The moral maze
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” That was then. Now, death can be deferred, thanks to advances…
The reality of the leaks
The fact that the furore and hullabaloo over the Panama leaks by the political opponents of the government targets only the prime minister and his family, notwithstanding the fact that…
Justice & impunity
It was an early March morning in 2009 and I was cruising along one of the primary roads in the central business district area of Dhaka city where many of…
Headed for doomsday?
In today's world, accountability isn't an acceptable proposition for those adoring the corridors of power. The more corrupt and valueless a polity, greater its abhorrence for any idea whose materialisation…
Fighting corruption
Most developing countries are perennially cursed with the bane of corruption. Pakistan is no exception except that here, instead of a ‘corrupt’ government being removed electorally or politically, the democratic…
A road to nowhere
The PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) have finally agreed to form a judicial commission to probe the 2013 elections and determine three things: were they conducted impartially, fairly and…
Into the political thicket
Among the many problems that afflict us, two are particularly vexatious. One, whether it is individuals or institutions, we seem less interested in doing our own job and more interested…
‘Not a perfect world’
Expressing dissatisfaction over Pakistan’s latest ranking in the Corruption Perception Index, President Mamnoon Hussain told the National Accountability Bureau some time ago to “net the big fish involved in corruption”.…
Malgovernance: Pakistan’s hallmark?
In my column last week, I had expressed doubts about success of 'negotiations' between the PML-N regime and the PTI-PAT combine. These negotiations were bound to fail; large-scale arrests of…
Seeking justice by force?
Will vying for instant solutions instead of lasting policy and institutional reform help save Pakistan? Agreed, for democracy to be credible we need the electoral process and its outcomes to…
