Editorial in Dawn, Dec 16th, 2023THE special court hearing the high-profile cipher case has accepted a plea from the prosecution seeking in camera proceedings. Consequently, former premier Imran Khan and his foreign minister at the time, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will now be tried behind closed doors. Of late, hearings were held in Adiala Jail where family members of the accused were able to attend. Now, while their presence may be allowed, they are forbidden from…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
By Abdul Qadir in The News, December 16, 2023The writer is an independent researcher.The historical relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been marked by a series of conflicts and diplomatic tensions despite the two being dominantly Muslim neighbouring countries with thousands of years of shared history and culture. The seeds of discord were sown as early as September 1947 when Afghanistan stood as the lone dissenting voice against Pakistan in the United Nations. In September…
EDITORIAL in Business Recorder, December 16, 2023Whatever contingency plan Pakistan’s military has prepared for another all-out TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban) offensive, especially with the Afghan government not cooperating, needs to be taken out of the closet and implemented immediately. Enough is enough, after all, and Tuesday’s attack that killed more than 25 security forces in DI Khan, wounding scores more, must be treated as the last straw. That’s why the demarche issued to Kabul is not going…
Edit in Business Recorder, Nov 7, 2023Human rights outfits and aid agencies who are up in arms about the government’s decision to expel all illegal immigrants need to remember two very important points. One, the order is limited to illegal residents only, who have been living in Pakistan in violation of both local and international law. That does not in any way mean that the process of their deportation should be disrespectful, of course, but…
edit in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2023.Afghanistan’s poppy output has come crashing down since the Taliban government banned cultivation of the plant last year. The massive drop has caused a sharp reduction in the production of opium, heroin and morphine, severely hurting the drug lords. But conversely, the ban has made life even more difficult for the poor farmers who used to grow the crop. Most poppy farmers have shifted to wheat, but that…
Dr Moonis Ahmar in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2023.The writer is former Dean Faculty of Social Science, University of KarachiThe myth of strategic defiance in the aftermath of the Israeli retaliation to Hamas’s attacks of October 7 was exposed when no Arab-Muslim state came into the forefront to salvage the beleaguered Palestinian population of Gaza and West Bank. Strategic defiance against the Israeli occupation and attacks was periodically asserted by the so-called allies of…
by Kalbe Ali in Dawn, Nov 5th, 2023ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has struck down a key decision of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to centralise its powers in the hands of its chairperson, directing the media watchdog to establish formal rules in this regard. This verdict relates to an appeal filed by Neo TV, challenging a fine of Rs500,000 imposed by Pemra. In the landmark ruling, a three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by…
Report in Dawn, Feb 3rd, 2023LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday arrested TV anchor Imran Riaz Khan for ‘hate speech’. The BOL News anchor was taken into custody at the Allama Iqbal Airport from where was trying to go to the UAE. The FIA told him that his name was on the blacklist and subsequently he was arrested and handed over to the FIA cybercrime wing which did not produce him before a…
by Kalbe Ali in Dawn, January 25th, 2023ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has chalked out a plan to hold nationwide demonstrations, as well as a sit-in opposite Parliament House in Islamabad, in protest against the federal government’s anti-media measures. Afzal Butt, the PFUJ president, and secretary general Arshad Ansari said in a statement on Tuesday the campaign would begin on Jan 26 (tomorrow) in order to press the government into redeeming its…
by M A Niazi in Pakistan Today, Jan 20, 2023“When the Assembly is dissolved, you get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You are faced with another election.” Thus spoke a Punjab MPA in 1990, when reacting to the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. That member never made it back to the Assembly. That dissolution had come after President Ghulam Ishaq Khan had used his powers under Article 58 (2-b) of the…
Remembering Dec 16
Edit in The Express Tribune, Dec 16th, 2023.December 16 is a day of sorrow and remorse in our national life. Incidentally, the same day, two tragic events took place: Fall of East Pakistan in 1971 and the Army Public School tragedy in 2014. Both these tragedies drive us into deep introspection, and carry valuable lessons to be learnt. The first reminds us as to how we have failed as a nation-state, and the second continues…