Editorial in The Nation, Dec31, 2023The recent arson attack on a government higher secondary school for girls in Kotka Mambati Barakzai is a reprehensible act that not only undermines educational infrastructure but also poses a threat to the future of young students. Suspected militants targeted the school, located in Miryan tehsil, on Thursday night, setting ablaze the science lab and valuable equipment. This deliberate destruction reflects a distressing disregard for the importance of education and…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
Editorial in The Nation, Dec31, 20232023 was not an ideal year for Pakistan when it comes to the security situation. The year saw an uptick in militancy and terrorism. Aside from multiple major attacks, the armed forces remained engaged in volatile regions, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. Just recently, a successful intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan neutralised five terrorists involved in multifaceted violent activities. This, coupled with many other similar operations throughout…
edit in Daily Times, December 20th, 2023Why is it that an estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans living well beyond their welcome in Pakistan only managed to tug at the heartstrings of the Western governments when Islamabad realised it had been pushed against the wall for far too long? Although no sovereign state is bound to explain its domestic policies, especially when standing on the edge of a shaky cliff, to the outside world, Caretaker Prime…
by Sayyeda Aqsa Sajjad in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2023.The writer is a Research Associate at NUST Institute of Policy StudiesWithin the complex framework of international geopolitics, recent developments most notably the outcomes of the Xi-Biden summit highlight the necessity for nations such as Pakistan to reevaluate their economic and foreign policy approaches. The evolving dynamics within the Asia-Pacific region and the prominent competition between major powers, notably the United States and China, necessitate…
by Abdul Rehman in South Voices, Henry L. Stimson Center, Dec 14, 2023As Pakistan begins deporting 1.7 million undocumented Afghan refugees, Pak-Afghan relations stand at a historical low. Almost four decades ago, when Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan, four million Afghan refugees migrated to Pakistan to seek shelter. Following recent growing tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan gave all undocumented Afghan migrants – many of which have been born and raised in Pakistan – until November…
Editorial in Dawn, December 16th, 2023THE currency of human bondage, known as human trafficking, is the false promise of a better life through employment and even marriage in wealthy countries. Sadly, victims only realise that they have been trapped in a web of lies when they find themselves confronting forced labour, debt and sex work on foreign soil, which they have reached after treacherous journeys. Equally troubling is the fact that the sinister trade now…
Edit in The Nation, Dec 16, 2023The establishment of a hotline to report human traffickers across the country is a very important development, in crime control as well as citizens’ welfare. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) worked in collaboration with the Australian High Commission and International Labour Organisation (ILO) to set up the hotline and devise the necessary coordination mechanism. The hotline will receive complaints and direct them to relevant police stations. This was a very…
by Farrukh Khan Pitafi in The Express Tribune, Dec 16th, 2023.The writer is an Islamabad-based TV journalist.……December 16 will remain a day of infamy in the annals of Pakistani history for two reasons. First, the loss of its eastern wing. Second, the murder of our children by terrorists. Our collective imagination has found interesting ways to deal with this double whammy. For the fall of East Pakistan, we have found ways to reinvent history. Day…
by Omay Aimen in Daily Times, Dec 16, 2023The writer frequently contributes to issues concerning national and regional security;An unsettling recollection of the horrific terrorist attack that took place at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, lingers in the hearts of the people of Pakistan. The responsibility for this appalling incident lies with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claiming the lives of 134 students, teachers, and the school principal. As the…
Editorial in The News, December 16, 2023December 16 is a date that Pakistan is not likely to forget, for today marks the ninth anniversary of arguably the darkest chapter in our history. On this day in 2014, heavily armed TTP terrorists stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar and martyred at least 144 people, mostly children. The horrific attack shook the nation to its core, the lives lost that day forever etched into its collective…
Crime and business
edit in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2023.The escalating crime rates in Karachi have cast a long and ominous shadow over the city’s bustling business community, triggering a cascade of concerns that reverberate far beyond immediate safety issues. The recent surge in criminal activities has emerged as a formidable challenge, prompting business leaders to confront the unsettling reality that their operations are increasingly at the mercy of criminal elements. The targeted killings of traders in…