People's anger over continued US drone strikes was evident in the massive rally organized by the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) party led by Imran Khan. Tens of thousands blocked the ring road in Peshawar leading to Torkham border with Afghanistan. They demanded an immediate end to drone strikes that have killed thousands of people in Pakistan since they were first launched in 2004.
he choice of Pakistan's new army chief has the chattering classes in a tizzy. Who will get the nod: will it be Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood, Lt Gen Tariq Khan or Lt Gen Raheel Sharif? In less than 10 days, people will find out but the question on everyone's mind though not uttered is whether the new chief would keep out of politics.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced in Islamabad today that the government would press treason charges against General Pervez Musharraf. The charges relate to Musharraf's suspension of the constitution, imposition of a state of emergency and the sacking of judges that refused to provide legal cover to his illegal moves in 2007. Most people, however, are skeptical about whether Musharraf would be punished.
Drones have become the weapon of choice for the US because no American casualties are involved. If innocents are killed, that is just “collateral damage”.
The manner in which the plight of two Pakistani girls—Malala and Nabeela—has been addressed or not addressed, says much about the West’s policies and values.
It is unusual for military men to be tried for their crimes. General Pervez Musharraf is unlucky in this respect when he decided to return to Pakistan last March. Who advised him to do so? While on trial for the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and possible charges of treason, his chances of being imprisoned much less hanged are considered very low.
True independence means to be able to formulate one’s own policies without having to appease foreign masters. Unfortunately, Pakistan like most other Muslim countries does not pass muster.
While Pakistanis cannot wait to get rid of Asif Ali Zardari, a venal character who has occupied the presidency since 2008, jockeying for the post among political parties has intensified. Selection of the president is seldom done on the basis of merit; it is based on connections and whose interests you serve that determine the outcome. On July 30 Pakistanis will find out. It is most likely to be Mamnoon Hussain (picture left) of the PML-N.
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?
The dramatic announcement by Altaf Hussain as head of the MQM early Sunday morning (Pakistan time) has taken many observers by surprise. Is the godfather of MQM serious or is this another of his political stunts to shore up support when his popularity has declined dramatically in recent months? His quick retraction a few hours later proved this was all a show.
Despite Nawaz Sharif's announcement that treason charges would be laid against the former dictator General (ret'd) Pervez Musharraf, people remain highly skeptical. Some see it as political theatre; others believe Sharif is simply trying to divert attention from the serious problems facing Pakistan that Sharif has little ability to rectify despite making tall promises prior to may 11 general elections that his party won.
Two Muslim countries—Malaysia and Pakistan—have held elections. People in the third, Islamic Iran, will go to the polls on June 14. There have been complaints of rigging in the first two; only in Islamic Iran are elections held in an organized and proper manner highlighting the difference between a secular system and that based on Islamic values.
What the priorities of the new Pakistani government should be, are listed by Nasir Hussain Peerzadah from Kashmir.
As Pakistanis go to the polls, there are far more serious issues facing the country, not least a grand foreign conspiracy to break it up.
There are hundreds of political parties and tens of thousands of candidates chasing a few hundred seats in the May 11 general elections in Pakistan. We examine the parties, the issues and some of the same tired old faces that have dominated Pakistani politics for decades.
The Pakistani state and its institutions have failed to protect the Shia minority from sectarian violence that has claimed hundreds of lives this year. We examine the players behind such mayhem.
As the US has been defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has shifted its focus to the Pacific region to contain the rising power of China. General Mirza Aslam Beg, former chief of the Pakistan Army, argues that countries like Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan are well-placed to assert their rights in this new architecture.
Pakistan has been wracked by sectarian violence and while the terrorists are well known to the authorities, little is being done to apprehend much less punish them.
The great hopes arouse by the Pakistan resolution when it was first passed in Lahore in March 1940—seven years before Pakistan came into existence—remain a pipe dream. Instead, for most Pakistanis it has become a nightmare.
Using terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e Jhangvi and the SSP, the Saudis want to create a permanent breach between Shias and Sunnis in order to check the influence of Islamic Iran.
