The PDM movement is gradually turning into a fight for civilian supremacy. Dressing up the truth while referring to the military establishment, by calling it ‘offstage players’, ‘the powers that be’ or ‘khalai makhluq’, was replaced during PDM’s Sunday rally by calling a spade a spade. PML-N VP Maryam Nawaz said Imran Khan’s 2011 rally at Minar-e-Pakistan was organized by the then ISI chief Gen Pasha and that Parliament was being run currently by an…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
Militancy may be making resurgence. Though the grenade attack on Sunday in Rawalpindi has not been claimed by any group, its being the second in a week gives rise to fears that it might have been carried out by terrorists. After all, they have been making resurgence in Waziristan, which was formerly their stamping-ground. There is a suggestion that as both attacks were carried out against street vendors, there might be an attempt to extort…
Over 25 innocent civilians were injured on Sunday when two motorcyclists chucked a hand grenade towards Ganj Mandi in Rawalpindi—one of the busiest marketplaces in the region. This was the second time that the city had been the target of terrorist activity within the last week, and the fifth time this year. Given the alarming frequency with which such incidents have been occurring, it is vital that the government cracks down on the perpetrators as…
Yasser Latif Hamdani in Daily Times, Dec 15th, 2020Last week I attended a “National Seminar” on Human Rights to commemorate the Human Rights Day. Members of the National Assembly and Punjab Provincial Assembly attended this seminar and spoke for 15 to 20 minutes congratulating themselves on the enormous success Pakistan has brought about in human rights. First and foremost, their speeches were replete with religious references, which is to be expected in a theocratic state.…
A district court in Karachi has ordered prosecuting the “husband” of a minor for rape, besides charging others for facilitating the “illegal marriage”. For many, this would feel like a victory but the fact is that it does not. One, however, does hope that this will prove crucial in putting the brakes on a contentious trend where a rising number of very young girls from the minority communities are marrying men twice their age and…
by Hafeez Khan in Daily Times, Dec 14, 2020Battle lines are drawn between PDM opposition and PTI Government. Maulana Fazal is roaring in his characteristic style. Maryam Nawaz has declared that PDM struggle is at a decisive stage. She had threatened “Ya Aar Ya Paar” that translates “It’s now or never!” in PDM’s December 8 th meeting. Great for the hype, but in reality it turned out to be a fizzle. The best they could…
by M A Niazi in Pakistan Today, Dec 14, 2020The writer is a member of staff.Asif Nazar Butt aka DJ Butt has been arrested and bailed. The DJ, who became famous for providing his sound system at Prime Minister Imran Khan rallies, found that the police had got him for illegal possession of arms. I wonder if there is some higher significance to all this, because the DJ was supplying his sound system for some…
by Amir Wasim in Dawn, 14 Dec 2020ISLAMABAD: Over 65 per cent of the senators who are set to retire on March 11, 2021 after completing their six-year constitutional term belong to the opposition parties. Giving the party position in the national and provincial assemblies that form the electoral college of the Senate, the opposition parties, which have been threatening to submit en masse resignations from the assemblies as part of their ongoing anti-government campaign,…
Pakistan was hardly a welcoming space for any woman who wishes to enter the political — and hence public — sphere. Women politicians — whether the late Benazir Bhutto or a less-known, less privileged political party worker or someone as new as Maryam Nawaz Sharif — have had to bear some of the most filthy attacks on their person over the years. And now we have a new element: filth and abuse over social media.…
A prime example of why border fencing is integral for the security of the nation is the attack on train tracks along the Pakistan-Iran border. Decimating the tracks entirely, the train that carried goods and linked Quetta to Zahedan has been rendered absolutely useless for now. While fortunately no one was injured in the powerful explosion, the incident should serve as a lesson on border and trade security and how it can be improved. This…
Escalating tension : Editorial in Dawn, December 15th, 2020
THE Pakistan Democratic Alliance says it will be stepping up its campaign against the PTI government in the coming days and has announced it will start its long march to Islamabad at the end of January. PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman made this announcement on Monday a day after the alliance held its final jalsa in Lahore. The much-hyped rally attracted a sizeable crowd at the Minar-i-Pakistan though it was not a ‘game changer’ as…