Lawyers in a theocratic state on January 20, 2020It is the same old story in our theocratic state. The Islamabad Bar Association has now made it mandatory for its Muslim members to abuse Ahmadis’ founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in order to get bar membership. It is amazing that in this day and age such bigotry finds official sanction. Obviously the action itself is […]
Salmaan Taseer’s crime on January 4, 2020The story of Salmaan Taseer, the Martyr of Humanity, even before his birth in Simla. Indeed we must begin with the events in Lahore in 1920s when after pamphlet wars between Hindus and Muslims, an enraged young man, Ilam Din, murdered the publisher of a highly scurrilous text against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Even though Ilam […]
Pakistan is a theocracy on December 30, 2019The Founder of Pakistan repeatedly said that Pakistan shall not be a theocratic state to be run by priests with a divine mission. In the last All India Muslim League’s convention in Karachi in December 1947, he explained that in his view Islam did not stand for an ecclesiastical state. He also refused to be […]
Do we live in 21st century on December 23, 2019While we continue to cry hoarse about India’s exclusivist actions, which are indeed troubling, have we bothered to consider what we are up to in our own country. The past week has been especially cruel to our country’s reputation. First came the verdict on Musharraf. Anyone familiar with Article 6 and the concept of High […]
Anarchy on December 16, 2019As a lawyer my head hangs in shame at what my colleagues were up to at Punjab Institute of Cardiology. It is as simple as this: Central to the profession of law is the idea that you should only use legal and constitutional means. That does not mean that you never protest but the protest […]
Shireen Mazari and human rights on December 9, 2019No one gave Shireen Mazari the memo that she is neither the Foreign Minister nor the Defence Minister of Pakistan. She holds the portfolio of Human Rights Minister. The Human Rights in that Ministry pertain to the human rights of the hapless citizens of Pakistan and has no nexus with whatever else is happening elsewhere. […]
Extensions, devolution and constitutional politics on December 2, 2019The issue of extension for an Army commander has always been a contentious issue. In post-Independence subcontinent we get the first example of this in form of the extension given to RajendraSinhji in 1953 to basically sideline Nathu SinghRathore in India. This has an interesting history. Cariappa, Sinhji and Rathore were the highest ranking Indian […]
What do you want to do to the Ahmadis? on November 25, 2019It bears repeating again and again that when certain sections within the Muslim community tried to bring pressure to bear on the founder of this nation on the Ahmadi issue, he put his foot down and refused to turn them out of the Muslim League. Jinnah also promised repeatedly that a person’s faith would never […]
Would a Presidential system work better? on November 18, 2019In the aftermath of Lahore High Court’s decision to take former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif off the exit control list, PTI supporters took to twitter with the trend “Pakistan needs a presidential system.” It is almost as if they believe that in a presidential republic due process and judiciary do not exist but what exists […]
The Babri Masjid verdict on November 12, 2019One of the things I have truly admired about India in the past was the secular nature of its superior judiciary. The verdict delivered on Saturday by the Indian Supreme Court has thoroughly disabused me of my fanciful notion about this one bastion of secularism in what is otherwise a Hindu majoritarian state masquerading as […]