Archive for October, 2012

Rahimullah Yusufzai :  The Taliban’s infiltration of the western-trained Afghan army and police is their most effective tactic yet Plans and strategies made for stabilizing war-ravaged Afghanistan seldom achieve the desired results. It has been a long and sad story of failed initiatives and misplaced optimism. The latest challenge threatening to disrupt the transition from […]

By Essa Naqvi –  Diplomacy, that ancient craft, has been hijacked in the country by well-connected part-timers In the nascent days of the Republic, following Pakistan’s independence in 1947, several non-career officers were sent abroad as ambassadors to represent Pakistan internationally. It was then the need of the time; for the newly born state did […]

By Wajahat Ali –  Even though India is likely to drive the process on its terms, Pakistan stands to reap dividends and soften its isolation India and Pakistan have decided to relax their visa policies to encourage greater contact among their citizens. This is a significant development since the two countries cannot have a meaningful […]

By Rasul Bakhsh Rais – Neither is the freedom of expression-couched blasphemous content from west innocent nor Muslim reaction to the animus entirely rational One of the major issues the West and Muslim societies find themselves locked in endlessly and senselessly is blasphemy, and they have been in a state of cold war since Salman […]

By Noorilhuda – A spate of killings targeting Shias recently have brought matters of faith to a head. A look at how and what begets such hatred All the unity that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had envisioned for the Muslim Ummah evaporated with a single occurrence: his death. Every leader needs a successor. Every legacy needs […]

By Shahid Malik – Inter-sectarian dialogue and a state ready to crack down on miscreants is the need of the hour The last couple of months saw fatal attacks on Shiite community residing in Gilgit-Baltistan and Baluchistan provinces. Scores of people belonging to the sect lost their lives at the hands of armed savages. This […]

By Ali Arqam – Even without the fire, life at the factory, and thousands others like it, is nothing short of hell It was perhaps the worst industrial accident in the country’s history. The high casualty count, coupled with the most graphically disturbing of images ensured it didn’t fly off the TV news cycle as […]

By Aurangzaib Khan –  Androgynous boys, loud music, lewd gestures, stunningly graceful dance moves. It’s all happening in Peshawar It’s getting a bit on the wrong side of etiquette with bored young queens throwing all caution to the wind as hours go by lazily at a late night ball. First comes loud music and then […]

By Harris Bin Munawar –  The 43 muscles that launched a thousand ships A sexy airhostess off on her first flight tells an aspiring dark skinned colleague to use a fairness cream. A month later, the girl – now fair and beautiful – is seen with the owner of the airline. The two are now […]

By Wajahat Ali –  The real question is not whether Islam is compatible with democracy but if democracy is compatible with Muslims, says author of acclaimed work In December 2010, a Tunisian street vender unleashed a revolutionary wave of protests across the Middle East and brought down some of the most firmly entrenched despotic rulers […]