There is no doubt Pakistan has experienced a tumultuous 2010. Heartbreaking reports of terrorism filled the headlines as floods submerged one-fifth of our nation. Our great country is working to better itself on multiple fronts – social, political, and economic – and our current place on the world stage allowed the entire world to bear [...]
I’m often accused of being overly optimistic. It’s a trait I inherited from my mother. While my friends’ mothers were always fatalistic about everything, my mother always tried remain hopeful. Where most saw disaster, my mother saw opportunity. So it is with me, I guess. As I continue looking back over the past year, then, [...]
While observing the reactions to Benazir Bhutto’s third death anniversary on Monday, I was saddened to see the number of people who mocked those who posted or Tweeted memories of the late Prime Minister as merely jiyalas who willfully overlook her flaws in order to promote a political message. I was saddened because I hate [...]
As 2010 comes to a close, a brief look back over the last year’s major events and some observations about who gained and who lost from each. WIKILEAKS -1 Nawaz Sharif’s secret arrangement with Saudi Arabia: This could have been something or nothing, but it does look bad for the PML-N chief to appear to [...]
by Farahnaz Ispahani Three years ago today, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. It was a dark day that indelibly changed the direction of Pakistan and I am torn both by personal and political reflections. I was blessed and honoured not only to assist Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in the field of communications but also to know her [...]
This piece was published in The Wall Street Journal on 28 December 2007. It seems that only three short years after the loss, already people are trying to re-write the history. This piece is re-published today as a reminder of the circumstances at the time so that as we reflect we may see a lighted [...]
by Mark Siegel I met Gen. Zia-ul- Haq in Islamabad in 1987 as part of a small delegation of Democratic Party officials. After the formal meeting‚ Haq pulled me aside and told me he knew who I was. “The worst mistake of my life‚” he sneered‚ “was letting your friend live.” I shared this encounter [...]
In his memorable address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, on August 11, 1947 he (the Quaid-e-Azam) explained the secular nature of state in the most unambiguous terms: “Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the wellbeing of the people, and [...]
The following article by MNA Farahnaz Ispahani (PPP) was originally published in The Express Tribune on 25 December 2010. Parachinar used to be called ‘a paradise on Earth’. Despite its natural beauty and strategic importance, Parachinar is presently in a dire state due to sectarian violence initially instigated by the negative policies of former president [...]
The following was received by email and has been verified as the message of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party… I wish all of the Christian community, our brothers and sisters and our children a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. My mother Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and my father President [...]