No good options
THE sight of thousands of people taking to the streets in South Waziristan to protest the resurgence of the Pakistani Taliban offers a ray of hope. It is a reminder…
War of words
PAKISTAN’S leadership has lately been engaged in a war of words with the Afghan Taliban. Our frustration is understandable. The Taliban regime in Kabul was not doing enough to stop…
Why the TTP is undefeatable
AS the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) ramp up their murderous attacks on Pakistani soldiers, ISI officers, police, and ordinary citizens, the men who run Pakistan’s security establishment are trotting out the…
Migration crisis
MIGRATION has been in the media and policy spotlight lately. Several international migration-related developments have refocused attention on migration and asylum issues. Recently, the small Italian town of Lampedusa received…
Refugee dilemma
THE detention of nearly 1,200 Afghan nationals, including 178 children, has received much media attention and generated bad press for the Sindh government. It has also brought in its wake…
Lone ‘rager’
IN 2009, as I was planning my return home from Hanoi, I told a group of friends I wanted to become active in politics, maybe eventually contest elections. I had…
Dangerous arena
THE withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan had been widely anticipated, with hopes of improved security and peace to follow. Such hopes were quickly dashed. Instead, we saw the US…
Reviewing CT strategy
THERE was nothing in the communiqué issued after the latest National Security Committee meeting that we have not heard before. Phrases like ‘zero tolerance for terrorism’ and ‘violence will be dealt with,…
Why bash the elite?
ELITE-BASHING is Pakistan’s newest sport. As the country stares into the default abyss, the ubiquitous phrase — ‘elite state capture’ — putatively explains all that has gone awry. Fat-cats are…
Suffocating Afghan women
ALMOST two years after they seized control of Kabul, the Afghan Taliban are still engrossed in suffocating Afghan women. Education for girls in secondary school and women in university was banned…
