Controversial powers
AN obscenity not repelled at the very moment of its occurrence gains willing acceptance if it is allowed to persist for long. Three democracies in South Asia Pakistan, India and…
Deferred implosion?
The massacre of Hazaras has bored through the shock absorbers that we refer to as either resilience or apathy. Too late as usual. This year marks a full decade since…
The Monti option
Pakistan will hold its next parliamentary and presidential elections this year. Many Pakistanis see this first ever completion of its term by an elected civilian government as cause for celebration.…
Politicians` influence
The brutal gang-rape and torture of `Nirbhaya`, a 23-yearold physiotherapy student in New Delhi on Dec 16 led to spontaneous countrywide demonstrations of a kind never seen before. The young…
Pakistani comedy: latest offering
Long march successful or not, the fun has already started. Whether Zardari bonzes or Punjab stalwarts, it is no little comedy seeing them running scared and getting hoarse in the…
The mood of the moment
Pakistan’s mainstream political leadership appears edgy these days. All of a sudden many politicians seem to have had a revelation that a conspiracy is being hatched to derail the country’s…
Pakistan’s unmourned Bouazizi
It was a cold and clammy winter’s evening in Mexico City, but this did not seem to matter. It was a season of mirth and merriment, of mistletoe and chiming…
Plurality of expression
Religion is viewed as divine inspiration and as guidance for the salvation of human beings. When the divine message, which reveals itself through allegorical and symbolic language, is understood and…
Rebirth of democracy
Pervez Musharraf was not acceptable to a number of political parties as president of Pakistan, so some of them demanded his impeachment if he did not resign. The man, in…
Exploring bilateralism
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s acceptance of President Zardari’s invitation to visit Pakistan has not raised many expectations here regarding improvement of relations between the two countries. The reasons for this…
