I once asked the offspring of a Pakistani Prime Minister - one dismissed by the President - whether the family had seen it coming.“No” was the reply, which then elaborated that a wall ...
Moral slump is a pervasive pre-election perception, as battle for the ballot boxes loom ahead. The makeup of democracy comes with a big price. One manifestation of it is in the corridors of power, ...
Ten years ago, shortly after the Western forces invaded Iraq, President Bush on May 1, 2003, spoke with a banner behind him proudly proclaiming “Mission Accomplished”. When the Zardari ...
Drone strikes are beginning to spark debate in Washington. Senator Rand Paul delayed the induction of the new CIA chief, John Brennan, by giving a 13-hour marathon speech questioning the usage of ...
You don’t humiliate. That sows the seeds of continuing conflict. World War I led to World War II. A desire of the Allied Powers, particularly the French, to humiliate the Germans through the ...
Afghanistan - as the post-9/11 era demonstrates - has been a graveyard for generals. Four top US generals have, in effect, met their Waterloo in Afghanistan: General David McKiernan, General Stanley ...
The First Amendment to the US constitution states: “Congress shall make no law…….abridging the freedom of speech.” Yet, intolerance and intimidation can be an issue in the ...
Fifty years ago in America, blacks were systematically segregated from whites. In the south, there were separate public bathrooms for blacks and whites, separate drinking-water fountains, separate ...
Shakespeare has many memorable plays, which have made their mark across the globe. His words have provided comfort and inspiration to many, including dissident Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim, who ...
The May 1 Abbottabad raid has now received Hollywood treatment, replete with scenes of massive cruelty, with the subliminal message that valuable information can be extracted through torture. ...
An entire generation has grown up during the 21st century, with rare exceptions, with a perpetual taste of losing. Its recurring pattern has virtually become the new normal and almost an addictive ...
American blacks with a Muslim affinity - despite being numerically small - have played a profound outsize role in the US. Two brothers, Hamza Abdullah and Husain Abdullah, are American blacks who put ...
A message that is more “Me” than “We” shall not have the broader appeal of a winning message. This is the realisation that has crept up in the aftermath of Obama’s win ...
So, it is Obama again. His win reflects the changing demographics of America.The most intensely contested $6 billion presidential race has come to an end. It revealed fault lines of race, gender, ...
Five years ago, the nation was introduced to the weird concept of ‘revenge of democracy’. Five years later, the results are now in. Rift and drift have been the revenge of democracy. Some ...
Western Muslims can be sometimes harshly critical about happenings in the Muslim East. More productive, perhaps, would be if they can strive to be the harshest critics of their own status in the ...
Avoiding intentional offense to others is the hallmark of civility and civilised behaviour - a test routinely failed by many self-proclaimed civilised societies. It is a world in turmoil. Sparked by ...
Eleven years after 9/11, with the Party Conventions over, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will now vie head-to-head for the White House come Election Day on November 6. Three 90-minute presidential ...
So, the ‘sovereign’ Parliament has constituted a panel to oversee the establishment of new provinces in Punjab. Instead of devising new methods to unite, they have been tasked to ...
One of the seminal events of the 20th century that had impact on Muslims and their relationship with the West was the creation of Pakistan 65 years ago. It will continue to have an impact on the ...
The Batman massacre at a movie theatre on July 20, in Aurora, Colorado, was an act of pure terror. It had no purpose other than to create havoc. Yet, the emphasis within the US has been on its ...
In the tradition-bound and caste-ridden society of the subcontinent, there has been a reliance and allocation of tasks for particular professions. For example, the well-to-do have a tendency of ...
The lesson of history, it is said, is that its lessons are not learned. Foolishness, according to Albert Einstein, is doing the same thing over and over again and yet expecting a different result. It ...
Amidst the tensions roiling US-Pakistan relations, was held an annual summit of the Pakistani-American Congress at Capitol Hill - the seat of the US Congress at Washington DC. This summit attracted ...
Sometimes, the most unwise steps are taken by those who see themselves as smart. Perhaps, too smart! There is an old Punjabi saying that a crafty crow falls into excrement. In the US, on pivotal ...
Community does not decline when bad people behave badly; it declines when good people behave badly. Don’t expect the uncouth to show civility. But it is an entirely different matter when ...
In early May, I was asked to speak at the University of Gujrat on Pakistan’s foreign policy in light of the Arab awakening and upcoming US Presidential elections. The event was chaired by its ...
The passing this month of one of the leading lights of the anti-colonial movement went largely unheralded and unmourned. Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria, who died at the age of 93, was a contemporary of ...
The Arab awakening sweeping across the Middle East is one of the epic happenings of the 21st Century. It is essentially a fight for dignity and equality. Driven by power politics, double standards ...
The overreaction to the Balochistan hearings on Capitol Hill exemplifies the drought of wisdom and valour amongst sectors of Pakistani media, diplomacy, and establishment circles. Instead of the ...
Sunday, 19 May, 2013
May 12, 2013, 12:48 pmNawaz Sharif will not disappoint people: Maryam Nawaz
May 14, 2013, 3:44 pmECP announces results of 254 National Assembly seats
May 18, 2013PML-N warns PM Khoso crossing limits
May 14, 2013Won’t speak against Pakistan
May 13, 2013MQM retains hold on Sindh urban pockets
