as have Chinese purchases of local assets and businesses.” Fortunately, […]

A little while ago, sitting in front of the idiot box, a particular commercial caught the eye, primarily because of the ingenuity of the advertisers. A combination of directly pitching to the conscious mind while all the time tactfully seducing the unconscious mind, the entire colour scheme of the background was tastefully focused on product […]

In a finite world inhabited by mortal beings, the only constant can be change; even striving for betterment is striving for change. Over the centuries change has adopted fresh dimensions vis-à-vis quantum and, more worryingly, speed. Previously, just a few centuries ago, change in quality of life occurred at a snail’s pace, much like watching […]

I feel this article should start with an apology to Jules Verne for paraphrasing the title of his epic science fiction novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. After the advent of the submarine in the 20th century, the novel, today, perhaps might not appear so remarkable; however, undoubtedly, when it was originally published in […]

I feel this article should start with an apology to Jules Verne for paraphrasing the title of his epic science fiction novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. After the advent of the submarine in the 20th century, the novel, today, perhaps might not appear so remarkable; however, undoubtedly, when it was originally published in […]