The government of Pakistan’s announcement to give Afghan refugees new Proof of Registration (PoR) cards is a laudable step. Under this joint programme of the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), those Afghans whose PoR cards expired on December 31, 2015, will get new identity cards. The initiative is a great step and shows Pakistan’s seriousness to address the issues of refugees. It also shows our commitment to protect…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered registration of a case against superintendent police (SP) Discipline and two sub-inspectors for not conducting investigations of a case despite magistrate orders. LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan passed the orders while hearing bail petition filed by accused Qasim alias Goga. A counsel on behalf of the accused argued before the court that police registered a baseless case against his client for possessing 140 gm charas. He…
While watching televised brawls in parliament has always been a guilty pleasure for Pakistanis, PTI MPAs in Sindh gave us a naya twist this week, fighting with their own party members. Problems began a few days back when three PTI MPAs said they would not back the party’s candidates in the Senate elections because they were not taken on board when tickets were being awarded. This has been seen as a win for the PPP,…
A GROUP of university students in Karachi and Hyderabad caught the media’s attention when they announced a 100-hour-long hunger strike outside the press clubs of both cities. The students are affiliated with a small group that calls itself the Sindh Students Council, comprising mostly university students. According to them, their hunger strike will end today ie March 4, a date they remember as relevant to the Sindh students’ struggle against the dictatorship of Ayub Khan.…
The Nation – A Heated Affair With a heated political atmosphere, the Senate elections on Wednesday took place amid the now customary back and forth between the government and opposition benches in all assemblies. However, leaked videos, a scuffle and allegations of kidnapping in the Sindh Assembly led to both sides crying foul once the polling was completed. The victory of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani from Islamabad will likely become a key sticking…
BY the time these lines see the light of the day the great hullabaloo over the Senate elections would have come to an end and the PTI regime might be a small step short of realising its ambition to establish absolute rule in the country. The run-up to yesterday’s Senate elections showed that nothing has changed in the country’s politics except for an increase in reliance on violence. The more patriotic PTI legislators did not…
The Senate election in Pakistan was held yesterday with secret balloting. As per the Supreme Court ruling, it is not going to be entirely confidential as the Election Commission of Pakistan can trace the vote in case of an inquiry or dispute. However, keeping secrecy of the vote is the only way to extend democracy in political parties and empower the vote-giving legislator to exercise his independent decision to vote. Internal democracy in almost all…
Hamza Shahbaz is finally out of jail and a free man after spending more than 20 months in jail. His release showcases the continuation of the accountability farce in full display since the present government came into power. While several leaders of the PML-N have been arrested and incarcerated, the Sharif family has faced the brunt of the present witch-hunt. Even before Election 2018, Mian Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were arrested on trumped-up charges…
IT will be a secret ballot at the Senate elections. The Supreme Court decision is unambiguous. Yet it has not ended the controversy. It’s hard for the PTI government to swallow more embarrassment after the NA-75 by-election fiasco. The rejection of yet another presidential reference by the apex court has dealt a serious political blow to Prime Minister Imran Khan. It’s not a good omen for the government in the run-up to a critical battle…
by Dr Kamal Monnoo in The Nation, Mar 3, 2021Lots of people on the left and right have reasons to be a little happy or downright miserable about the US presidential election. But there is one group unreservedly happy—even ecstatic—about the results: Those who lean libertarian. They got almost everything they wanted. On the one hand, Joe Biden has a friendlier record on trade and immigration, and on the other, they avoided the burst of…
President Joe Taliban Biden -op-ed
President Biden has made an armed attack in Syria claiming to have targeted alleged Iranian-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah, and other affiliated groups. Fact: resorting to an armed attack on a sovereign nation is allowed only when that country makes an armed attack against the defending country. Fact: Syria did not make an armed attack against the United States nor was there an imminent Syrian attack directed against US territory. Fact: the American attack violated international…