When death blurs life
When a well-known writer is attacked by two gunmen on a murky evening in Lahore, the immediate wish and prayer is for it to be the result of old enmity.…
Bureaucracy needs reforms
Good governance is closely linked with sustainable and equitable development. But, however good they may be, policies will have little positive impact unless the institutions implementing them are effective and…
Need to win media war
In the strongest indication yet that the government may have decided that its chosen option of peace talks with the Taliban had run its course, the civil and military leadership…
It’s all about jobs
The biggest problem faced by millions across Pakistan is unemployment. I am constantly bombarded with requests to get a son or nephew a job, preferably in a government department. Recently,…
Colours of paradise
Not particularly fond of driving to Lahore, a journey of around four hours on the motorway, I have had to make this trip fairly frequently over the past few months.…
Too little, too late
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has finally indicated it will use force against select bands of the local Taliban militants after months of indecisiveness and inaction. The mantra of peace…
Our Kafkaesque nightmare
Trotting out the Orwellian nightmare analogy whenever a government tries to curb the rights of its citizens has become cliché. With the PML-N and its odious Protection of Pakistan Ordinance…
The good PPO
There are two different groups opposing the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) -- human rights groups for whom it is a matter of primary and professional concern, and the bad…
Of justice for the Hazaras
The emergency measures taken after the nationwide protest at the latest round of killing of pilgrims in Mastung district offer little assurance that a way to end the ordeal of…
Terms of a peace deal with the Taliban
As iron is not to be made from straw, or protein extracted from cabbages, we might as well turn to realism and consider the outlines of a settlement which could…
