The Unpious Pir
The jousting and collusion of prayer and power in Pakistan
By: Khaled Ahmed Pakistan says it is an ideological state but when heavily bearded, rotten-toothed, medieval-looking Pir Hameeduddin Sialvi comes out of his lair in Sial Sharif, Sargodha, Punjab, it looks like a mental asylum broken loose. That is what this 90-something-old man unleashed when he came out in January 2018 and said he and […]
Asma Jahangir, my fearless friend
Asma was loved in Pakistan, but no less in India, and whenever she gave a talk in India, the room — whatever its size — was always overfull
It is hard to find a measure of Asma Jahangir’s greatness. She was a brilliant intellectual, a superb humanist, a great political leader, an epitome of kindness, a personification of indomitable courage. Asma was all these things — and much more. Professionally she excelled as a magnificent lawyer — who did more than anyone else […]
Disqualification
In 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party swept the polls. It had to be neutralised.
IT is unfortunate that a question concerning the probity of public life should have become entangled in the cold war which the Narendra Modi government has launched against all non-BJP-ruled governments — in this instance the government of Delhi headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. At issue is the scope of the constitutional bar on […]
Series of scams could hurt Modi’s election prospects
Modi, who despite being in power for almost four years tends to blame everything on India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, has now blamed the scam on his predecessor
BY: Aditya Sinha India is seized with another banking scam. At the centre is Punjab National Bank (PNB), a nationalised bank. The culprit is diamond jeweller (or, as he prefers, “diamantaire”) Nirav Modi. The amount involved is Rs114 billion (approx $1.8 billion). PNB has localised the blame to a two low-level officials, who allowed diamantaire […]
Security pact for the Middle East?
Syria is a classic example of proxy war because Iran is supporting the regime of Bashar al Assad and Saudi Arabia is supporting the other side
In his speech delivered on the occasion of annual Munich Security Conference on February 16, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani came up with an innovative idea for a security pact for the Middle Eastern countries in order to establish peace and resolve contentious issues in the region. The Amir of […]
Confrontation on the LoC
Neither party is talking seriously about preventing a conflict that will harm both.
BY: I.A. Rehman THE almost daily exchange of fire across the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, in the Kashmir and Punjab sectors, with growing losses of life and property on both sides, must be brought to an end as quickly as possible, because the danger of the situation getting out of control and […]
When apartheid Israel abuses Palestine’s children
Palestinians being subjected to threats and violence in prisons has become a part of the Zionist regime’s policy now
BY: Fawaz Turki Nelson Mandela, who knew a thing or two about national struggle, once said: “There is no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats children.” And no child in the world has suffered more grievously — indeed more barbarously — than those living under Israel’s rule of the gun. […]
Will Pakistan empower people of Azad Kashmir?
BY: Dr Shabir Choudhry A full-blown debate on Act 74 with many dimensions is raging in Azad Kashmiri political circles and on social media. Some people are even wrongly portraying that they are the first one to oppose the Act 74; or demand its abolition. They give this impression that as a result of their […]
Morality and Goodwill
BY: Towseef Ahmad It is a fact that the system of morality can be based on an egalitarian moral system or it can be moral system which does not payoff due to unruly imperial design and structure. It can be said firmly that the goodwill is considered as one of the unwavering doctrines in the […]
A rebel hero’s dazzled fans
Gone are the days when a Majrooh Sultanpuri would pen a song in Mumbai that would become the battle cry against the martial law of Gen Ayub.
By: Jawed Naqvi SOME individuals are instantly mesmeric. Asma Jahangir was one such. She was a fiery rebel and a deeply caring comrade, an outstanding lawyer and a raconteur with impish humour. She hugged the dispossessed with spontaneous empathy. She fought relentlessly against a variety of usurpers of democracy, mullahs and generals being her staple […]
