IS the direction shifting, or does the main target remain a security establishment that is loath to distance itself from warring politicians? In the most significant press interview of her political career so far, Ms Maryam Nawaz ruled out dialogue with Prime Minister Imran Khan. Although unwilling to go into the specifics of it, she appeared confident that an exit for Prime Minister Khan was just around the corner. Done with this task, she would…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
Two interviews. Loads of speculation and outrage and nitpicking. An election that seems to have taken all big names to the northern areas of the country. That’s Pakistani politics in a nutshell these days. Add to that the fireworks at some of the PDM rallies and the counter-interviews and statements by the government and we can safely say the winter of our political discontent is firmly here. With the recent interview of Maryam Nawaz with…
by Adeela Naureen/Umar Waqar in The Express Tribune, Nov 14, 2020The writers are freelance journalistsWhile the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) picked up momentum last month and the media zoomed onto its broader narrative, one major missing aspect has been the higher national cause vis-à-vis expediencies of dynastic politics. It may be important to look at pitfalls of dynastic politics in the contemporary world, see how parliaments and legislatures are transforming and where Pakistan stands today.…
With Iran’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and the USA becoming increasingly tumultuous in the past few years, its relationship with Pakistan has consequently also taken a hit, or at least, become more uncertain. Yet with the situation in Afghanistan ongoing, both countries seem to realise that a stronger relationship has to be fostered. The current visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to Pakistan for talks on bilateral collaboration and regional issues appear to…
THOUGH historical, cultural, geographic and religious bonds link Pakistan and Iran, geopolitics has prevented the bilateral relationship from reaching its full potential. This has especially been the case in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the tectonic shifts that have shook the region thereafter. While Pakistan has tried to strike a balance, its attempts to improve relations with Iran have been hobbled by more hawkish US administrations, as well as some of this…
by M A Niazi in Pakistan Today, Nov 13th, 2020The writer is a member of staff.…… In Pakistan, Harris’s mother’s Indian background is a cause for concern. She was a Tamil, which meant that she did not carry the almost instinctive anti-Pakistan bias common among the Cow Belt, but her father was a diplomat, which probably meant he carried the anti-Pakistan tilt standard in its entire establishment. Vice-President Harris was close to him as a…
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.THE Americans might still have a few mountains to climb before they can have Joe Biden as their president but the Democrat is ruling over minds in Pakistan. The US president-elect is behind some crucial events in the thinking of Pakistanis who may only be half serious when they share this crucial secret with the public; but it is also in the minds of Pakistanis who seem to…
by Aasim Sajjad Akhtar in Dawn, November 13th, 2020The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.PAKISTANIS just can’t get enough of America. For 10 days we were transfixed on the outcome of the US election. With the tension released following confirmation the Biden campaign had triumphed, we turned our attention to the US embassy’s official Twitter handle. The retweet of a prominent PML-N leader’s post about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ostensible similarities to Donald Trump, including…
The writer is a senior JournalistThe political junta of Pakistan after seventy three years of its independence fails to act like a responsible force for economic, social, religious and political stability of the state. They try to remain in the limelight by playing their regional, linguistic and religious cards without considering its consequences for national harmony. Their political leadership unlike their claimed loyalty to the state prefer to acquire offshore assets. They prefer to stay…
Pakistan is in denial. It is in denial that it has a horrifyingly real problem of sexual violence. It is also in denial that this nightmare is something that cannot be fixed by moralising about ‘honour’ or ‘obscenity’ or ‘foreign cultures’. In the latest such mind-numbing case, a woman and her minor child are alleged to have been gang-raped in the Kashmore district of Sindh. Reports say that the woman was duped by the man…
Women’s charter of demands: by Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir & Nighat Dad in The News, Nov 14, 2020
The writers are lawyersOn the 28the of October this year, the women of Pakistan released a letter and Charter of Demands, which was addressed to the state of Pakistan, and copies of which were shared with the president, prime minister, minister for law, minister for human rights, minister for interior and all members of the National Assembly. As of now, over 1700 women across the country have signed the Charter of Demands, while over 200…