Remedy begins at home
During his nine-year rule, Gen (r) Musharraf almost found a place for himself in the Guinness Book of World Records as a Marco Polo head of state. Had he not…
View Point: Good luck to Saudi women
Thousands of Saudi women have signed an online petition' entitled "October 26, driving for women". A news report says some 20 women are going to take to the wheel as…
Back to Bollywood
There’s a scene in many Bollywood and Lollywood movies where the comic actor pretends to threaten the muscular villain while whispering to a friend who is holding him not to…
Bankruptcy of the mental kind
“Such incidents are not conducive to peace talks…”, PM Sharif. Some revelation this…if the death toll in the Peshawar church attack had been somewhat lower, would that have facilitated peace…
Vibrant Chengdu
Chairman Mao Zedong looks down benignly at the crowds from his perch in Tianfu Square in Chengdu, one arm raised in friendly salutation, an avuncular smile on his face. I…
Nawaz Sharif goes to New York
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif travels to New York this week. He will not be alone in making this annual autumn pilgrimage of heads of state to the United Nations. Amongst…
Badly wanted: MOU on terrorism
Since the glory days of the Zardari presidency, Pakistan’s premier industry, beating all others, has been the signing of MOUs (memorandums of understanding). The MOUs he signed with various countries…
The sectarian war
In my last column on the Syrian situation I had promised to write on the impact that sectarian strife in that country is having on the region. The antiBashar al…
Redefining ourselves
In terms of massive tragedy, atrocities committed and personal traumas surely no one community has suffered more in contemporary history than the Ummah –the worldwide community of Muslims. Indeed, if…
The unpredictable Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai was welcomed in Islamabad on Monday with a 21-gun salute in accordance with the ceremonious and absurdly meaningless usages of protocol. But in a sense the booming of…
