Cutting ‘Chotus’down to size
The Punjab police’s failure to apprehend the outlaws in the Indus riverine area, and the subsequent army action that led to the surrender of the so-called Chotu gang, highlight the…
The challenge of Chotus and Chotulands
It is not unusual for the mighty Indus to throw up sandy islands that it can take back at its will. Kacha Jamal is one such island, located some 80…
Dear litigants…
FIRST off, my sincerest condolences: your position is certainly not an enviable one. If you are an experienced hand, you must have already understood why I say so, and might…
Death by design
In 1988, a US Navy ship shot down an Iran Air passenger jet in which all 290 passengers perished. The ship’s crew claimed that the aircraft appeared to be an…
Police reforms in Punjab
As the PTI-led government is gearing up to take over both in Islamabad and Lahore, there is talk of imminent reforms within the Punjab police. For many years, the PTI…
Nawaz’s bitter harvest
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif may like to believe that he is shining on like some crazy political diamond, but as things stand today, he is more like a mirror on…
Perpetuating sectarianism
The recent surge in sectarian violence has done two things. First, it has highlighted the challenges and vulnerabilities the country’s security and law-enforcement forces face in countering terrorism. Second, it…
Afghanistaning ourselves
Has the state-building exercise undertaken by the US and its allies in Afghanistan failed? It sure seems like it. We have witnessed a tumultuous Karzai era, followed by a tumultuous…
Whither National Action Plan?
The National Action Plan was a hasty reaction to a national emergency that forced a sleeping state to finally shake off its ambivalence to talk or fight. There was a…
Supporting cultural spaces
I sit down to write this on April 21, the birthday of one of my oldest, dearest childhood friends, universally known as Poppy – Shayan Afzal Khan, to use her…
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