Army chief or soap opera?
Was it the advent of the messiah the nation awaited or something less spectacular? From the media frenzy surrounding the appointment of the new army chief it indeed seemed as…
Terms of engagement
WHEN a US drone killed Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud, Pakistan`s interior minister proclaimed it had killed the chances of negotiating peace with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In fact, Pakistani reactions…
Much ado about much
WHEN the curtain is pulled back some, when the cannibalisation begins, when rabid dog turns on rabid dog, those are the fascinating, scary moments. Someone said something stupid about martyrdom,…
Magic` and reality
BEFORE his death in a US drone strike, the Pakistani Taliban chief Hakeemullah Mehsud had started to feel better thanks to the `spiritual` healing at the hands of an Arab…
The day of the jackals
The politicians of Pakistan are not in the habit of saying anything in a measured and reflective manner. They do not believe in masterly understatements. Their preference is to howl…
The return of Fazlullah
Enter Mullah Fazlullah. His choice as the new head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has significance that must be seriously examined. Unlike Baitullah and Hakeemullah, his droned predecessors, he is not…
The lies our leaders tell
Novelists and playwrights have vividly described the remorse that assails those who have done evil, they have portrayed the torment of a stricken conscience and the long nights of sleeplessness…
Pleas, prayers and parleys
Pakistan is a victim of a vicious circle. Our national character fatally generates one-man rule (including elected dictators.) Dictatorships strengthen and exasperate the defects of national character with catastrophic results.…
Iran deal: for Fortress of Islam to study
The world moves on even as Pakistan pays fitful attention to the heroic performance of its three stooges: the Jamaat chief, Munawar Hasan, the PTI chief, Imran Khan, and the…
Poverty and militancy
This week five years ago Ajmal Kasab was sitting nervously in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) safe house in Karachi. His Mumbai mission had been postponed after waves overwhelmed the dinghies that…
