by Durdana Najam in The Express Tribune, Dec 3rd, 2020.The writer is a public policy analyst based in LahoreWith the falling of the twin towers, followed by a war in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda and consequently its host, the Taliban, Pakistan was forced to reverse its Afghan policy by distancing itself from the Taliban. Apparently Pakistan did step back but it never stopped from making a case for the Taliban as the original and important…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
The writer is a political analyst.In the movie, A Few Good Men, there is a scene where Tom Cruise asks Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson), for access to some files Cruise would need to investigate a murder that Jessup had orchestrated. In order to create hurdles in the investigative process, Jessup agrees to give the files but demands, “you have to ask me nicely.” Jessup wins it that day but loses in the end. I was…
The writer is a retired major general and has an interest in International RelationsThe longest conflict in the United States’ military history, in Afghanistan, is in its 20th year with no end in sight. Joe Biden’s administration promises an institutional approach towards this decades-old US military involvement. As cited previously, the president-elect has supported and opposed US foreign military interventions. While supporting overseas employment of forces, he favours a lighter footprint and narrow objectives disliking…
The writer is a co-founder of Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital rightsMUCH like how in the past governments have changed overnight, so did the Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules, 2020 — for the third time. On Dec 1, 2020, Minister for Information Technology and Telecom Syed Aminul Haque remarked on a television programme that the Rules published in the Extraordinary Gazette on Oct 20, 2020, were…
by Dr Rakhshinda Perveen in Daily Times, Dec 3, 2020In an age of glorification of oversimplification, instant success and speed one may wonder how to state what happened on the 16 December 1971 in the Ramna racecourse ground of Dhaka. The dismemberment of Pakistan’s Eastern wing has been summed up by the victorious side as the liberation and by the armed enabler as a humanitarian action. A vast majority of people, including well educated people…
by I.A. Rehman in Dawn, December 3rd, 2020THE government seems to have decided to take a great leap backward with its proposed punishment for persons found guilty of rape, for which the penalty even at present is death. It has decided to add to the Pakistan Penal Code section 376 B which says: “Exceptional first offenders or repeat offenders — Whoever is convicted of an offence under sections 375, 375 A and (or?) 376 may…
Adequate tax collection is one of the key issues faced by Pakistan over the years. It is also a primary requirement of our dealings with the IMF. For November 2020, Pakistan has done well by collecting Rs347 billion in taxes as compared to the target of Rs348 billion. Coming so close to the target is a positive sign. There has in fact been an improvement in tax collection over the past five months, with more…
Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 3rd, 2020Irrespective of whatever their complexity, issues can only be resolved through talks between the protagonists. The ongoing confrontation in the country is the direct outcome of the Prime Minister’s consistent refusal to hold talks with the opposition. Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif, who has been a strong advocate of talks, had returned to Pakistan for the purpose, but was sent to NAB custody soon after. Reacting to his…
Familiar with pampered and soft interviews, former finance minister of the PML-N Ishaq Dar found it difficult to come up with calculated answers in the BBC’s HardTalk show. Arguably, it was a botched attempt to put up his case in front of the international audiences. He had to go to the program because the lack of options at home television for the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority has banned his appearance in talk shows for…
By Fahd Husain in Dawn, Dec 3rd, 2020It is hard to decipher which is worse: what he said, how he said it, or when he said it. What is relatively less hard to decipher is this: the combined might of PTI’s sundry mouthpieces could not have damaged PML-N more today than the havoc wreaked by former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s interview in BBC’s show Hardtalk. If the PML-N peers hard into the smouldering wreckage of…
GB’s New Government: edit in The Nation,Dec 3, 2020
Barrister Khalid Khurshid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took oath as the third Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan (GB) on Wednesday. Now that GB’s political situation has become clear, the new CM and his cabinet must divert all their energies for the locals’ socio-economic uplift. It is encouraging seeing that the new CM wants to seek help from the opposition in ending the sense of deprivation among the area’s people. Perhaps, the best way to end…