Ghareeb e sheher to faqay say marr gaya Arif – Zeeshan Yaseen

Kirdar ki tabahi – Saleem Anwer

America ka nuclear agenda – Ubaidullah Qadri

Fasana e Ajayib – Naukhaiz Anwer Siddiqui

Olaad baraye farokht – Ejaz Mangi

Dangerous rhetoric —Farish A Noor

Dangerous rhetoric —Farish A Noor
The right-wing extreme nationalist rhetoric that we hear from some Indonesian politicians today is alarming to say the least, sending all the wrong signals to the international community at large
In his book Losing an Empire, Finding a Role, British political scientist David Sanders poses the interesting question of whether Britain [...]

Zardari, army and the system —Ejaz Haider

Zardari, army and the system —Ejaz Haider
All actors, the government, the opposition and the army are skating on thin ice. This offers the system an opportunity to consolidate itself by forcing them to understand the limits of what they can do and thereby respect the rules of the game
One year after Asif Ali Zardari’s [...]

Side-effect – Harris Khalique

Side-effect – Harris Khalique
Our newspapers have shrunk and television screens have expanded, virtually. I avoid quoting long passages in my already restricted column space for it becomes harder to express yourself in even fewer words. But the death of 18 women in Karachi the other day, aptly called “Crushed by poverty” by a national daily, [...]

Truth is better than humiliation – Shafqat Mahmood

Truth is better than humiliation – Shafqat Mahmood
Some myths are necessary to build confidence. Prize fighters do it all the time. Remember Mohammad Ali claiming to be the greatest? He may well have been the best but the constant refrain of greatness was a deliberate attempt at fostering self belief.
We have been doing something similar [...]

What next for Taliban leaders? – Dr Masooda Bano

What next for Taliban leaders? – Dr Masooda Bano
Now that the government has had some success in capturing alive some senior leaders of the Taliban resistance in Swat, the question is, what will the government do with them? Are they going to be put on trial? If yes, how accessible will the proceedings be to [...]

Poverty alleviation and microfinance – Ahmad Rafay Alam

Poverty alleviation and microfinance – Ahmad Rafay Alam
A jurisdiction war is playing out in the unlikeliest of places. It’s been reported that the governor of State Bank of Pakistan has written to the planning commission, “raising objections” against the “active persuasion” of a planning commission social sector committee for formulation of recommendations on microfinance. Not [...]

Phase II of Afghan jihad – Dr Muzaffar Iqbal

Phase II of Afghan jihad – Dr Muzaffar Iqbal
The Obama administration is not talking in public about an exit strategy for Afghanistan, at least not yet, but there are tell-tale signs that before he faces public-opinion polls again towards the end of his first term in office, Barak Hussein Obama will have to wind up [...]

Too much politics, too much hypocrisy – Ayaz Amir

Too much politics, too much hypocrisy – Ayaz Amir
How many doom-and-gloom stories can any reasonable person endure? More than a nation at war we are a nation in perpetual crisis, vaguely discontented if there is no real crisis at hand.
In no other country of the world would a Brigadier Imtiaz Billa, a spook who put [...]

Mein chala dushman jala – Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain

Ek civilian ki fironiyat – Ataulhaq Qasmi