The first piece of news I came across Monday morning was an article in Express Tribune about the Difa-e-Pakistan rally in Karachi. What stood out to be was the fact that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) senior vice-president Ejaz Chaudhry was also present at the rally. I will admit, it came as no surprise to me, and [...]
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Actually, Democracy is Diplomacy
February 15th, 2012
by Omar Derawal
by Omar Derawal
Salim Saifullah recently told reporters that he thought Pakistan was mistaken in supporting the Syrian people’s demand for democracy. Instead, he said we should have supported a dictator who is murdering his own people in order to gain favour with China, who vetoed a UNSC resolution drafted by the Arab League and supported by the [...]
Judiciary frustrated by rule of law
February 11th, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
An article in The News caught my attention yesterday when I read that the head of the Judicial Commission probing the memogate scandal is frustrated with inaction on the part of the government. According to the article, Justice Qazi Faiz Esa on Thursday expressed anger at the Foreign Office’s inability to pursue the matter of [...]
No open door is not an option
February 10th, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
“No country that wishes to become developed today can pursue closed door policies. We have tasted this bitter experience, and our ancestors have tasted it. In the early Ming Dynasty in the reign of Yongle when Zheng He sailed the Western Ocean, our country was open. After Yongle died, the dynasty went into decline. China [...]
Justice for Balochistan
February 9th, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
The US Congress held a hearing on Balochistan this week. If this seems strange, that’s because it is. The US holding hearings on Balochistan seems rather like the National Assembly holding hearings on racism and human rights violations in the US – the right issue, but the wrong forum. After all, what do American Congressmen [...]
Putting History Back on Track
February 6th, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
The Arab revolutions that promised to overturn the illegitimate regimes that ruled the Muslim world for decades are not over. Syria is presently suffering terribly as a dynastic dictator carries out a brutal crackdown against his own people. Government attacks have been going on for over 10 months and have killed over 5,000 innocent civilians. [...]
Bring the people into confidence on national defence
February 2nd, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
With its 436 elected members representing every corner of Pakistan, Parliament is the voice of the people. As such, it has the constitutional as well as the moral authority to tackle the most serious issues facing the nation. For this reason, the bill moved by MNA Khurram Jahangir Wattoo to require all defence-related agreements to [...]
Quitting is not a virtue
February 1st, 2012
by Mukhtar Ahmed
by Mukhtar Ahmed
Squash was my first love. I have fond memories of coming back from school and waiting eagerly for the clock to strike 4pm so I could jump in the car with my father and accompany my him to Services Club where he would play tennis (which I grew to love later on) and the younger [...]
Punjab’s Growing Militant Problem
January 30th, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
Banned militant groups were out in force again in Punjab. In Rawalpindi, a rally supposedly against ‘unconstitutional activities’ of Ahmadis turned into a demonstration of sectarian hate as speakers demanded that Ahmadis stop all religious activities including worshipping in their own properties. Participants sent a loud message of hate and violence as they waved the [...]
Roti ki koi shehriat nahi hoti
January 27th, 2012
by Mahmood Adeel
by Mahmood Adeel
Two items in the news this week should be dominating the discussion of current events. First is that 100 people in Lahore have now died from contaminated drugs. Adding insult to injury is that fact that, according to Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, the victims tended to be the poor who received the drugs for free. [...]