Zainab’s murder and our collective failure on January 12, 2018The kidnap, abuse and brutal murder of the innocent little girl Zainab from district Kasur, once more, manifests the state failure to protect its vulnerable groups especially the children. The ill-fated Zainab, 7, was abducted from Road Kot area of Kasur city on last Thursday as she went out for tuition. After being molested, she […]
US arrogance, the UN and Pakistan on December 24, 2017The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution, co-sponsored by Pakistan, with an overwhelming majority declaring US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void”, with a decisive vote of 128 to 9. There were 35 abstentions while twenty-one countries were absent. The adoption of this nonbinding resolution would neither […]
Why is Dera Ismail Khan a hotbed of terrorism? on November 26, 2017Major Ishaq, 28, was another son of the soil who laid down his life fighting terrorists in an Intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Dera Ismail Khan (DIK) – one of the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He left behind a widow and a year old son. When their photographs surfaced on social media, the nation was […]
What are the objectives of political engineering in Karachi? on November 13, 2017The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP)-Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) forced marriage could last less than a day as Dr Farooq Sattar, head of MQMP, under tremendous internal pressure from the party, had to back off from his earlier understanding with the chairman PSP, Mustafa Kamal of merging the two parties in to a single political […]
How to confront US coercion? on October 31, 2017Despite Pakistan’s critical cooperation in securing the Colman-Boyle family’s release from their Taliban captors — a clear sign of Pakistan’s willingness to comply with the US demands of ‘do more’ — the Trump administration’s flurry of coercion and intimidation is unabated. The Secretary of States Rex Tillerson, during his recently concluded first ever visit to […]
Pakistan’s election to UNHRC on October 20, 2017On 16 October, Pakistan was elected as a member state of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) — a Geneva-based inter-governmental body within the United Nations (UN) system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe — by the body’s General Assembly, securing more […]
What has brought Turkey closer to Iran? on October 9, 2017The world is changing fast with new alliances being formed, many nations are going through a phase of strategic realignment. Pakistan is also engaging itself with new partners and allies. If Turkey and Iran, despite their divergence on many issues, converge on a common agenda, why can’t Pakistan and Iran? In the recently concluded visit […]
What has brought Turkey closer to Iran? on October 9, 2017The world is changing fast with new alliances being formed, many nations are going through a phase of strategic realignment. Pakistan is also engaging itself with new partners and allies. If Turkey and Iran, despite their divergence on many issues, converge on a common agenda, why can’t Pakistan and Iran? In the recently concluded visit […]
Indian quest for convention on international terrorism on September 29, 2017At the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly session, India has urged countries to reach an agreement on Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) — a treaty she proposed in 1996 that intends to criminalise all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, arms and safe havens. With […]
The real face of Pakistans political system on September 21, 2017Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has won the by-elections in NA-120 — a Pakistan National Assembly seat vacated after the disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panamagate case- defeating her opponent Dr Yasmin Rashid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) by a margin of over fourteen thousand votes. […]