Spotlight
Results of the just concluded by-elections for Punjab Assembly seats appear to have cast a pall of gloom on the spirits of PPP, of not just the rank and file,…
Spotlight: Will the waves created by Allama Qadri amount to anything?: Political scenario
PPP is having a bad time in the aftermath of the bye elections which it lost comprehensively to the Nawaz League. This was followed by a series of defections from…
Obama’s Burma policy slips
BARACK Obama’s policy of ‘pragmatic engagement’ with the Burmese military junta is in danger of falling apart as the generals press ahead with plans for elections later this year from…
Smokers’ Corner
By studying the electoral history of Karachi and Lahore, one can largely ascertain the general political and ideological mood of Pakistan’s urban bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie. In 1970 when the country…
The folly of hot pursuit
From the American perspective, nothing is going right in Afghanistan. The general public demonstrated its indifference towards the Afghan-sponsored parliamentary elections: only 3.6 million voters turned out to vote against…
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…
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.…
Talking with the enemy
In more than a decade-long conflict between the Pakistani state and the Al-Qaeda and its inspired local militants, the initiative undoubtedly has fallen into the hands of the extremists. They…
The worst is still to come
With the fifth most turbulent year (2012) in Pakistan’s economic history drawing to a close yesterday, the year 2013 has just begun. Far from being a fresh start, there are…
Performance or…
On the 27th of December, 2012, Benazir Bhutto's fifth death anniversary, a major political event took place with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing those who came to pay their respects to…
