The new Sharif era
Good, bad or ugly, the 2013 elections are over; and now testing times are ahead for the new incumbents. It is the third coming for Nawaz Sharif, a remarkable turn of…
Master strategy
A SORT of unprecedented political pragmatism has followed the 2013 election. As in other areas, improvement in the country`s security situation is also being projected by many who are optimistic…
Make politics ordinary
Those who care for historical comparison may note that in 1988, General Zia’s children of dictatorship were voting for a democratic revolution promised by a waving Benazir Bhutto from atop…
The uncertain adventure that now begins
So most of us got it wrong...I certainly did, expecting an Imran Khan surge that did not come. Just a fortnight before the voting the received wisdom on most pundit…
And so they went on
The other day I happened to overhear a group of post-graduate students discussing what constituted the principal or fundamental problem of Pakistan. Here is a summarised account of the debate.…
Enough of repeats
First half exciting, second half formulaic: purely from a spectator’s point of view this is 2013 election in a nutshell. Reminiscences of the 1990s that we all dread in the…
Decision time
YES, there are many subplots and side stories, some worthy, others nostalgia-driven, but on this day, who really cares? There`s only one main event, one big show, one top billing:…
Improvement in ties?
Much has already been made of Nawaz Sharif’s overtures to India during his election campaign. The Indian high commissioner last week called on Sharif at Raiwind to discuss ways in…
Militants’ language
Pakistan had braced itself for a ‘bloody’ election. It’s bad enough that being resigned to this reality was a prerequisite for further democratic consolidation. But the carnage that is unfolding…
A deafening silence
A Traumatised young boy fiercely slapping his face repeatedly and crying incessantly in the midst of burnt corpses — the scene from the latest bombing in Peshawar was haunting. The…
