Posts published in “Pak Media comment”

Karachi stands on the very brink of a precipice – a steep and particularly dangerous precipice. The time has come when we wait to see whether it will be able to stay on. We certainly hope it can be saved from a plunge into a new orgy of violence. With the two sides battling it out in Karachi now clearly defined, there is a real risk of this. This battle needs to be averted. Its…

The writer is a freelance columnist The present situation in Karachi is the culmination of many, many years of misgovernance under persons elected to govern but who turned to criminal activities. Among their main pursuits were extortion, kidnapping and even murder, all backed with political muscle. So, when the Saulat Mirza televised confession appeared one was shocked, but the facts were already well known on the street. The details were not. Saulat Mirza has provided…

Shooting down the views of his own party members and other political leaders, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has opted to move ahead with the setting up of a judicial commission to probe allegations of rigging in the 2013 general election. These allegations have lingered now for a period approaching two years. An agreement between the PML-N and the PTI to set up a commission was reached on March 20. The prime minister has now announced…

In his write-up in a national English daily titled \”Zardari is having difficulty reading new GHQ\”, a renowned analyst pointed out that Asif Ali Zardari wanted to have some bargaining, but failed. He wrote: \”Some other ex-generals had baggage, but General Raheel is a free agent (free agent is a person who does not have any constraints that restrict his actions). Some other ex-generals were on extension; General Raheel Sharif has to honor the two…

The author is a freelance columnist The country has been facing an unabated wave of terrorism for over a decade. The military operations in Waziristan were considered indispensable in delivering a significant blow to the hardened criminals, who have taken refuge in those tribal areas considered to be safe havens. Ever since the military operations began, these groups have dispersed and changed their strategy to start targeting densely populated areas and places of worship, inflicting…

The writer is a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan During the last four decades, every government that came to power pretended that it was there to serve the people of Pakistan. Every finance minister boasted of introducing a people friendly budget in the National Assembly each year and every chief executive claimed to have managed the economy better than the others for the welfare of the people. But in reality they all…

The writer is author of the book Development, Poverty and Power in Pakistan The need for a reasonable level of social mobility, where individuals have the chance to change their social status over time, is vital to motivate people to work hard in any society. The problem of declining social mobility is a problem which many developed countries also struggle with. In developing countries like our own, however, the lack of social mobility is much…

The writer is a veteran journalist and founding member as well as executive editor of The Nation. The raid on Nine Zero Azizabad marked a lot of things, but one of the issues it threw into relief was that of the importance provincial identity had assumed under the constitutional dispensation provided by the 1973 Constitution, while the Yuhannabad church attack reinforced the message of the pitfalls of being in a minority.At the time of the…

Condemned prisoner Saulat Mirza has hours before his excution been reprieved, at least temporarily, on the basis of a video released showing him confessing to various crimes and naming MQM chief Altaf Hussain and other leaders of the party as the ones who gave him instructions to carry out target killings. Mirza said he was a MQM worker and received direct orders from party leader Babar Ghauri to assassinate KESC managing director Shahid Hamid, his…

During his visit to the newly established National Counter Terrorism Training Centre at Pabbi Hills, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif has reiterated the army’s resolve to continue counter-terrorism operations both in the urban and rural areas of the country. While expressing his commitment to purge Pakistan of all kinds of terrorism, he sought the cooperation of the people in pointing out suspects. It is obvious that the war against terror cannot be…