Ayesha Siddiqa The Pakistani government does not seem willing to shift its spending priorities despite the burgeoning COVID-19 challenges. Pakistan has emerged as one of the countries with the fastest rate of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The country reported its first coronavirus case on February 26 and is now among the top 15 […]
Husain Haqqani Claiming that there is no pandemic in the country and that Pakistanis should be allowed to celebrate the festival of Eid ul Fitr as they have always done, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered resumption of train services, other public transport, and opening of shopping centres. This, while Covid-19 cases rose to 43,000 and led to 924 deaths by 19 May. Pakistan already has more coronavirus cases […]
A lot of Pakistan’s defense budget may get redirected in the post-Covid era, but the army isn’t going to let go. It now eyes revocation of a constitutional amendment. Ayesha Siddiqa Like every crisis, Covid-19 will bring its set of challenges and opportunities. For starters, the guns-versus-butter debate may be back on the table. With the overall size of the world economy […]
Omar Sheikh was let go because someone in Pakistan wanted him freed, like mentor Masood Azhar Ayesha Siddiqa Coronavirus pandemic, world distracted by Afghan peace deal and weak case in the murder of Daniel Pearl opened a window to acquit Omar Sheikh. But the US noticed. On 14 October 2009, American ambassador to Pakistan Ann Patterson cabled Washington that Omar Saeed […]
An army cannot afford to allow so many ideologically motivated hardliners to rise to senior ranks and to freelance on behalf of their ideology after retirement. Husain Haqqani It is very unusual for retired senior officers of a professional military to end up fighting alongside militants attacking soldiers they once commanded. But the recently reported saga of retired Lt. General […]
Pakistan started colonising G-B in 1949 and as a first step, bifurcated the portion of J&K in its occupation to create two entities that it calls, Azad Kashmir (AJK) and the Northern Areas (Nas). Senge H Sering Islamabad schemes to illegally annex Gilgit Baltistan (G-B), which is a constitutional part of India’s Union Territory of Ladakh. The move is aimed […]
Militants continue to collect donations at mosques in Pakistan’s Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces near Durand Line Rahman Bunairee, VOA Deewa The outlawed Taliban militants continue to collect donations at mosques in Mardan, situated at a distance of only 86 miles from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north, in the name of Afghan jihad and threaten to kill […]
Senge Hasnan Sering CAA expedites the naturalisation process for persecuted non-Muslims of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who are waiting to be declared as Indian citizens. While adoption of the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 has led to violent protests in different parts of India; it has also generated a lively debate among Ladakhis about its possible fallout on Gilgit-Baltistan […]
by KHALED AHMED On July 17, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed was taken into custody by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab. This occurred a mere two days after an anti-terrorism court in Lahore had granted pre-arrest bail to Saeed in a case pertaining to his organization’s alleged illegal use of land for its madrassa. That case apparently came about as an […]
Husain Haqqani A quotation often misattributed to Albert Einstein defines insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results”. The Pakistani establishment’s assumption that control over all levers of power and a single national narrative can rid Pakistan of its myriad problems definitely matches that definition. Pakistan’s generals see themselves as the solution to Pakistan’s problems instead of realising their own contribution to the country’s […]
Pakistani Army must stop using terror groups as instruments of foreign policy: Pakistani dissidents Under the banner of South Asians Against Terrorism & For Human Rights (SAATH) Forum, the group that includes Pakistan’s former envoy to the US Hussain Haqqani, said the security agencies must close “torture cells and black sites”, known as internment centres. A group of dissident Pakistanis […]
Khaled Ahmed On November 14, Prime Minister Imran Khan repeated himself on the unwisdom of Pakistan “fighting others’ wars” instead of presumably its own which it dodged. He added that “Pakistan would no more join any alliance for any other country’s war” but “rather play the role of a reconciler or bridge-builder”. The occasion was the concluding session of The […]
By Kamran Siddiqui The levels of intolerance, irrationality and ignorance are continuously on the rise in Pakistan since its creation. However, at present, they have reached a point where the damaged caused by such behavior is not only threatening the survival as a nation both internally and externally, but also highlighting the incapability and incompetence as a nation to move […]
Khaled Ahmed On 9 November 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan got together with thousands of Sikh pilgrims to inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor on the bank of river Ravi in Punjab in Pakistan. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi thanked Pakistan for opening up the route to the last resting place of the great Sikh founder-guru Nanak Dev in accordance with […]
Reviewer: Habeeb Sheikh I have read a few self-improvement books but “A New Earth – Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” stands out significantly reading on this topic. The author, Eckhart Tolle, based on human history, is convinced that we have inherited a Dysfunctional mind that needs to be evolved to Consciousness. A Dysfunctional mind creates suffering for itself and for […]
Khaled Ahmed The Paris-based 39-member Financial Action Task Force (FATF), against money-laundering and terror-funding, strongly urged Pakistan last month to comply with its demands by February 2020 or face being included in the FATF “black list” meaning sanctions. It said: “To date, Pakistan has only largely addressed five of the 27 action items, with varying levels of progress made on […]
Khaled Ahmed It is another cut-and-run moment for America in Afghanistan, this time after the longest war in its history. Will Trump repeat in 2019 what Nixon did to South Vietnam in 1973, leaving when 150,000 men of North Vietnamese army were in occupation of parts of South Vietnam where people knew they would be massacred at the hands of […]
By M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad A Pakistani doctor who helped the US find al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is appealing against his jail sentence. It’s the first time Shakil Afridi’s case has been heard in open court. The judge adjourned the case until 22 October at the request of prosecutors. Dr Afridi’s role was a huge embarrassment for […]
Mohammad Taqi US President Donald Trump has cancelled what had appeared to be an imminent deal with the Afghan Taliban. In a series of tweets over the weekend, Trump blasted the Taliban for not agreeing to a ceasefire and continuing to kill in order to buttress their negotiating position. He cited the death of a US soldier last week as the reason for his decision. But […]
Kamran Siddiqui The recent revocation of Articles 370 and 35(a) of the Indian constitution by the Modi government has created an uproar across South Asia. There is a divided option on this action, where those in favor, primarily BJP supporter are hailing it as a historic and overdue move. On the other hand, the opponents are arguing this action as […]
