report in Dawn, December 23rd, 2020GWADAR: National Party president and former chief minister of Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has said that the fencing of Gwadar will not be accepted at any cost and advised the provincial government to abandon the fencing project as it is bound to face strong political resistance. Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, he said that the fencing project was aimed at dividing the port city and ultimately…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
Pak-China Joint Training Exercise Shaheen-IX is currently underway at an operational base of Pakistan Air Force. This is the ninth joint exercise being conducted by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China. The importance of the exercise is very superficial because the Top Brass of Country’s Defense Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen. Nadeem Raza witnessed this exercise in…
The ECP has finally put its foot down, letting the government know that the Commission alone is authorised to issue the schedule for the Senate elections. The Commission made it clear that the elections cannot be held before February 10. As things stand the Senate electoral body is still incomplete on account of seven National Assembly and provincial assembly seats being still vacant. In the light of the schedule announced by the ECP, the last…
edit in Daily Times, December 23, 2020The prime minister has said once again that he would continue to highlight “graft” by opposition leaders no matter what kind of pressure they try to exert on him to get what he repeatedly calls an NRO. After a meeting with his spokespersons, during which he was briefed about all the amendments that the opposition had proposed to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), he appeared more determined than ever…
The writer is a freelance journalist.Imran Khan’s rhetorical speeches before coming into power made people believe that he was a messiah for the hapless of this country. The gullible thought that the Kaptaan would rid them of poverty and illiteracy, and put an end to cronyism and profit mongering. They thought the champion of change would make Pakistan prosperous and ensure nobody dies hungry. But unfortunately this all seems to be a mirage now. The…
by Col (R) Muhammad Hanif in Daily Times, December 23, 2020[The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), and Ex Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute (SVI), Islamabad].A country is called politically stable if its government is functioning as per the expectations of its people, their essential needs are being met, their critical issues are being resolved and their basic rights are being protected. Political stability also means conducive…
Around 1.5 million Pakistanis who live and work in the UAE could be badly affected by the refusal by the UAE to extend visas to Pakistanis, at least for a temporary period. The list of countries which will not be granted visas also include nations such as Iran and Turkey, amongst others. As should happen, Pakistan has taken up the issue at the diplomatic level, given that ties between Islamabad and the UAE have traditionally…
THE circumstances surrounding the arrest of Ali Wazir, PTM leader and South Waziristan MNA, are curious to say the least. He was taken into custody in Peshawar last week on charges of hate speech, criminal conspiracy, etc while addressing a rally in Karachi on Dec 6. Several other PTM leaders, including Mohsin Dawar, were also charged with the same offences but not detained. Mr Wazir was arrested on the request of the Sindh police, a…
by Sajjad Shaukat in Pakistan Today, Dec 23, 2020There are no permanent friends and enemies in international politics. Friendship and enmity change in accordance with the states’ interests which are of primary importance. During the Cold War, Pakistan was allied with the USA and the former USSR backed India. Following the end of the Cold War, the USA left both Pakistan and Afghanistan to face the fallout of the Afghan war 1. After the 9/11…
by Dr Farooq Hasnat & Dr Zamurrad Awan in The Nation, Dec 23, 2020The writers are Pakistani based academicsIn the second week of November, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif visited Pakistan on a two-day visit. His delegation included political, strategic, and economic experts. During this brief but busy stay, he had detailed meetings with the Pakistani civil as well as military leadership and discussed issues relating to the security and peace in the region, including…
Disappearances: a festering sore
by I.A. Rehman in Dawn, Dec 24th, 2020THE latest (for November 2020) monthly press release of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances offers us sufficient information to show that enforced disappearances should continue to attract the attention of the government and civil society as one of the topmost matters of concern to them. The document tells us that complaints of enforced disappearances continue to be received by the commission as 23 such complaints were…