Tuesday was a busy day for the rumour mills as they churned one story after the other, as the PPP’s Central Executive Committee met on Tuesday to discuss future plans. Unfortunately for people waiting for sensationalism – as per the rumours and TV breaking news – the sedate presser by the PPP may have been a bit of a disappointment. The PPP has announced that its members will follow the PDM’s policy of handing in…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
There is a need no doubt on the part of the PTI government to dissuade the PDM from further public rallies and marches at a time when the second wave of coronavirus is taking a heavy toll of lives. But for this the government should have addressed the oppositions’ concerns regarding the PTI government introducing a one -party rule after the Senate elections and the ongoing one-sided persecution of the opposition leaders by NAB. What…
THE legal and political wrangling over the mode of voting in the upcoming Senate elections raises some uncomfortable questions. Prime Minister Imran Khan had been talking about replacing the secret ballot in the elections of the upper house with a show of hands. He was rationalising this change by arguing that the menace of corruption in secret balloting could be uprooted by a transparent mode of voting. Last week, the federal cabinet decided to seek…
The report of a one-member judicial commission being formed to investigate a case of police brutality in Peshawar this June finds officers responsible for dishonouring the dignity and manhandling of Radiullah. Acting following the report’s findings, Peshawar Police has suspended the cops involved in the incident. However, dismissing one or two officers from the job is not enough to make police officials learn about the concepts of individuals’ fundamental rights and dignity. Torture in police…
We are all accustomed to periodic episodes of violence and killing in Balochistan. The province has seen a low-lying insurgency that has continued year after year, decade after decade. The sentiment in Balochistan, also reflected by ordinary people, is that the province’s large reserves of coal and gas are being exploited by the centre and by other provinces, while too small a share of these resources goes to Balochistan itself. Despite its rich reserves of…
The writer has served as federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs.It’s been a long two and a half years of this hybrid rule, halfway to a normal parliamentary tenure. It is time to ask: what has the PTI delivered in this time? Remember the hype created before Imran Khan was installed as prime minister? That every politician except him was corrupt but he was purer than driven snow. And his purity extended to…
At least seven Frontier Corps soldiers were martyred after terrorists attacked a checkpost in Harnai, Balochistan, earlier this week. The Inter-Services Public Relations statement on the incident also made it clear that some of the terrorists were able to flee after the attack. Although the military did not point fingers at an external hand, Prime Minister Imran Khan explicitly named India, referring to the courage of our “soldiers who face attacks from Indian backed terrorists”.…
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has confirmed that a high-level Saudi delegation is to visit Pakistan soon to “further strengthen” relations between the two countries. Coming from Mr Qureshi, the statement is quite bold and optimistic considering his recent unnecessary and undiplomatic rant censuring Saudi Arabia over its reluctance to call an OIC conference on the Kashmir issue. Nevertheless, despite the spat, norms of effective foreign policy dictate that room for finding common ground through…
One thing some countries in the region, and some far away, really liked about the pandemic was that it suddenly created chances of derailing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in their opinion. Once credit markets dried they thought it was only natural for such large funding to cease as well, at least for a while, and not just because China was believed to be the epicenter of the virus; something that new evidence now…
by Amir Wasim in Dawn, December 30th, 2020ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday arrested parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Khawaja Muhammad Asif from outside the Islamabad residence of another senior PML-N leader where he had come to attend a party meeting. The dramatic arrest of the firebrand opposition leader prompted a strong reaction from the party. PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, who was also present in the…
Divide And Rule: edit in THE NATION, DEC 30, 2020
The PTI government seems to be going for a more realpolitik approach of trying to break the opposition from the inside rather than fighting it as a collective. The Federal Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz has stated that the government is ready for dialogue only with the serious-minded leadership of the opposition, but PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz should not be part of the process. Where is the…