The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, writer and researcher.Rejection of the bill against forced conversions (the Bill) by a parliamentary committee on October 13 has added to the deep sense of insecurity among Pakistan’s non-Muslim communities, especially the Christians and Hindus. The Parliamentary Committee against Forced Conversions was formed in November 2019 under the chairmanship of Senator Anwarul Haq Kakar. Its members were drawn from the Senate and the National Assembly. They…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
(Shakoori is a corporate lawyer based in the USA while Haq is adjunct faculty at the Lahore University of Management Sciences)Speaking at the Fourth G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting on October 13, president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) touched on three issues. He apprised the participants of the FATF roadmap on cross-border payments in various ways concerning anti-money laundering (AML) aspects, shared FATF’s work on virtual currency assets, including implementation…
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Islamabad.HE is seen occasionally and speaks rarely. While others in the family hog the limelight and push their narratives as an extension of their politics, he prefers to work the backrooms and grapple with the nuts and bolts of the party machinery. He may carry a lower profile than many others around him but with fresh movements on the political chessboard, it may be time for Hamza Shehbaz…
The writer is an independent freelance journalist based in Islamabad covering South Asia/ Central Asia.As the US and its Asia-Pacific allies in Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) are engaging China in East and South China seas, they are also maneuvering to turn Taiwan into an ‘Achilles heel’ for Beijing. Staking their hypothesis on Washington’s embarrassing retreat from Afghanistan, Western analysts predicted a showdown between the US and China in Taiwan. They argued that authorities in Beijing…
The writer is a freelance journalist.The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has announced another round of protests against the incumbent government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). It hopes that this time it would be successful in dislodging the Imran Khan government that seems to be extremely unpopular among a vast majority of Pakistanis because of rising inflation and poverty, shrinking economy, and its incompetence in different areas. The opposition parties are brimming with optimism, probably thinking…
The writer is the author of Pakistan: The Economy of an Elitist State.MARKETS can allocate resources efficiently when there is competition among sellers and buyers. In order to have competitive markets certain conditions have to be met. Among others, there have to be multiple buyers and sellers who have the relevant information to make rational decisions and firms should have the freedom to enter and exit the market without any restrictions. In Pakistan, markets have…
The writer is a business and economy journalist.RARELY have I seen a ruler so oblivious to the tsunami heading his way. While the prime minister is busy preaching family values to the country on a daily basis, the spiral of inflation that is heading in our direction once the combined impact of the petrol and power price hikes work their way through the system will set off a chain of consequences that even the most…
There are no options, said the PTI official. There are always options. When there are none, they are found; and when they are not found, they are created. In recent days Islamabad has been burning up with the ‘options’ fever as the unnerved government coughs up political blood. In every gathering, at every meeting and in every private dinner there is one talk, and one talk alone: what are the options? Dawn has delved deep…
The writer is a retired major general and has an interest in International Relations and Political Sociology.My last piece related to the topic was “Unconstructive criticism and military morale” published in this space on September 10, 2020. In this age of madar-pidar azadi, free-wheeling environment, ushered in by an uncontrolled and unregulated social media, general public has become cynical and addicted to seeing this or that domino fall. We tend to believe what is juicy,…
The writer is a columnist for Middle-East and Af-Pak regionAttacks carried out by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) aka Pakistani Taliban have increased to the highest level in over four years after the US left Afghanistan and the Afghan Taliban took power. The TTP has been emboldened by the developments in next-door Afghanistan. This has complicated the internal security scenario for Pakistan as the country is also fighting the Baloch insurgency. The TTP was believed to be…
PTI’s crisis of governance: op-ed by Saad Rasool in The Nation, Oct 24, 2021
There is an undeniable crisis of governance in Pakistan. And PTI’s leadership should not shy away from accepting their responsibility in creating, and then perpetuating, this crisis. Who is really responsible for this crisis? Can it all just be blamed on previous governments (as the PTI wants us to believe)? Or is it entirely the result of PTI’s failed governmental policies (as the opposition would argue)? Or is it more a function of the ‘system’…