Ameer Bhutto The writer is vice-chairman of Sindh National Front and a former MPA from Ratodero. He has degrees from the University of Buckingham and Cambridge University. This government is being sustained in power by three main factors. Firstly, unbridled corruption which the parliamentarians of the ruling party and their coalition partners have been licensed to enjoy, in return for which they are expected to unquestioningly support the present setup. The government understands that the electorate have no say in their political fortunes till the next general elections and it only need to keep the assembly members happy to survive … Continue reading But is there a Sindh card?

The wildlife Chris Cork “Give me one good reason for staying in Pakistan,” said one of my friends in Canada last week; and my response was immediate and spontaneous… ‘the wildlife’. It was one of those answers that pops out unbidden and took me a little by surprise, but true nonetheless. Living on the outskirts of the city in an area, which is still semi-agricultural, means that I come into daily contact with a variety of wild creatures of all shapes and sizes, some of them more intimately than others. Sitting on the step in the weak sunshine and having … Continue reading Give me one good reason for staying in Pakistan

Jamaluddin Naqvi Reading newspapers at the breakfast table is an eerie experience. You are served with a mix of blasts, shootings and abductions with your morning tea. Starting the day with a bad taste in the mouth is not a good omen for mental health. It leads to brutalisation. While the crises are too many to be enumerated, priority must be given to the demon of extremism, which is haunting both state and the society. Fears are being expressed that Pakistan is hurtling towards the void of a failed state like Chad, with grave consequences for the country and the … Continue reading Brutalisation of civil society

Roedad Khan A Wizard told him in these words our fate: At length Corruption, like a general Flood, (So long by watchful ministers withstood), Shall deluge all. — Alexander Pope In Pakistan nothing has altered the fortunes of so many people so suddenly as political power. Here money and power seek each other. No wonder, the business of politics attracts the scum of the community and a legion of scoundrels. In the name of democracy, unspeakable sins are committed. These practitioners of the art of grand larceny, loot and plunder in broad daylight, with no fear of accountability, reminiscent of … Continue reading Choose the other road

Ayaz Wazir Our media was taking great interest in the operation in South Waziristan before its launch on Oct 17. It was termed the “mother of all operations” by some. But when the facts emerged it dawned on everyone that it was just not that. The media was denied the opportunity of giving full and impartial coverage. Only journalists approved by the authorities could enter the area to cover the operation. The media was thus forced to apply the brakes in covering the territory, which pushed the operation to the public blind spot, where it remains now. Almost all our … Continue reading Waziristan: the option not taken

How selfish so ever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. Of this kind is pity or compassion, the emotion which we feel for the misery of others, when we either see it, or are made to conceive it in a very lively manner. That we often derive sorrow from the sorrow of others, is a matter of fact too obvious to require any instances to prove it; … Continue reading Of sympathy by Adam Smith

Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain We in Pakistan cannot, under any acceptable scenario, either conquer Kashmir or wave the Pakistani flag on the Red Fort in Delhi. If once we accept these facts, then we can perhaps divert some of our limited national resources towards national development Here is a speech I would like to hear from my next Prime Minister. ‘My dear countrymen, I come to you as a candidate for Prime Minister. My political party will contest these elections on a platform of truth. I promise you that under no circumstances will I lie to the people of Pakistan. … Continue reading Words we may never hear in Pakistan!

Shahzad Chaudhry The army has its hands full in fighting terrorism and an insurgency, and cannot afford to take its eye off the ball; running governments is a passion for those in the military who have time to spare The system in question is the democratic system of governance, and the effort is to save it from getting derailed. Quiet clearly, that is the most popular sentiment, and yet democracy seems tentative and under siege. What might upstage re-instituted democracy in Pakistan? It certainly is not nascent; there have been, after all, at least 30 years out of the 62 … Continue reading Saving the system?

With all eyes on what comes in the wake of the London conference on Afghanistan and the accelerating engagement of the Afghan Taliban in talks about talks, our own problems with the Taliban and how we talk to them bear scrutiny. Perhaps the most pressing question is not what there is to talk about, but who to talk to? The Pakistan Taliban are far from being a homogenous or even harmonious entity. There are a number of groups arranged around charismatic individuals or held together by family relationships. The boundaries of these groups are sometimes fluid and always permeable. Conflicts … Continue reading The Mullah babel