Political Slogans in Pakistan

“Hum ko Manzil Nahee Rehnuma Chaheya� means we don’t need to achieve our goals; we need only a leader, is the guiding light for MQM.

The Villain of Villains

Asif Ali Zardari is an enigma which has intrigued many for over a decade and nobody expects any relief anytime soon.

A Leader of Speeches Only!

Few newspapers reported that, “his wife has filed a divorce petition against him just because he spends all his nights in rehearsal of the next day speeches by standing in front of mirror that is fixed in his bedroom.�

Is There a Redeemer?

Is there some one from among the Pakistani leaders who can stop this calamitous down slide and reverse the dreadful drift?

Leadership Crisis of South Asia

Asking people to choose from amongst the likes of Narendra Modi, Bal Thackeray, Sheikh Hasina Wajid, Khaleda Zia, or the assorted Nehru-Gandhis, Sharifs, Chaudhries is an exercise in futility.

First 11 Months of PPP Government

Overall inflation has touched 25 per cent and the US dollar has gone up from Rs 62 to Rs 81, a near 36 per cent increase.

Save Me From Charismatic Leaders!

I am not against Obama because he is Black because I think that it would be wonderful for the US to have a Black President; not because his middle name is Husseini

Here We Go Again

But it’s really a wet firecracker without Army’s intervention, because sehba auntie or shareefudding peerzada can’t jump the gates of PTV and take over.

And then there was The Impeachment Issue…

A smug looking Mian saa’ab and the ever dramatic Dark Prince, announced at a joint press conference, their plans to pursue the Impeachment of President Pervaiz Musharraf.

Dumbing Down Parliament....Again!

What kind of message are we sending our youth? "Beta, it's ok if you flunked out of B.A and cannot be a Banker or an Engineer or a Lawyer. You can still be Minister of Industry!"

The Missing Pakistanis

Where are those souls
Into wilderness, they disappeared
Like autumn leaves,
With no traces

The Durrani Family Saga

The poor in Pakistan must be given an alternate to the clergy to take them out from the spiral of ignobility in which they are caught.

Old Wine, Still Older Bottles

If the people of Pakistan don’t take to the streets, the politicians are themselves to blame. They have chosen the politics of convenience and non-agitation.

The Rape of the Nation

The nation awaits
Not its messiahs and inspiration
Not from their leaders
Not from their politicians

On Zillae Huma Usman

What good is the facade of encouraging educated women to be at the forefront at the expense of their life?

The Death of a Nawab

Akbar Bugti is dead, what next for the Baloch rebellion?

Great Expectations, Little Sense

When books are written to primarily sell, it’s no wonder that we end up confounded. The case studies presented are mostly those of successful, large organizations, which may be irrelevant to the vast majority of readers

South Asia’s Clarence Darrow

An anglicized barrister who ended up founding a separate Muslim majority state is an apparent paradox but not really so...

Muslim Leadership: An Oxymoron?

A good Muslim leader can be simply defined as someone who has the ability to embrace the changing world of Islam

Homecoming of Zardari

“The sacrifices of Zardari have raised him to the ranks of a senior politician”, Benazir comments on his release from prison after eight plus years.

The Dour Ascetic

An interview with Morarji Desai: 'He (Gandhiji) would not have permitted it. I, too, don't believe in these things, but since I had accepted the Pakistani award I could not refuse this one (Bharat Ratna).'

From Jinnah to Jamali

Pakistan is not a failed state; the magnitude of our failure is much bigger than that. Pakistan is the name of a bankrupt culture that has been rotting since the fall of the Moghal Empire.

Terminate This

How ironic is it that Arnold Schwarzenegger was sent on a morale-boosting tour of US bases in Iraq.

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 Scandal of Fake and Madrassa Degrees

a federal minister whose only real qualification is an O-level certificate

History Rehearsing: Dark Ages of Islam

poor masses hopelessly in search of a savior

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

When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History

The 70th anniversary wasn't noticed in the United States

Doctors or the Disease

Analysis of the khaki-clad messiahs of Pakistan

The Great Game for Central Asian Oil

The Imperialist Ring from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan

Kashmir: Time for a Radical Approach?

The Kashmiris are not even a foot note and Ram Babu and Allah Rakha the perennial losers.

War and Terror

Is use of precise weapons of mass destruction justified to destroy imprecise ones?

Excavating India

I say, thank god for Babar, for the dear departed Mughal badshah has revealed how the purring cats are jumping on a hot tin roof.

Three Arguments Against a War

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

Muslims in India: Communalism vs. Backwardness-Minority Syndrome

Today, it is imperative that the Muslim community fights the ogre of communalism

Preventing Military Take Overs

Military Reforms

Dam it?

