(Published in DAWN Editorial Monday 1 March, 2010)
WITH the recent announcement of the US strategy of possibly engaging the Taliban in a dialogue, to enable American troops to exit Afghanistan in the near to medium term, supporters of talks with the Taliban have discovered a newfound legitimacy for their old and thoroughly discredited idea of negotiating with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). (more…)
(Published in DAWN Editorial Monday 14 December, 2009)
BELIEF in conspiracy theories focusing on Pakistan is not only new, it is on the increase judging by the content of public blogs and TV talk shows.
One comes across a staggering number of people who are unwilling to look inward, instead placing all the blame on any combination of the CIA, the Federal Reserve, Mossad, RAW, the US, etc. (more…)
(Published in DAWN Editorial Tuesday 1 December, 2009)
DAWN columnist Kamran Shafi recently lamented on these pages the PPP’s folly — the unjustified promotions of several civil servants who superseded deserving ones.
He wondered whether the PPP government would ever learn lessons from its past blunders seen in the case of the judges’ issue, governor’s rule in Punjab etc. It has had to take embarrassing U-turns on its decisions after taking the country to the brink of chaos.
I’d been thinking along the same lines a little earlier while listening to Mr Qamar Zaman Kaira, the PPP federal minister for information and broadcasting, on the issue of the resignations of public office holders whose names were published as those having benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). He saw absolutely no political or moral imperative to urge those in responsible government posts to resign even if they had question marks hovering over them for alleged involvement in massive corruption and embezzlement cases. (more…)
(Published in DAWN Saturday 14 November, 2009)
BLACK as the National Reconciliation Ordinance was, no one can deny it served a political purpose and helped bring democracy back to Pakistan. In hindsight, one gains a clearer perspective on Benazir Bhutto’s viewpoint.
She was being asked to come back to Pakistan and rejoin the political mainstream and provide some semblance of democracy to Gen Musharraf’s rule. The Bush government was in power in the US, and it was reluctant to see Gen Musharraf go, yet was finding it difficult to support him in power on an as-is basis. The idea of Benazir providing a political façade, perhaps with control over some aspects of governance, partnering with Musharraf in control of certain other key matters of state, was devised. (more…)
‘Outdone itself’ cannot be applied to the current PPP government anymore. With the ‘NRO Plus’, people will no more be able to delude themselves into believing that there must be some limit to the government’s political chicanery.
Amendment of Clause 7 of the already repugnant NRO to remove time limits and to include any and everybody as beneficiaries boggles the mind. Try as one might to put strain on the grey cells, one cannot fathom a single well-intended or reasonable motive for doing so. (more…)
Done and dusted. President Obama has signed the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill into law, sans signing statement. First the PPP lost face at home, with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi sent hurtling back to Washington by the military after having proclaimed the bill as a coup in diplomacy. Then lost face again, with the bill being signed on an as is basis by the U.S. President (after public claims from Mr. Qureshi that the bill would have a presidential signing statement attached at least). (more…)
The hysterical reaction to the Kerry-Lugar bill by formerly rational TV anchors, analysts and politicians is painful to watch. True, one does not expect any better from those who only oppose and criticise for the sake of doing so, but to hear saner voices in the mad din is distressing.
In Shakespeare’s words,
[They] have no spur
To prick the sides of [their] intent, but only
Vaulting [patriotism] ambition, which o’erleaps itself,
And falls on th’other…
In his soliloquy, Macbeth argued with himself against the murder of King Duncan, who was not only his relative but also a pious and good king. In recognising that he had ‘no spur to prick the sides of his intent, but only vaulting (more…)
For the last few weeks, I have observed with interest the ongoing debate amongst visitors triggered by the investigation and unveiling of foul practices of a few known journalists by (more…)
Gul