Deadly diplomacy
NO one who lived anywhere in the world through the 1970s could ignore Henry Kissinger as he bestrode the world like a colossus, not so much as the peacemaker he pretended to…
Marching against a ticking clock
MALLIKARJUN Kharge of humble Dalit origins defeated the polished Shashi Tharoor of the ‘Why-I-am-a-Hindu’ faux liberal club. Kharge is the popularly elected president of India’s oldest party, but neither he…
Nothing coded in Modi’s agenda
THE Uber ride was smooth despite the rain-clogged roads, and I was thanking the driver with a heartfelt smile when the frail and vulnerable-looking fellow burst into tears, crying unconsolably.…
Outwitting Modi’s psyops is key
IT could get worse before it gets better, goes the sagacious saying. It was in the nature of its very being that the INDIA alliance needed to cross the hump…
The precarious lives of politicians
FORMER prime minister Imran Khan was shot in the leg during an assassination attempt last week while participating in the long march. He survived. But Pakistani politicians seldom survive assassination attempts, which…
Cricketers who also win hearts
THE school-going cricket enthusiast in our Lucknow neighbourhood was the only one to own a decent radio in the 1960s. Rajiv Puri, Bappal to us, would wait for daybreak to…
Baying at the moon
THE New Year was invented for those who need a day to bury wasted dreams. Each year, January heralds hope and then every December ends shrouded in a winter of…
Mashal is waiting
MASHAL Khan was murdered by a mob of his fellow students six years ago. His loved ones still run from pillar to post seeking justice. But business as usual continues…
Foreign policies brewed at home
IT’S a given that foreign policies of nations represent their national circumstances. Circumstances change, policies change. They changed for Pakistan from Jinnah to Bhutto to Zia. Likewise, the Nehruvian state…
Never say die
HENRY Kissinger, often viewed as a war criminal, marked his 100th birthday last Saturday amid the usual accolades of the high and mighty, alongside a few barbs from others with…
