Terror attacks in Kabul are once again making headlines—but they have failed to engender global outrage in support of Afghanistan. Last Saturday (January 27), an ambulance packed with explosives blew up on a crowded street in central Kabul, killing more than 100 people and injuring some 200 others. The intensity of the attack and the multitude of deaths led both ...

The rapid expansion of electronic media followed by the equally impressive growth of social media during the last two decades in Pakistan has opened up immense possibilities for the people to connect and we have witnessed massive rise in connectivity among individuals, social and political groups and communities across the country ( and beyond). The irony, however, is that democratic movement in ...

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while commenting on the current political impasse in the country in a recent speech mentioned the crises of 1971 in the then East Pakistan ( now Bangladesh) when disrespect for the aspirations of people expressed through vote had led to the disintegration of Pakistan. His detractors labeled this analogy to be far fetched one and ...

Since 9/11, Pakistan has provided just enough sporadic assistance to give an impression of helpfulness, while at the same time harboring, training, and assisting violent extremist groups. President Trump, in his tweet about Pakistan, called a spade a spade. Since 9/11, Pakistan has consistently played a double game, providing just enough sporadic assistance in capturing members of Al Qaeda and ...

It is not surprising that the debate about the murder of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (SMBB), even ten years after its occurrence, is raising such deep emotions. After all, she was one of the most charismatic and popular leaders in Pakistan’s history, who was killed on December 27, 2007, just before a crucial general election in which she was poised ...

Important  developments during this week (public explanation by the Chief Justice about recent court orders and the COAS’s Senate briefing) seem to have somewhat helped in defusing the crippling tension that had gripped the political situation during the last few weeks with a severely negative fall out for governance system in the country. It was because the high voltage tension ...

As soon as the United States declared its going to stay in the war-ravaged Afghanistan for an indefinite time period, rumors about resumption of the Taliban’s FM stations in Bajaur Agency surfaced among locals. Bajuar is a tribal region bordering Afghanistan’s green and hilly Kunar province. This province is believed to be the base camp of the fugitive Taliban leader, Mullah Fazlullah aka “Mullah ...

Obaid-Chinoy has a legitimacy problem that needs to be addressed to restore her credibility as an unbiased and professional film-maker. Pakistan army’s strategic depth policy has had devastating consequences for people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The area was handed over in de facto manner by Pakistan  army to its  proxies, the  Taliban, since 9/11. The Taliban disrupted ...

After politically almost choking Islamabad to death through a sit in by a violent band of religious zealots in November, the action of the unfolding coup has shifted to Lahore in December to demolish the provincial government which is the actual base of PML-N rule over the country. By stopping Mian Nawaz Sharif from mobilizing masses, the Trojan horses of establishment in ...

A historical overview of the country where religious groups of one hue or the other have played their role in collusion with the state to turn it into the hybrid-theocracy of today. The recent agreement enforced upon the political government is nothing but a small reminder that Pakistan has turned into a hybrid-theocracy where sharia law is gradually being applied ...