Surviving Musharraf's Exit?

Throughout the election campaign and since the elections, no political party or politician has come up with any original thought or plan for the problems that confront Pakistan

A Great Day, A New Hope for Pakistan

As our parliamentarians take oath and swear allegiance to the constitution today, one can feel happy about Pakistan.

Pakistan, a Different Country!

Benazir is now remembered as a Rani, a princess and soon will turn in to the first woman Saint in Pakistan.

Mother of all Elections

In this most dangerous place on earth, almost 37 million men and women stood in queues to vote and by mid-night almost all had reached back to their homes, safe and sound.

The ANP Challenge

What if instead of a PPP prime minister or PML-N prime minister, ANP’s Asfandyar Wali Khan was to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan? Could this be a viable option?

The More Things Change...

Almost every election ever held in the country has been replete with allegations of fraud and duplicity.

Elections and the Future Leaders of Pakistan

Future Leaders of Pakistan is an organization that is straining against the shackles of convention and tradition and is aiming to do things a little differently.

Overseas Pakistanis and Right of Franchise

Overseas Pakistanis were granted the right to vote only in the 2002 referendum but the current election commission does not grant the right of franchise for expatriates.

The Only Way Forward for Pakistan

There should be an APC (All Party Conference) right away in which a National consensus government is formulated with the mandate of organizing free and fair elections within 6 months.

Election Boycott

Only 5 out 33 parties in APDM want to participate in elections. Parties in favour boycott met at Imran Khan’s residence on Monday

Pakistan’s Political Future Still Hanging on a Flimsy Thread

When the petitions were indeed non-maintainable, then why did the Supreme Court not throw them out straight away?

Musharraf’s New Ordinance Hoopla

What is this ordinance hoopla Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto have just come up with. They want to take out accountability from the entire political and banking process.

The Ghost of Justice Munir is Still Alive

Islamabad’s nervous and jittery ‘guardians’ have turned the capital city into a fenced-of, ‘no-go’ town.

A Political Manifesto for Sale! - Part I

In the current feverish run-up to elections, have you wondered why our political parties have still not published any meaningful manifestos?

The Eclipse of the MQM

It can be argued that the leadership and activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will remember the 12th of May 2007 as the moment a 10 year policy of the party came crashing down.

Beginning of an End

Nawaz Sharif’s expected reentry in Pakistan is creating a new power configuration.

Emergency: From Behind the Sandbags

Emergency at this time serves Chaudhri Shujaat more than it serves Musharraf, who wants to play this final card not so early.

The Deal and Our Responsibility

Does the deal between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto really matter? And will we sit and let others to continue muddling with the affairs of Pakistan.

Pakistan: A Downward Spiral?

The first step to resolving the problems is to understand them. We cannot afford to go round in circles without imploding at some point.

Musharaff Finds a Way Out

An election year usually carries lots of surprises in it and this one, perhaps the first official one since 70s, is no different.

Why is the Government Dithering When it Should Stand Firm?

With religious extremists openly challenging the writ of the state, and despite overwhelming public demands that this be stopped, the government seems to be giving in.

Pakistan Shinning I - Propoganda or Reality

The Musharraf Government is frantically beating the drums of its fictional economic miracle of the past half a dozen years. This is painfully reminiscent of similar media projection attempted by the erstwhile BJP Government with its \'India Shining\' propag

Get over the Victim Syndrome

The real issues that affect our daily lives are never addressed by opposition or the government, instead we are enamored with non-issues like huddod ordinance, attire of mushy, Kashmir, women’s face on hoardings, music in public buses and other crap

Imran Khan the Politician

Today, he looks lost and bewildered, like the proverbial ’babe in the woods’. The sportsman extraordinaire looks helpless in politics – a fish gasping for breath in the middle of a desert.

How Many Votes a Party Needs to Win Pak Elections?

How many votes a party requires to win a majority in National Assembly or Pakistan? Just 10 million! Surprised? Read on.

A Rhyme For Fools -- 1

In Pakistani politics, democracy is seen as an end in itself and that its attainment will be marked by the culmination of civilian power over the military. Also, the idea of democracy is identified with political personalities, both military and civilian

Separate Destinies?

Monday, February 16’s Daily Dawn reported the Pakistan Election Commission’s reversion of its decision on joint electorates for Muslim and Non-Muslim citizens. With that fatuous announcement the clock was turned back two years--the courageous

Many Questions, No Answers

Solutions do not rest in either Democracy or in the Shariah. The answers are in Education and Social Equality. Only this will invalidate the Bush Doctrine and Extremist Fatwas.

The Follies of the Natives

A circus called Pakistan

The Beginning of the End of the Kashmir Problem

Do not underestimate either the love or the hatred that the peoples of the two countries are capable of having towards each other

Survival of the Fittest

If Pakistan is next then what are the options?

Doctors or the Disease

Analysis of the khaki-clad messiahs of Pakistan

Three Arguments Against a War

As America prepares for war, I want to present three arguments for peace:

USA and Muslims

Muslim extremists generally dislike non-Muslims and they hate various people at local level

A Work In Progress

Jinnah put Pakistan in such a location that the future state would always be involved in the geo-politics of world

The Unmaking Of Gujrat

The key players in these elections and therefore Indian polity seem like characters in a drama of the absurd.

Changing The Thana Culture

as time passes land holdings of Feudals continue to decrease through an ongoing evolutionary process

Games Generals Play

the General deserves to be applauded for forcing a semblance of democracy to the working of political parties

Islamic Utopia?

