The year in retrospect Monday, January 04, 2010 Talat Masood 2009 was one of the most tumultuous, and in many ways defining, years for Pakistan. The country was in a state of war. Incidents of violence reached new heights as several cities across the country became targets of militants’ response to operations in Swat and FATA or became victims of sectarian conflict. Peshawar was the nation’s frontline and suffered the most. While the army was regaining lost territory in Swat and South Waziristan, attacks against security personnel and innocent citizens continued. A wave of angst in the people turned the … Continue reading The year in retrospect – Talat Masood

Frantz Fanon Come, then, comrades; it would be as well to decide at once to change our ways. We must shake off the heavy darkness in which we were plunged, and leave it behind. The new day which is already at hand must find us firm, prudent and resolute. We must leave our dreams and abandon our old beliefs and friendships of the time before life began. Let us waste no time in sterile litanies and nauseating mimicry. Leave this Europe where they are never done talking of Man, yet murder men everywhere they find them, at the corner of … Continue reading Come, then, comrades

Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain The 17th Amendment will eventually go this year but not until the PPP, without whose parliamentary support no new amendment can be passed, has extracted its ‘pound of flesh’ (and blood) from the N-League leadership My first article for this newspaper in the new year is about predictions I made the previous year, how right I was, and then my predictions for the new year. So, first my predictions about the last year (Old predictions and new, Daily Times, January 5, 2009). I was right that Mr Zardari will remain president and Mr Gilani will continue … Continue reading Old predictions and new

Shahzad Chaudhry Going by the response from Indian interlocutors at various forums, there certainly is some level of disconcert amongst the Indians as they exhibit a sense of bewildered amazement on hearing the general General Deepak Kapoor, the Indian army chief, is an interesting fellow. Most Indian chiefs of the army are usually professional soldiers, undoubtedly of a very high quality amongst their peers and given to playing their professional role with equanimity, confidence and quiet as per tradition of the Indian military chiefs. General Deepak Kapoor is different. He is very much a Pakistani general — given the fact … Continue reading General Kapoor’s egotistical musings

By Ahmad Faruqui Monday, 04 Jan, 2010 Jinnah thought poorly of pan-Islamism, calling it an exploded bogey. — Photo by AP Jinnah remains shrouded in mystery, hagiographed in Pakistan and demonised in India. Born just 19 years after the end of the Mughal Empire in 1857, he studied law in Britain. Within a few years of returning to India, he had emerged as one of its most successful barristers. But politics was to be his true calling. With his entirely secular upbringing and thoroughly British outlook on life, it was no surprise that he soon became, in Gopal Krishna Gokhale’s … Continue reading Rediscovering Jinnah and Dumping the Mullah

Monday, 04 Jan, 2010 This picture taken on December 4, 2009, shows Pakistani acid attack survivor Naziran Bibi (L) learning to walk down the stairs with a stick at the Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness in Rawalpindi on the outskirts of Islamabad. — AFP ISLAMABAD: Naziran Bibi knows exactly what she would consider apt justice for the person who hurled acid in her face, burnt out her eyes, disfigured her beyond recognition and destroyed her life. An eye for an eye, she tells AFP, her rage palatable in her small rooms at a charity’s office in Pakistan’s capital, her children scrambling … Continue reading Pakistan’s acid attack victims pin hope on new laws

Monday, 04 Jan, 2010 How are we to interpret a recent statement by the Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor that his country can take on both Pakistan and China simultaneously? –Photo by Reuters Pakistan Pakistan has often been ruled by generals and it is no secret that our armed forces wield considerable influence over civilian administrations as well. Nowhere is the military’s say greater than in the sphere of foreign policy vis-à-vis hostile neighbours or ostensible allies that sometimes try to dictate terms to Islamabad. But India’s history is different, and it has made much over the years of … Continue reading A time for peace?

A fading symbol By Zeresh John Monday, 04 Jan, 2010 The visibility of the cross in Pakistan is now restricted to architectural elements of churches, including the prominent monument at Karachi’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. – White Star The cross is the most widely recognised religious symbol of Christianity. Down the years, the emblem has faded from the public eye, rarely seen in the humdrum of everyday life in Pakistan. Born and raised a devout Protestant Christian and a part of the country’s largest religious minority, the increasing invisibility of the cross, despite its ascent about two decades ago, seems unsettling … Continue reading A fading symbol