By Iqbal Jafar Indian President Pratibha Patil (2R) poses with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina (R) after presenting her with the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2009, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi (L) and Indian PM Manmohan Singh (2L) at The Presidential Palace in New Delhi on January 12, 2010. – Photo by AFP. World Israel’s Barak seeks to mend fences with Turkey Israel’s Barak seeks to mend fences with Turkey To have an idea about what the future may look like — as seen from Washington, Delhi and Tel Aviv — it seems we have to see … Continue reading What the future may hold – Are Mullahs are being used to destroy Pakistan?

Dr Mohammad Taqi Painting the current war as just the Pashtuns’ war might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It compartmentalises and isolates the Pashtuns even from their direct neighbours in Peshawar, Kohat and DI Khan. It is our war — of the Pashtuns, Hindko and Farsi speakers of Peshawar, Hazara-wals, Chitralis, the Shiite of Kurram and Barelvis of Swat. It is as much a Punjabi, Baloch or a Sindhi war One freezing night in January 1948, a woman landed in New York on a campaign to raise funds for the state of Israel and its armed forces. She had no winter … Continue reading Rallying the Pakistani diaspora against the destructive Mullahs

By Huma Yusuf Extremists shout anti-Norwegian slogans during a protest in Lahore on January 15, 2010, against the publication of drawings depicting the Prophet Mohammad. – Photo by AFP. World What the future may hold What the future may hold As Shakespeare aptly told us, roses, no matter what you call them, will smell as sweet. The same, metaphorically speaking, can be said of religious parties: drop Islam from their party names, but the ideological leanings and support for militant fringes will remain. This could soon become apparent in Bangladesh, where the supreme court recently upheld a 2005 high court … Continue reading Mullahism in Pakistan, is it coming to an end?

By Nadeem F. Paracha Inzimam’s exit and the delayed actions taken by the board to root out the Jamaat’s weight from the team did clear the air a bit, but the culture of fatalistic unfolding in times of non-religious on-field pressures that the Jamaat’s influence seems to have injected, remains. Much has been lamented about the Pakistan cricket team’s pathetic surrender against Australia in the second Test at Sydney. Much more will be said about the lack of experience, talent and a prominent backbone in the Pakistan team. Very little however is being said about the psychology that triggers long … Continue reading Did Mullahs destroy Pakistani cricket?

Posted by Sholto Byrnes A man walks past the Pakistani flag. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images A distinguished panel, including the chief of the general staff, General Sir David Richards, the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, Professor Anatole Lieven, US political analyst Jonathan Paris, Chatham House’s Farzana Shaikh, the NS South Asia correspondent William Dalrymple and India’s former Foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, discussed this question at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea last night. Despite media reports such as the one last year that labelled Pakistan “the world’s most dangerous country”, the tone was pragmatically, if cautiously upbeat. Imran Khan made a passionate plea for observers to understand … Continue reading Pakistan: What next?