Lessons for the US
There were significant moments in the 20th century when heightened awareness of major human values – freedom, justice, order, security etc – forced American, and other western thinkers and academics…
The sectarian ghoul in Gilgit
The region of Gilgit-Baltistan made news this year not for its scenic beauty, but for sectarianism in the form of brutal murders and target killings. Historically, the region has been…
Critical choices
“Israel, India and agencies are playing games in Pakistan. They want to capture this country and its nuclear assets”. I was given this piece of news by a few knowledgeable…
Liberating faith from the fringe
Another day, another massacre in the name of the exalted faith. Will this senseless, endless dance of death in the name of all that is holy ever stop? We have…
An opportune moment
It is extremely rare that the annual, utterly dull, accounting ritual known as the budget in Pakistan is preceded by a month-long public discourse about the most fundamental of issues…
The Balochistan narrative
The story of Balochistan remains sadly on the margins of public discourse. The policy landscape appears mainly as it always has, despite abundantly evident socio-political shifts in the province. The…
At a loss for words
The importance of words cannot be overemphasised. Language – the ability to speak – is what distinguishes humans from other animals. But it seems this distinction is dangerously narrowing down…
Patterns of response
Counting a few major attacks claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during the last three months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata delineate three clear tactical patterns. (It must be noted…
No white heat revolutions
Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson – twice elected – famously observed in 1964 that a week was a long time in politics. True to those words, the twist came…
The question of sovereignty
An important question relevant to the current political-legal discourse is whether parliament in Pakistan is sovereign. It is averred that parliament being representative of popular will it is supreme over…
