Bullies at the gate
A Bully comes in various forms. From an overgrown schoolboy who throws his weight around among smaller children in his class, to a dictator who rules his country with an…
Is there any taker of Land Reforms anymore?
Elections are approaching and political parties are preparing their manifestoes. All are unanimous that people got a raw deal under both dictatorship and democracy. Some leaders argue that corruption is…
On Mario Vargas Llosa
You’ve come to understand how the people, crushed by propaganda and lack of information, deprived of freewill and curiosity by fear and habit of servility and obsequiousness, could [accept the…
De facto versus de jure – 2
A universally accepted truth is that the government we have is powerless, that the state is non-functional, and that law and order has fled (if it ever has been with…
Any disorder better than this paralysis
Never in my life did I think that I would have a kind word to say about a figure in religious garb. But then our bankrupt politics can make even…
How did they triumph?
THE movement for the restoration of the judiciary makes Pakistani civil society proud of its achievement. It is awesome how ordinary professionals struggled for two years to ensure that a…
Return of Qadri
Few would have taken notice of 'Sheikhul Islam' Allama Tahirul Qadri's public meeting at the Minar-i-Pakistan had he not managed to put on as impressive a show as he did.…
My services are well-known
I fail to understand why so many TV stations are inviting a former dictator, known to have abused the nation for eight long years, to give his views. These are…
The horse and the donkey
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has compared democracy to the horse and dictatorship to the donkey, and observed that the country has been ruled at times by the horse and…
Better than no democracy
Democracy is an article of faith with me. One is sure that the cure for democratic ills is more democracy. None disputes the fact that the worst democracy is better…
