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Problems galore in Bangladesh – Kuldip Nayar
IT was a feeling of humiliation that gave impetus to the people of erstwhile East Pakistan to build a country of their own. That was some 38 years ago when Bangladesh was born.
Scant resources and a large population did not affect its determination to convert the country into [...]
Pollution disaster – David Leigh
EVIDENCE of a massve cover-up by the British oil trader Trafigura, in one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history, has been revealed.
Internal emails show that Trafigura, which on Wednesday suddenly announced an offer to pay compensation to [...]
Defence, not deterrence – Cyril Almeida
HAS the PML-N jumped the shark in its purported quest to have Musharraf tried for treason? The plot has definitely taken a turn towards the ridiculous this week.
We, the people, are expected to believe that the PML-N is shocked, shocked that a ‘deal’ was struck with outside powers [...]
Corporate farming – Ayesha Siddiqa
RECENTLY, a controversy has emerged regarding the government’s plan to lease or sell land to foreign clients in order to increase agricultural productivity and earn money. Both the federal and Punjab governments seem keen on the plan.
But what this entails and what the likely cost of such a move will be [...]
China’s climate strategy – Ian Katz
WHAT is China playing at on climate change? That may be the most important question in the world right now, thanks alone to its status as the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gasses. But what Beijing is — or is not — prepared to do will also determine whether the [...]
Can we move on, please? – Irfan Husain
AS I try and follow events in Pakistan from a distance on the Internet and cable TV, I find that of late, all the country’s problems seem to have disappeared, leaving only the issue of Musharraf’s fate to be [...]
Another time, another anthem – Beena Sarwar
MOST people are unaware that prior to Hafeez Jullundhri’s Persianised lyrics being adopted as the national anthem in the 1950s, Pakistan had a national anthem — commissioned and approved by no less a person than Mohammad Ali Jinnah.The lyricist was the Isa Khel [...]
Law & political parties – A.G. Noorani
POLITICAL parties need to be regulated by law because, left to themselves, the party bosses will flout the very principles of democratic governance which they espouse in the functioning of the state. Nearly 30 years ago the then chief election commissioner of India, S.I. Shakhdhar, publicly censured them.“Political parties [...]
Rich, Islamist and post-feminist —Rafia Zakaria
The ability of elite women to define whether or not Pakistan needs feminism is circumscribed by the fact that the battles feminism would have to fight have never been battles for them at all, but rather for those women who remain invisible as much because of their poverty as [...]
Have we stopped the downslide? —Shaukat Qadir
More light is visible behind the looming clouds than was the case during the last decade or so. Perhaps there is scope for hope; we have, at the very least, as a nation, begun to arrest the downslide
Air Marshal Nur Khan, perhaps the only remaining icon on our [...]
To kill with impunity —Abbas Rashid
Clearly, over the last few months, extremists have seen public support for their positions erode as more of their activities have come to light. Inciting people in this fashion would be a way for them to regain this lost space
The most recent victim of those who have frequently [...]
No firewalls! – Anjum Niaz
Before I shout that Islamabad’s establishment has fire-walled information critical to get FOP and SIP and whatever else going for Pakistan, here’s something that should tickle us all. This gem should get you to smile. By now the little-known Congressman from South Carolina Joe Wilson is a world-famous beamer who told [...]
Deals, deceit and denials – Babar Sattar
The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad.
President Zardari admitted in a chat with journalists earlier this week that General Musharraf had been granted a safe exit from Pakistan under a deal underwritten by local, regional and international guarantors. The general reaction of our political elite as well as [...]