Sharif in Wonderland
It may have not been difficult for Nawaz Sharif to reclaim the top position. But he certainly does not appear comfortable there. His morose demeanour portrays a man in deep…
A lethal nexus
It is time to note the voice of anguish and desperation of senior police commanders. “The more serious problem in Pakistan is that the terrorists and insurgents are getting aligned…
How to handle a crisis
It was a cold day in February 1994. Three Afghans armed with pistols and hand grenades had hijacked a school bus from Peshawar. They took 74 schoolchildren and staff hostage…
Sikandar’s allegorical adventure
And now we had another dramatic performance that was played live on our news channels. It held the nation spellbound for hours. It had all the ingredients of a thriller.…
Being Pakistan
IT`S possible, for the human condition generally and the Pakistani condition specifically, to read too much into something or too little. When it comes to the inimitable Mohammad Hanif, though,…
Early warning systems in social conflicts
Early Warning System (EWS), and its adjunct, Early Response (ER) have had their origins since olden times when in primitive societies people were keen to know about future untoward developments…
Killing for utopia
It has now become a cliché to say: “One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter”. But like most clichés, it contains an element of truth. In this space last week,…
Chaos under the heavens
The last few years have seen our nation being bestowed with several not-so-flattering epithets. Either we are ‘the most dangerous nation’ or ‘the most resilient nation’. We annually grace the…
No talks, only noise
They kept wondering why the militants were not targeting the PML-N government in Punjab. If that was to happen, the targeted had to be the people, post-incident identified as innocent…
Taliban, Musharraf and other hot topics
Musharraf’s trial and talks with the Taliban were the most talked about topics till the unveiling of the Abbottabad Commission Report. Both issues were debated and discussed at length. First,…
