The Global Impunity Index published by the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Pakistan at 9th position on the list of countries where journalists are killed most often. The report by the CPJ notes that 15 journalists have been murdered during the last decade from September 1, 2010 to August 31, 2020 in the country. The report notes quite correctly that weak institutions or lack of political will and inabilities or deficiencies in…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
The army chief was right when he said that whether it was the APS attack or the Peshawar madrassa bombing, the enemy was the same. The tragedy in Peshawar also proved that the enemy is still active and plotting against our interests. Also that there is no line that it wouldn’t cross in trying to inflict harm upon Pakistan. That is not to say that the country, especially the military, hasn’t made substantial progress in…
Terrorism is once again rearing its ugly head. After the bomb blast in Quetta on October 25, 2020, a second terrorist bomb attack has occurred in a mosque in Peshawar where students from a nearby madrassa were attending a class by Sheikh Rahimuddin Haqqani, an Afghan cleric originally from Jalalabad. Interestingly, the security agencies had warned recently of a resurgence of such attacks. However, that was a general warning, not a specific one regarding particular…
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.SOMEONE like Senator Sirajul Haq may be happy at not being a part of the ‘political biryani’ that the PDM is, according to him, but that doesn’t take away from the impression that, three jalsas into the course, the old masala is kicking in. The one major, maybe the biggest, objective of the alliance was to help at least some things return to their original state for a…
by FM Shakil in Asia Times, October 30, 2020The writer is a Peshawar based freelance journalistA grand coalition of Pakistan’s opposition parties is winning public support for its campaign to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government and curb the powerful military’s strong influence over politics and the economy. Mass Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rallies in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan in October demonstrated significant popular support for the opposition’s pro-democracy rally cry, a potent call in…
The writer is an Islamabad-based columnist.The spectacle of top leadership of the PPP and the PML-N sharing the stage at public meetings in Gujranwala and Karachi has generated mixed reactions. The supporters of the ruling PTI dismiss it as a collusion of the ‘corrupt’ to escape accountability – pure and simple. In the eye of the people on the other side of the political divide, it’s an unmistakable sign of the coming of age of…
The writer is the former governor of Sindh and senior advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan.Every student of Oxford University, with the exception of our Prime Minister Imran Khan, is aware that control of inflation by a Tiger Force is as bizarre, indeed ridiculous, as Don Quixote tilting at the windmills accompanied by his Sancho Panza – that is: SAPM Dar. Control of inflation is a subject of economic policy, and not by such childish innovations…
The writer works as a development practitioner for a local consultancy.This month marked 21 years since General Musharraf toppled the heavily-mandated Muslim League government led by an increasingly assertive and aspiring Ameer ul Momineen in Nawaz Sharif. In a script that we have become all too familiar with, Musharraf promised to rid the political system of ‘corrupt’ politicians and introduce ‘real’ democracy in the country. While the saviour complex was evident in the delight of…
The terrorist attack inside a Peshawar madrassa shows that much needs to be done to improve the country’s security. The use of TNT with a sophisticated timing device has led some to conclude that the attack does not bear the typical signature of the TTP and its offshoots, and has been conducted by an erstwhile unknown group. While at least eight students have been killed, as many as 120 were injured, more deaths cannot be…
THE IED blast in Peshawar on Tuesday morning brings to an end a relatively long period without high casualty terrorist attacks in the country. And Pakistanis have once again been reminded that their children are not safe in their places of learning. At least eight young people died and more than 110 were injured when the device exploded at the Spin Jamaat or White Mosque while students from the nearby Zubbairyah madressah were attending a…
A window of opportunity: edit in Pakistan Today, Oct 30, 2020
It was understandable why Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech before the Insaf Doctor’s Forum reflected frustration. His expectations that the opposition’s rallies would fail miserably had been belied after the PDM’s impressive shows of force in Gujranwala, Karachi and Quetta. Even those the opposition calls “selectors” understand now that Mr Khan had miscalculated. Instead of drawing the right political conclusions, Mr Khan continues calling the opposition a gang of thieves who would soon be packed…