Eruptions after Faizabad
An operation to remove protesters from the Faizabad Interchange was finally launched on Saturday morning. But this will be just one phase in an encounter that has a bearing on…
Crazy projects
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s inexhaustible modern-day reformer, is into doing big things. Some of these are so extraordinary that he calls them ‘crazy projects’: a giant airport, two massive bridges,…
No end in sight
The final outcome of the Islamabad sit-in doesn’t come as a surprise. The reason for this outcome is simple. What else can you expect from a visionless, confused and directionless…
What went wrong?
Answer: Dera Bugti, Charsadda, Khyber Agency, Sehwan Sharif, Mohmand Agency, Peshawar and Lahore. Question: Are we winning the war against militancy? Ever since Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched, we were told…
The ban on fun
When we are being hit by a wave of terrorist attacks, what does the government do? Why, send the cops chasing after kite-flying kids and enforcing the ban on Valentine’s…
Terror in the heartland again
Like so many past terrorist attacks, there was forewarning of the latest suicide bombing that struck Lahore on Monday. Yet the carnage could not be prevented. Despite the alert, the…
2016 – What a year it was!
In my memory, after 1971, last year was the most depressing in Pakistan's 69-year history because the human tragedies, cases of massive corruption in state offices, gross administrative neglect, and…
Will Gen Bajwa walk the talk?
In one of the most noticeable statements from the country’s military leadership, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa has proposed that a “people-centric approach based on local ownership” should…
About a counter-narrative
Disappointed at the government’s failure to develop a narrative to counter the militant extremists’ explanation for their terrorist activities, the judiciary and civil society organisations are offering alternative narratives and…
Real-life issues
The media hype surrounding recent appointments to top slots in the army and the ISI, ironically coincided with the state-owned PIA practically grounding its ATR planes for checks following the…
