This is all right
The pendulum of political ideology has not just moved from one end to the other in Pakistan. It has completely shifted its coordinates. It was not left-centre-right in the classical…
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…
Ground realities
Negotiations start from the impossible to attain positions on both sides. And slowly, if the intent is true, both parties give way, to eventually reach a mutually acceptable position. To…
The worst of times
A Church in Peshawar gets blown up by suicide bombers sent in by religious militants, killing over 80 worshippers. In their view, by killing non-Muslims these suicide bombers would go…
The enemy within
Few incidents of terrorism have caused such large-scale outpouring of grief, anger and shame as the massacre in the Peshawar church last Sunday. But will this outrage awaken the Pakistani…
View point: Talking to the Taliban
Last Sunday's Taliban attack in Upper Dir in which the GOC Swat and Malakand division, a Lieutenant Colonel and a non-commissioned officer were killed in the wake of a formal…
A city that mourns
August 23 dawned with the news of the tragic and untimely death of a friend’s nephew – a young man of 25 with a ready smile and impeccable manners. He…
The peace delusion
While approaching our problem of terror and courting peace in earnest there is no room for false bravado. Why object to state functionaries sitting down with disaffected citizens if that…
Inviting catastrophe
It is now official. By offering talks to the ‘Pakistani Taliban’, the government-sponsored All-Parties Conference (APC) has formally handed over a strategic and morale-boosting advantage to the Al-Qaeda inspired and…
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…
