While complaining about the never-ending problems they face, the people of Pakistan have once again elected the same corrupt politicians they have tried twice before. How can they hope for change?
This year, August 14 — Pakistan’s Independence Day — marks a historic moment. In 1947, when Pakistan gained independence from British colonial rule in India, it was the month of Ramadan.
Throughout its tortuous history, Pakistan has staggered from one crisis to another; but general Pervez Musharraf has brought it to the brink of unprecedented disaster...
Oscillating between comedy and farce, the Pakistani political scene has never been dull, but has resulted in terrible consequences for the hapless Pakistanis. An assorted array of charlatans and crooks, claiming to be on a messianic mission to usher in prosperity, have driven the masses into ever-deeper despair.
A month after 54 Afghani civilians were killed when American planes bombed a wedding party, the Times (London)newspaper published details of a report written by UN officials who visited the village two days after the bombing.
There was poetic justice in the conviction of Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari on corruption charges by the Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court on April 15. Each was sentenced to five years in jail and fined US$8.6 million
The west, we are so often told, owes its pre-eminence to the universality of its liberal values and democracy of its political institutions. It is these, we are further told, which entitles it to lead the world, claiming the moral high ground on every issue, and imposing its will (for the greater public good, of course) on all others.
The process of selecting a president by the People’s Consultative Assembly in Indonesia lasting 11 days beginning on March 1, had already been decided last May. The 1,000-member assembly is a rubber-stamp body which simply confirms what the ruling Golkar Party wants.
The economic miracle, now mired in political, economic, financial and ecological setbacks, was to foster a Malaysia Inc, that would lead to a Valhalla of an industrialised Malaysia in 2020.
