Syed Kashif Ali

Uzair Baloch — the suspected Lyari gang leader arrested by Interpol in December 2014 in the UAE — mysteriously surfaced in Karachi after a Pakistan Rangers operation. Despite the Karachi police higher-ups’ several visits to the UAE in the early part of 2015, Uzair Baloch was not expatriated to Pakistan, though many believe that he […]

In the past few months Pakistan has consistently been threatened by the Indian military and political leadership with facing a limited war amidst the allegations of cross border infiltrations and unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary. The most emphatic response came from Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) while […]

In July, Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, at the sidelines of the Ufa Summit, rekindled hopes for the resumption of a stalemate in the Indo-Pak dialogue process as both sides agreed to ‘discuss all outstanding issues’ in order to ‘ensure peace and promote development’. However, back home, […]

Although the 68th independence anniversary of Pakistan has just recently been celebrated with national zeal and fervor, as a nation we should apologise to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founding father, for being unable to achieve what he had envisioned for us. On August 11, 1947, while addressing the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan as its […]

The fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS) has become a catchphrase in the contemporary world. The sole superpower, with all its air power and sophisticated intelligence apparatus, is apparently leading the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria. The US and its allies, Iran and Russia all consider IS to be a great threat […]

With Pakistan’s 3-2 series triumph over Sri Lanka in the recent One Day International (ODI) cricket series, a nine-year drought against the Sri Lankans ends. For the team’s all-weather fans like myself, who have been following cricket very keenly ever since the famous 1992 World Cup victory in Australia, it is almost impossible to overlook […]

The marathon talks held in the Austrian capital of Vienna eventually culminated in a landmark agreement between the P5+1 countries and Iran on Tehran’s much debated nuclear issue. The parties agreed on a historic Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to ensure that under no circumstances would Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear […]

Listening to the rhetoric of world leaders, lawmakers, intellectuals, rights activists, generals, judges, diplomats and bureaucrats, we are given the impression that the moral, social, economic and political apex of human civilisation has been achieved, the world has been transformed into a heavenly place, the peace, progress, prosperity and development of all of humanity has […]

Decision makers in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan seem to forget a clear verdict of God where it clearly says in the holy book, “Verily, never will God change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls).” It is very clear that none else but the people themselves can […]

Ever since the 16/12 Peshawar massacre, a general consensus among Pakistani civil and military leadership and civil society emerged for a decisive blow to the menace of terrorism. The moratorium on executions for convicts has been lifted, a National Action Plan has been formulated and military courts have been set up to conduct speedy trials […]