Protest against the extension of Mangla Dam continues despite the mainstream media's ignorance

Rightsizing of the Armed Forces

the huge Pak Army fulfils few strategic functions

The Urdu Press in New York

We never thought we would flee America

Towards Greater Tolerance

Anti-Pakistanism and neo-Indian Nationalism

The March of Folly

Is It A War On Islam?

What, then, should be the strategy for all those who believe in a just world and are appalled by America's war on the weak?

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

Khaki wisdom -- One-way ticket to Hell

the world came closer to a nuclear exchange during the recent standoff between India and Pakistan than at any time since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis

The Kashmir Committee: Ram in U.S

Ram Jethmalani, to further the agenda of KC, recently made a trip to US

The Christian Coalition & Israel - An Open Letter

In coming weeks there will be a national election in Israel

Kissinger of Death

Bush may as well have chosen Osama bin Laden to head the commission

Games Generals Play

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

An All-Inclusive Rejoinder to All the Chronic Complainers

there are few nations on the face of earth blessed with such an omnipotent uniformed force

Islamic Utopia?

Reconciling Islam and Modernity

Election in Pakistan

unprecedented election results in Pakistan

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.

Who is Responsible for Nepal’s Corruption, Poverty and Failed Development?

Story of a middle class family of Nepal

India’s Potential Lose-Lose-Lose Scenario

India may actually be helping Pakistan in the long run, not harming it, with its current war hysteria

The Hindu Right

Advani’s yathra in an air-conditioned Toyota left a trail of blood in its wake

The Right To Bigotry

as long as government and courts and police and diplomats and moralists approve of it

Does a Bachelor’s degree mean education in politics

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

Of Evil Zionists and the Great Satan

The impotent fury of the Muslim world

The Quarterbreds of Californet

What choice is left in the face of such enmity?

Of Violent Birth and Peaceful Death

I have a dream for South Asia

Deja Vu

General Musharraf should be open and honest

Cry, the Beloved Country

There is much that the murdering mobs in Gujarat have robbed from me

An Equal Reaction

We don’t know WHAT happened at Godhra

The Wages of Obedience

The systemic failure of a whole class of people to think honestly and seriously, in short a failure to do their job as political analysts

An Insight Into the Way Shiv Sena Functions

This political sex appeal of Thackerey is the reason that Shiv Sena shakhaas have sprung up in Haryana and Punjab

Empty Vessels And All That Jazz

do you think he is up to task to rid us of feudals next?

1971: A Forgotten Story

We ‘forgot’ to ask for our men to be returned

Indian Diplomacy : Time To Recheck

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

Running Naked

Looking at the current India, Pakistan conflict as Manto would have

Muslims and The West After 11th September

America has exacted blood revenge for the Twin Towers

The Clash Of Un-Civilizations And Osama-ism

It is misleading to think and give an impression that these issues will just disappear if Osama is captured or killed today.

Benazir Bhutto in Sacramento

the terrorist’s greatest fear is the spread of information, social equality and democracy

Journalists or Americans?

Is Islamist even a word?

India’s Communal Gamble

What sells best in India?

Afghanistan Reflections

big mistakes were made

Love On The Line Of Control, a Story by Col Dharam Pal

There seems to be a lot of acrimony and bad-blood between some Indian and Pakistani contributors ...

Caught In Between

Pakistan is on the defensive almost constantly

Black Tuesday: The View From Islamabad

CNN and the US media have so far made little attempt to understand this affliction

No Fault Of Mine

We nurture a strange vision of patriotism in India these days. As Pakistan yells at us, accusing us of misdeeds, we must shout louder still. Meantime, Kashmir bleeds. So do we all.

Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, SJ

An interview with a war hero ...

An Eulogy For The Hawks

Your administrations’ talks with President Musharraf

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

The Winds of Change

When the world’s only superpower changes direction, smaller states, especially those located on the periphery of potential conflict, have to be nimble in adjusting their policies.

Open Letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee

I do not wish to neutralize the horror I feel at the destruction of Buddhist monuments with the thought that my national leaders did the same thing a decade ago

Hands Across The Border

we all must plant our saplings of peace today

A Long Night’s Odyssey

we do not have the luxury of time

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.

Faith, Religion and National Direction

A winner makes commitments, a loser makes promises

The Flip Side of Democracy

The US public allows its government to make decisions that can alienate a billion people

Negotiating Peace in Kashmir

President Clinton should also exhort the Indian leaders

When Pakistan Defeated Herself...

there was no way for it [India] to convincingly prove that Pakistan indeed harbored territorial ambitions on i-Kashmir

Just another cry in the dark

In our 53 years of turbulent history the country has seen nothing but thieves and self righteous leaders

A Rumor Of Lies

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

Where did Pakistan go wrong?

...you will find that in the course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims...

