Martin Luther King’s legacy goes beyond his civil rights activism.
The rebel King
IN Pakistan, April 4 is associated with the judicial murder of its first elected prime minister. In the United States, the date marks the assassination of its most prominent 20th-century moral exemplar. Fifty years ago today, just after 6pm local time in Memphis, Tennessee, a hunting rifle barked and the bullet found its mark, […]
A THINKER OF OPTIMUM DEGREE…
Hizrat Ali (A.S), an exalted figure in the Islamic history whose dazzling contribution after Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) could never be disregarded, was a sublime being in whom numerous differing qualities had joined together. All the good qualities were cantered in their full brightness as though he was a collection of several […]
John Bolton: The man from the underground
Only by resorting to the realms of film, fiction, and myth we can try to fathom John Bolton's fiendish cruelty.
John Bolton is a sick man … He is a spiteful man. He is an unattractive man. I believe John Bolton’s liver is diseased. However, he knows nothing at all about his disease and does not know for certain what ails him. Yes, you guessed correctly, I am reworking Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s opening lines in his […]
Federalism and fairness
Unless the concerns of States are addressed, the fault lines in the Indian federation could deepen
Federalism is once again the focus of political discourse in India. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah set the cat among the pigeons when he highlighted Kannada pride by unveiling an official state flag last month. Then in a Facebook post on “Regional Identity & Federalism”, he advocated the need for States to have both financial and […]
List of Innocents
Why governments hesitate to withdraw cases when the accused are Muslims
Now that new regimes have taken over in the Northeast, will there be a mass withdrawal of cases against the ruling party cadres? That has been the norm across the country. Most new governments withdraw cases involving agitations carried out by their party cadre as part of opposition tactics. All peaceful street protests must be […]
Politics in the age of Facebook
Our likes, dislikes and opinions on social media leave us vulnerable to psychological warfare
There has been a lot of talk around the globe over the use of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica (CA), a company partly owned by the U.S. billionaire hedge fund owner and Donald Trump backer, Robert Mercer. In India, the discussion has descended into a farcical wrangle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress […]
Malala’s brief return to Pakistan is a big defeat for terrorism
But here is the bitter truth : The fans and followers of the world’s youngest and Pakistan’s only woman Nobel Peace Prize winner celebrated her homecoming only on Twitter, not on the streets.
Malala Yousafzai is back in Pakistan, even though temporarily. Proven that her home country is moving in the right direction, even if this movement is very slow, Malala’s return is a big defeat for extremism. But here is the bitter truth: Almost all important political leaders from the government and opposition welcomed her, but there […]
The moon-faced lady’s dargah
On Mahlaqa Bai, the first to give Urdu poetry a feminine voice
Every time I visit Hyderabad, I walk up the 500 steps leading to the shrine known as Koh-e-Ali or Maula Ali ka Pahad (the hill of my lord) to pray for strength to overcome difficulties or to offer my gratitude. Like me, every year lakhs visit this shrine, which is dedicated to Ali ibn Abu […]
Trump’s NSA pick
Bolton’s appointment is a threat to world peace.
IN appointing John Bolton as his national security adviser, President Donald Trump is sending strong signals to his country and the world. First, in choosing a notorious hawk, he has lain to rest all expectation and hope that power will tame him. Second, he has no interest in securing independent let alone contrary advice […]
Is cooperative regional security possible in the Middle East?
For Iran's regional cooperation offer to work, more Middle Eastern nations need to achieve foreign policy independence.
In his first article upon becoming foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran five years ago, in 2013, Mohammad Javad Zarif declared, in Arabic, to Asharq Al-Awsat: “[T]he reality is that [Iran’s] primary foreign policy priority is our region. Few things are constant in international politics, but geography is among them. A country cannot […]
