Mohammad Jamil There are many instances in the history of mankind when a nation faced the dilemma of choosing a right course of action for the solution of multi-dimensional problems. The question arises, what has brought Pakistan to the present pass? How can we be a sovereign people? Pakistan finds itself in the midst of despair, the people entangled in an unending struggle for survival because of runaway inflation, unemployment, and deteriorating law and order vis-à-vis suicide attacks and terrorism. Pakistan faces internal and external threats to its security in addition to an economic crisis vis-à-vis its trade, current account … Continue reading What went wrong?

On August 15, 1975, the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, was killed by a group of army officers. A total of 28 people were killed that day, including Mujib’s entire family and the domestic staff. He was survived by two daughters who were on a visit abroad at that time; one of them is the current premier of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wajid. After almost 35 years, Bangladesh hanged five men who were convicted for the crime. Six other convicted officers are living in exile abroad. Mujib’s murder wreaked havoc in Bangladesh. The country was not even four years old … Continue reading A tale of two countries

World leaders pledging £87m to woo the Taliban back into Afghanistan’s government fails to heal a wounded country   Massoumeh Torfeh guardian.co.uk, After almost nine years of international military operations, billions of dollars in aid and thousands of Afghan and international lives, what Afghanistan needed was a new vision to deal with the complex set of problems. Instead, world leaders pledged £87m to woo the Taliban back into government. Bravo, President Karzai! Bravo, international leaders! The leaders were gathered in the conference, according to Britain’s foreign secretary, David Milliband, to support President Karzai in his “clear political strategy”. However, the main … Continue reading Why buy the Taliban?

The Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT) has once again harassed and beaten up innocent students at the Punjab University (PU). The IJT activists (read goons) continued with their traditional terror spree when they assaulted five students and injured them critically. The reason cited for this incident was ideological differences between the IJT and the Insaaf Students Federation (ISF). The ISF had launched a membership drive at the PU’s Hailey College of Commerce, which the IJT could not tolerate. This is nothing new. The IJT is notorious for spreading terror in various colleges and universities, especially the PU. In a rather strange decision, … Continue reading IJT’s shenanigans – Time to resist the campus Taliban!

Zafar Hilaly Ours is a sad predicament but we should not lose heart. We have a great cause to fight for. Besides, the moment of greatest humiliation often is the moment when the spirit is the proudest. Steadying the home front must take precedence over tackling foes abroad Two years before his death Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892-1944), a well known US lawyer and businessman, remarked: “There exists in the world today a gigantic reservoir of goodwill towards us, the American people.” Scarcely a decade and a half later, William Lederer wrote his seminal tract on how Asians viewed Americans and … Continue reading The Afghan conundrum

Zeeshan Suhail The facility at Goddard was constructed in 1990 and now houses 8,000 employees. NASA’s annual budget ranges from $ 3.4 — $ 4.0 billion — an amount quite close to Pakistan’s annual defence budget! This stark reality made me ponder how misplaced our priorities are Today has been one of those days when I cannot help but think how fortunate I am to live in a city like Washington, DC. Not only does the city afford a myriad of opportunities to participate in activities that have an impact on the global state of affairs, it affords a chance … Continue reading NASA up, up and away

Nassim Nicholas Taleb Before the discovery of Australia, people in the old world were convinced that all swans were white, an unassailable belief as it seemed completely confirmed by empirical evidence. The sighting of the first black swan might have been an interesting surprise for a few ornithologists (and others extremely concerned with the colouring of birds), but that is not where the significance of the story lies. It illustrates a severe limitation to our learning from observations or experience and the fragility of our knowledge. One single observation can invalidate a general statement derived from millennia of confirmatory sightings … Continue reading Truth in the most unexpected places