Eqbal Ahmad: Post - Pokhran Days

The mountain had turned white. I wondered how much pain had been felt by nature ...

Why Clinton should visit Pakistan

The Americans simply cannot sideline Pakistan...

Let us Not be Foolish

Mistakes, misunderstandings and downright hate have led us too long in India-Pakistan relations...

Twosome Troubles of Troublesome Two

The adolescent behavior of both the Indian and Pakistani elites and their awry management of bilateral relations has become a matter of international notoriety

Compilation of Opinions on the Military Takeover in Pakistan

Peoples opinions and reactions

Time for a fresh start

Where do we go from here?

Pak-Millennium Conference 1999

Setting the stage for the new millenium.

A State of Confusion

Will Pakistan benefit from a change of government?

Kargil and the Myth of Losing the Media War

Consider for a moment that you are NOT a Pakistani

Save India

A martial law administration has to take over the country

Kargil: A view from Pakistan

What gives in the mountains?

Imran Khan: Pakistan’s Next PM?

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

A Road To Siachen

An analysis of the Pakistani military thought and its interests in the present crisis

Falsehoods Galore

Pakistan has thus turned into an oligarchy well versed in the art of making things disappear

India’s Failure of Imagination

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

Pokhran-Chaghi audit: Winners and losers

India and Pakistan conducted their nuclear tests one year ago.

The Dark Tower

The editor of Pakistani most outspoken English weekly was arrested in a most undemocratic manner for going abroad and saying what we all say in our living rooms

There are a Lot of Monkeys

In India there are a lot of monkeys

Balkan Tragedy: A Re-enactment of the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh

The escalating human tragedy in Kosovo gives me a sense of deja vu

Evolution of South Asia

Information revolution and the future of the sub-continent

Why Vajpayee’s Trip to Lahore Was a Failure

Vajpayee’s bus trip can be described in one word: nothing

Need for a Confederation

India had never been a Nation, it is still not one

Getting Ready for ‘Bus Diplomacy’

Vajpayee and Sharif get creative. First bombs then bus rides.

A Matter of Principle

Anatomy of the governments vendetta against a leading newspaper in Pakistan

Bill’s Affair in the Information Age

There’re eyes everywhere in today’s world

Urdu: The Language of the New Criminal

Tauba, tauba ... but, were they Urdu-speaking?

Talking of Talks

...the Prime Ministers have had a telephone talk

Shadows of Hiroshima

An airplane as pretty as a silver treasure slowly flying from east to west in the cloudless, pure blue sky ...

Pakistan Cinema 1947-1997: A Review

Gazdar gives a first rate literary analysis of Maula Jat against the backdrop of Zia’s Martial Law

What Is Your Caste?

Caste is South Asia’s apartheid

Giving Way to Intolerance

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

Cry my Beloved Country

Thoughts on the nature of democracy in Pakistan.

Nuclear Bomb for Sale

the demand for nuclear bombs outstripped that of mangoes, movies, health services, designer labels, paan, clean water,

Onwards to the Nuclear Abyss

India, Pakistan and the March of Folly

Living with the Bomb

A 2-5 minute flight time, almost zero chances of interception, and the impossibility of recall

So, We Are Nuclear Too!!

Scenes from a nuclear world

Compilation of Articles and Opinions on India’s Nuclear Test

The events surrounding the nuclear tests conducted by India have resulted in a number of articles and opinions. This is a compilation of those articles.

Petition against the Nuclearization of South Asia

Petition circulated at a seminar at MIT on the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan.

Imperatives For Economic Development Of Pakistan

So how can we hammer out a consensus around the proposition that we have to rapidly raise the standard of living of the people in Pakistan?

UN Sanctions Against Iraq: 10 Myths

Economic sanctions against industrialized countries, which include a ban on foreign trade, can be more lethal than limited military attacks.

Excuse Me but Can ANP Spell Pakhtoonkhwa?

What difference would a name change make any way?

Madeleine’s ’Deadly Delusions’

Well over 6 million Indian and Pakistani citizens live in the Middle East and Washington’s apparent indifference towards their safety has roundly ticked off nations who generally need little reason to feel offended.

Time For Contempt

In today’s Pakistan, the word Contempt is what the Government of Pakistan thinks of the people of Pakistan.

Death of the Raj: Subcontinent in the Third Millennium

The second of two articles outlining a new definition of Pakistan and the Indian sub-continent. Ready your pens for aggressive interaction.

My Crimson Reality

In which the poet, in the best traditions of Meer, Dard, Ghalib, seems to prefer reality in an intoxicating red shade.

Pakistan’s Golden Jubilee

Even now, the Mian has a cabinet of 41 ministers. FORTY ONE (count ’em)!! I can’t even think of thirty things that would need a minister.