Missing persons vs drones
They may well have stepped out of some forgotten Greek tragedy. There they were, cheated by fate in a forlorn land. Their ordeal was exceptional and stunning in the context…
Living up to the name
“When we were in PMA most of us knew Shabbir Sharif would either get the Nishan-i-Haider (posthumously) or become the chief, such was his courage and commitment.” These were the…
The next COAS
The race is on. The two slots to be filed are: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and the chief of army staff (COAS). Here’s the…
Army chief or soap opera?
Was it the advent of the messiah the nation awaited or something less spectacular? From the media frenzy surrounding the appointment of the new army chief it indeed seemed as…
‘I made all my generals…’
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is no Napoleon Bonaparte; nor is he a Niccolo Machiavelli. The seemingly surprise appointment of Lieutenant-General Raheel Sharif, the third in the seniority order, as the…
The next man
The rumours, assertions, denials and general gupshup regarding the appointment of the new chief of army staff – a most important decision to be made by the prime minister –…
The chief’s matrix
It’s almost official. By October or November, Pakistan’s military at large, and then its army in particular, are going to have new commanders. First, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee…
Missteps?
It is hard to understand Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s standards of likes and dislikes. No one knows exactly what qualities of Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa impressed the prime minister when…
Legal eye: The devil and the deep sea?
What should a pro-democracy, pro-accountability, non-partisan Pakistani be rooting for in this contest? Here is the paradox. On the supply side of praetorian interventions has been a civil-military imbalance and…
Losing while winning
Blame Panama. A delayed verdict disrupted our crisis cycle. Instead of a regular dose of crisis, we got a lengthy wait. Nothing, nothing, nothing and then — kaboom. It’s been…
