The next five years
Judging by the number of Western media and analytical queries I have received over the past two weeks, there seems to be a growing interest in Western capitals in the…
In search of true representation
On June 8, 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its judgement in the case of Workers' Party Pakistan through Akhtar Hussain, Advocate, General Secretary and 6 others v Federation…
Agenda for the nation 2013 and beyond-II
What is the real nature and extent of the domestic crisis? Let me try to highlight some of its major dimensions. First and foremost, it is a 'crisis of legitimacy'.…
Khoso’s tasks
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing huge shortage in revenue collection despite resorting to all sorts of negative tactics and highhandedness, destroying the already fragile economy. The FBR…
Are we that helpless?
"If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his…
Reality and rhetoric
“A Sophisticated rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.” Disraeli’s famous description of his opponent Gladstone, on July 27, 1878, has been justly applied to leaders who imagine…
Who says countries are permanent?
We should know this more than others. The Pakistan of 1947 is not the Pakistan which exists today, one half of it having broken away to form another country. I…
To the barricades once more
Normal, everyday politics involving, more often than not, jockeying for position, transfers and postings, everyone desperate to make a fast buck can be as dull as ditchwater, and about as…
Murder of a Tamil child
India has failed to fashion a coherent, balanced and self-confident response to its turbulent neighbourhood. Leave aside Pakistan, India’s policy towards Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar and Nepal looks confused,…
The general’s dream
In an informal meeting with a group of senior journalists, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani insisted, “The army does not have any intention of derailing the…
