Zafar Aziz Chaudary

The conflict between Gaza and Israel has so far resulted in the deaths of 1,000 Palestinians and some 35 Israelis besides leaving countless injured and throwing the entire population on either side into a state of mental trauma. What sparked off this bloody confrontation was neither an ideological affront nor a territorial violation. The tragic […]

The summer is here with more than its usual ferocity. As I sit in my study writing these lines, with the ceiling fan whirring above my head at full speed (on the crutch of a UPS), drops of sweat from my head trickle down my body and drench my posterior thoroughly. This phenomenon is peculiar […]

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought, which they seldom use,” wrote Kierkegaard, realising that there are very few men who can afford to think, and a whole lot of humanity wanting to speak. Speech, admittedly, comes more trippingly on the tongue than losing one’s head on a hard […]

Some years ago, an old friend of mine in Islamabad sent me an e-mail to ask why I do not write for various newspapers. This kept me wondering why on earth he chose to ask me this question when there were many others more qualified than I to answer him. I knew, however, that it […]

Few men in the recent history of the subcontinent have been so read and revered, earned so many friends and detractors, and had their share of love and scorn from people, as Khushwant Singh, who passed away last Friday at the age of 99. His journey through life as a lawyer from Lincoln’s Inn, a […]

“He is a burden, which can neither be lifted nor thrown off,” said a political sage the other day when he was asked about the fate of Musharraf. He appeared to be quite right. Before his trial started, the state’s dilemma over how to deal with him was no less enigmatic than that of Hamlet’s, […]

Musharraf’s trial for subverting the constitution is going to be a unique case and will certainly open new vistas and avenues of legal interpretation necessary to prove the offence of high treason. However, despite the vagueness of the nature of evidence so far gathered by the investigating agency, there are certain matters that agitate the […]

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar during his press conference after the Islamabad standoff revealed that it was he who had instructed the police that if the terrorist had not taken anybody as hostage, he must not be fired at. He had also ordered that all efforts be made to arrest him alive. His chief reason why […]