All who watch
EVERY electorate may or may not get the government it deserves. Voters can fall for a bluff: if they did not believe a promise so sincerely, they might not punish…
Making foreign policy
The national security adviser has arrived in India to the chagrin of the external affairs ministry. First came Brajesh Mishra in 1988 who also doubled as principal secretary to the…
Region or subcontinent?
In his press conference on January 3, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of his regret that because of Musharraf’s unexpected ouster from power, the promise of a “breakthrough” in…
1971: confessions
December 16 comes every year. Then why was it so special this time around? Is it Abdul Quader Mollah or, the high handedness of a government in power in Bangladesh…
Rue the silence forever …
What senior politician Imran Khan has said about Narendra Modi is what you would have expected him to say. Pakistan would do business with whoever is chosen to lead the…
Remembering JFK
Today is the 50th anniversary of assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Though the 35th US President never visited Pakistan, his wife did. The walls of the US consul…
Back to the future
DURING a week when we pondered over the iron man of India, Sardar Patel, and remembered the iron lady, Mrs Indira Gandhi, a question kept flitting through my thoughts. Did…
Sangh, sardar and the stakes
The 2014 general elections could well be the dumbest and most defining elections in India’s history. While the level of political discourse and campaigning has already hit rock bottom, stakes…
Mediation on Kashmir
Exchanges of fire continue across the Line of Control in Kashmir, which is regrettable because, as always, innocent people are killed in this sort of affray. There is no point…
Miracles as state policy
Dire situations bring desperate responses. Charlatans roaming India have marshalled armies of boon-seekers. Blind faith is a virtue of poverty, or fear of it. Which means the rich and the…
