Challenges before the judiciary
With the appointment of Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as the next chief justice of Pakistan from December 12, 2013, on the retirement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, there is…
Census and consensus
The prime minister recently announced that the population census will be held this year. The last population census was organised in 1998 by his previous government. The colonial tradition was…
How lazy nations respond
Once upon a time, not very long ago, speaking openly about Pakistan’s problems was considered impolite. Then suddenly, Gen Musharraf one day decided to fire a judge of rather ordinary…
No privacy in Pakistan
Edwars Snowden has done the world immense good by exposing the National Security Agency’s worldwide snooping on unsuspecting citizens and government officials.While the rest of the world has reacted vehemently…
A little of everything
Pakistan can easily be described as a country that has a little of almost everything that a modern, developed state can boast of and also much that an underdeveloped, backward-looking…
Terrorism and national security
The first ever meeting of the newly established Cabinet Committee on National Security was held on Tuesday and it could do no better than assign top priority to peace talks…
The North Waziristan puzzle
So long, APC, and thanks for all the memories. Ever since the new government took power the only thing we heard about national security policy was that a consensus was…
Market-friendly?
Governments in developing countries are increasingly being accused of policies and practices that favour cronies and party loyalists in allocation of scarce resources. They do this blatantly in the name…
The Aam Aadmi Party demystified
After its stunning electoral debut in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party finds itself in a dilemma. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress have offered to support the AAP if…
Vicious proposals
The honourable members of the federal task force on disappearances have resolved to undo whatever has been done over the past decade by the judiciary and civil society to find…
