Syed Rashid Munir

Things are heating up on the western front as the situation in Afghanistan gets more and more volatile with each passing day. After an intense winter that saw the militants retreat and lose much ground to the Afghan security forces, the return of summer — and thus the fighting season — has seen militants return […]

We are past the halfway mark in the month of Ramzan 2015, and soon we will be in the final stretch. This year round, fasting has been particularly challenging because of the adverse heatwaves that have engulfed the country’s plains and coastal areas. Managing through the entire day on an empty stomach with no opportunity […]

Politics is a wickedly brutal game. The players involved have to risk life and limb just to stay relevant because being out of sight and out of mind quickly translates to being out of power as well. So, politicians have to employ tactics ranging from the absurd to the most absurd, just to remain in […]

The Pakistan army is in the midst of finalising its plan for the conclusive phase of the Zarb-e-Azab operation, which was launched a year ago in North Waziristan. Some 347 soldiers have reportedly laid down their lives in the line of duty during the operation, and 2,763 militants have been killed in the past year. […]

The finance minister, this past Friday, announced the budgetary policies of the government for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-2016 with his lengthy but tight-knit speech in the National Assembly. Trying to steer clear of the critics in the house, the minister could not help invoking self-congratulatory overtures by dedicating a good portion of his talking […]

Of all the times in Pakistan’s historywhen it has been pertinent to not mess up, the next couple of years are going to be the most crucial and will largely determine where Pakistan ends up as a result of its own actions. There have been a number of domestic and regional developments that have significantly […]

Last week, the hard work of investigators hot on the heels of the perpetrators of the Safoora Goth tragedy was rewarded when four individuals, allegedly belonging to the same group, were arrested. The events that had been unfolding in Karachi for the past few weeks had created an aura of insecurity and instability, and nothing […]

It is becoming increasingly clear that sooner or later, all of us will have to resign to a fate of perpetual fear and endless violence in our lives. No matter how many voices are raised and no matter how many steps are taken, the cycle of extremism and intolerance just refuses to break. Devoid of anything […]

The fact that the ruling PML-N regime has yet to remove all questions regarding its legitimacy, even after the passage of two years since the last general elections, must not sit well in party meetings. Shouting and heckling outside the gates of parliament, Imran Khan could not achieve any face saving last year but it […]

The winds of change, it seems, have forsaken Pakistan for the time being. The days that are to come will perpetuate the cycle of violence that has been used to muzzle the remaining rational voices among our midst. Last week, days after the ones asking tough questions had been silenced, images of an official letter […]