Reconciling Islam and Modernity

Lessons from Constitutional History

But we never seem to learn from history

Sobho: the struggle continues

I still believe in the revolution, in a society that provides justice for all

The Election Burp

Don’t stand around wondering what to do, trying to please everybody—take a stick and throw it.

Election in Pakistan

unprecedented election results in Pakistan

Myopic, Malevolent, Megalomaniac

Musharraf knows that PPP (P) and PML (N) would not like to join hands with MMA because it displeases USA

Military, Musharraf and Magic

Political experts can opine all they want. They can criticize Musharraf, the Military and the short-term nature of US support.

Unraveling Pakistan: Taming The Shrew-Mare

Pakistan’s Army has become a wild mare. It has to be broken into. It has to be re-taught to walk, run, trot

What I Saw In Okara

An investigation into the Okara land dispute

The Day Of All Days

Pakistan will re-take its first fledging steps towards democracy

Does a Bachelor’s degree mean education in politics

Can an election that disqualifies 98% of the country’s citizens be legitimate?

Of Errant Politicians And The Kashmir Cause

In politics being good is not necessarily good enough

My Ruined Breakfast

After that they would like votes, please.

A Contrary Opinion

why not give the goodwill to someone who has only been brutally honest with us

Pakistanis in Afghanistan, Nothing New

The more the government cuts back on the opportunities available to the Mullah to interact with the citizen, the more the government is cutting back on the Mullahs sources of revenue

Indian Diplomacy : Time To Recheck

The year saw a marked upswing in new Delhi’s relations with the US, Russia, Japan, Germany and France

A Reason For Change

What is really interesting about Marianne Pearl’s interview with CNN is not what she said

The Countdown Begins

... the contours of Pakistan’s emerging political scenario point to the first signs of an uneasy coexistence between the military regime and the political forces ...

The Quest for Power

It took General Zia 14 months after the July 1977 coup to assume the Presidency, while General Musharraf waited 20 months to do the same

Talking to Vajpayee

Vajpayee has demonstrated that he can be different

Democracy in Pakistan: The Missing Link?

Democracy has long been a buzzword in Pakistan

Should Pakistan Honor the Lahore Resolution?

why Pakistan failed to become a confederation in accordance with the spirit and content of the Lahore resolution?.

1971 in 2000

... this singular event is consigned to the dustbin of history.

A Rumor Of Lies

Pakistan, as a nation, seems to have entered a political terra incognita from which it is unlikely to return

Game Theory and Pakistan

the elite in Pakistan are nothing short of omnivorous parasites

Famous Last Words or a Messiah in Khakis?

Can the army deliver?

Hegemony of the Ruling Elite in Pakistan

We have a chequered past in our experiments with democracy

In Defence of Benevolent Dictators

More democracy ? More of the same ? No thanks

Masala Democracy

Only in South Asia would a masala mix of militancy, neglect of the masses, and elite politics pass for democracy

A State of Confusion

Will Pakistan benefit from a change of government?

Save India

A martial law administration has to take over the country

Imran Khan: Pakistan’s Next PM?

In terms of being a hypocrite - who in Pakistan isn’t?

India’s Failure of Imagination

No one in India, it seems, has a clue what people across the border in Pakistan are thinking

A Visit to Pakistan

Could it be that there is a feeling that India does not accept the existence of Pakistan?

Evolution of South Asia

Information revolution and the future of the sub-continent

Waiting Upon the Prime Miniterial Burp

In Lahore we are expecting to hear a burp

Another Victim of the State

An opinion on the travails of Junoon

Giving Way to Intolerance

During the last many years, religious intolerance and sectarian fanaticism have created a war-like situation in Pakistan

The Man Who Stooped to Conquer

And he did it all with a smile

Raj and I

A complete sense of certainty prevails in our country. There is nothing to panic about.

Calling a Spade a Spade

Thus a new historical precedent was established where 53% of the population were denounced as traitors

Almost Live in Concert

It is important for us to understand more about DAT’s and Sequencers and how they work because paying $10 or more for a live performance where as only 10% of that is live, in my opinion, is making a fool out of people.

The Old Pakistan is Dead, Long Live New Pakistan

On December 16, 1971 Pakistan ceased to exist during a well celebrated ceremony when Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi and Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora signed an armistice document.

• All
• US Elections 2008 Primaries
• Pakistan General Election 2007-2008
• Benazir Bhutto Assassination
• Pakistan State of Emergency
• Bomb Blasts on Benazir Bhutto's Return
• Judicial Crisis in Pakistan
• Lal Masjid Seige
• May 12 2007 Karachi Riots
• Virginia Tech Shooting
• Cricket World Cup 2007
• July 2006 Lebanon War
• July 11 Bombay Train Blasts
• July 7 London Bombing
• Kashmir Earthquake
• Indian General Elections 2004
• Tsunami
• Vote of Confidence
• India Pakistan Peace Process
• US-Iraq War
• Kalabagh Dam Controversy
• Higher Education Commission Criticism
• Karachi Oil Spill
• Mukhtaran Mai Rape
• Gujarat Riots
• Indian Parliament Attack
• War in Afghanistan
• September 11 Attacks
• Dot com
• Pakistan Coup of 1999
• 1999 Kargil Conflict
• 1998 Nuclear Weapons Testing
• Remembering Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
• Honouring Abdus Salam