Checks on immigration
Immigration has been a highly emotive issue in British politics since Enoch Powell made his famous 1968 “rivers of blood” speech which sketched a picture of Britain inundated with immigrants.…
Packed and gone
There is an old saying ‘bus ho chuki namaz, musalla uthaiye’. It is used to convey to the concerned person that there is nothing left to talk about and they…
Of distant dreams and false myths
The goodwill Indians and Pakistanis manifest for each other can vanish in a jiffy when the hate-mongers on both sides get going. The ensuing slanging match usually takes the form…
Our mighty builders
A member of the Senate recently lashed out at the Defence Housing Authority for political reasons. My frustration with the DHA in Lahore has entirely different origins. On March 1,…
India`s power slipping away?
Once in a blue moon, an Indian bureaucrat gets it right. R.V. Shahi, the union power secretary in 2003, took on a backwater job that few wanted, and resurrected the…
The roots of terrorism
A Cursory analysis of the Stary Global Terrorism Database reveals that over the past decade, Pakistan has had the highest number of terrorismrelated deaths in the world. In fact, the…
A new IMF programme
The International Monetary Fund team is seemingly all set to revisit Islamabad soon armed with a new programme for our acquiescence, as we struggle to discharge our dues to them…
Time for patience
There has been much relief and joy at the government’s recent completion of a full five-year term and the announcement of an election date. The transfer of power from one…
Polls: the broader view
Elections are due in a couple of months and one of the questions being asked is whether they would be an exercise in futility. I think not, even though nothing…
Violent elections
Will the upcoming elections be violent? Can a substantial surge in incidents of violence and terrorism cause a delay? These and similar questions are in many minds these days. There…
