White Lies
The rule of thumb in Punjab's killjoy administration is that if you enjoy it, it's illegal. The incumbents have banned basant. They have banned smoking sheesha in Lahore. They have closed down Lahore's tourist-magnet Food Street, though on political grounds, this time. They have banned any wedding ceremony that takes place after ten at night. Then there is banning sugar from government offices, the hapless babus being forced to bring the stuff from home.
What's next? Ban of sugar
What's next? Ban of sugar
No, yes, no, yes…
Not that there ever was any doubt about the duplicitous role of the clueless PPP-led coalition at the centre, but the Raymond Davis fiasco has further highlighted its inherent incompetence and corruption. The 'here it shows, here it doesn't' affair has practically pushed Pakistan up a blind alley with no way out. For once, the one who bears the notoriety of preaching the politics of compromise was right when he said that the government was 'caught between the devil and the deep sea',
Revolution 101
The success of mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt has opened the floodgates in the Arab world which has been misgoverned for decades. On Friday, protests continued in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Iraq. While demands vary from country to country, they can be classified into those connected to political reforms and to economic justice. There is a universal absence of fundamental rights in all these countries. Whatever media exists is under strict state control. The
More cloak and dagger stuff
The question of Raymond Davis' immunity, now that former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has spelled out and spilled the position, should be a settled issue. Unfortunately, it won't be, given the binary polarisation in this country. The centrists, a near-extinct species in Pakistan, fall through the crack between the two ideological camps that call each other names like "ghairat brigade" and "liberal extremists". The problem is that states rise and fall on the back of whether
Outsourced immunity?
The more the Davis case gets entangled, the more seem clearer the ways of its eventual unraveling. The question of the moment: Does Davis have diplomatic immunity? The Americans insist he does and that he be handed over immediately. Pakistan, on the other hand, is plagued with the endless debate of whether he has the right to immunity or not. The government has adopted a clear stance: he shall be taken to court. But saying this is not enough to untangle this mess.
It is not
It is not
A new chapter
The last weeks have seen history being made in the form of an unparalleled and spontaneous peaceful revolution. A revolution that refused to be provoked into violence; rendering all options to a cruelly despotic regime waste.
Statistics officially made available now reveal that 365 people died in the Tahrir Square uprising. A vast number, to say the least! We have seen bloody revolutions erupt after the death of only one person. The world must stand in salute to those who laid
Statistics officially made available now reveal that 365 people died in the Tahrir Square uprising. A vast number, to say the least! We have seen bloody revolutions erupt after the death of only one person. The world must stand in salute to those who laid
Not-so-separate powers
Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry made an interesting point at the Commonwealth Law Conference at Hyderabad. He said that the democratic government, which replaced military rule in his country, did not make or nullify the acts and actions of the military rulers.
Justice Chaudhry suffered a lot at the hands of General Pervez Musharraf, then the sole wielder of power. The countrywide agitation by the Pakistan lawyers restored him to his office. In the process, the
Justice Chaudhry suffered a lot at the hands of General Pervez Musharraf, then the sole wielder of power. The countrywide agitation by the Pakistan lawyers restored him to his office. In the process, the
Ceding space
The decision of the prime minister to replace the oversized federal cabinet with a relatively small cabinet is a welcome development. The provincial governments of Sindh and the Punjab are also taking measures to reduce administrative expenditure. However, these measures do not necessarily ensure good governance. This objective can be achieved if the federal and provincial governments muster enough determination to pursue this agenda and appoint competent and task-oriented people to
Come one, come all
On Sunday evening, Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was detained at Delhi airport as he was preparing to board his flight to Lahore. He was caught leaving the country with over $124,000. Indian laws allow up to $5,000 in cash to be taken abroad. A nephew of qawwal maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat had performed at a wedding in a south Delhi farmhouse. His detention is a sad reflection on the decline of the great house of Nusrat.
But I won't depress your spirits further.
But I won't depress your spirits further.
Think forum, innit?
Earlier this week, one was delighted to receive an invite from the government of the Punjab to attend the Pakistan Urban Forum scheduled to be held soon in Lahore. It is indeed an ambitious statement we make by hosting a national event for such an important issue in our most celebrated city. For all the inherent audacity, one would assume that the built environment in the provincial headquarters of the Punjab has much to offer aspiring urban areas all across the nation. And perhaps
Please, be generous!
A small village on the banks of a docile looking river, with mountains in the backdrop. The scene should by idyllic. But it was not. The village is still very much in ruins. A lot of houses have not been reconstructed, a lot of people are still in tents and/or makeshift arrangements, many fields that should be green with the beginnings of the wheat crop look like sandy wastelands. And there are children running around everywhere, in the sandy fields and in the partial ruins of houses.
Eloquence lost
For an assignment editor, the most annoying thing in the world is a reporter taking an off-day. While there's nothing wrong with this simple act, and it is very unreasonable of the assignment editors to think this way, their dilemma is also a thought provoking one. You see, each reporter has a beat which they have to look out for and make sure that they don't miss anything in their assigned beats. Beats are like cabinet portfolios, it can be a single department or a whole bunch of
Devolving democracy
Taking liberty of my little corner in this newspaper, I'd like to thank the many dedicated internet pirates who make it possible for me to watch the latest episode of the American comedy TV show 'Parks and Recreation' just a day after its original broadcast in the US. First recommended to me by fellow blogger Kalakawa, to whom I remain eternally grateful, 'Parks and Recreation' is a mockumentary style show that covers life in the parks and recreation department of a local government
Being America’s ‘Roodle’
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is supposed to have said of Rafael Trujillo, the odious Dominican dictator: "I know he's a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."
Many countries have dogs of pure breeds. France has the Poodle, Germany, the Rottweiler. Poodles come in three sizes: the smallest is the Toy Poodle, the largest a sheepdog. The Toy Poodle is a lap dog, a favourite of fat-rich ladies. The Rottweiler is a very powerful dog used for cattle herding; in Holland it
Many countries have dogs of pure breeds. France has the Poodle, Germany, the Rottweiler. Poodles come in three sizes: the smallest is the Toy Poodle, the largest a sheepdog. The Toy Poodle is a lap dog, a favourite of fat-rich ladies. The Rottweiler is a very powerful dog used for cattle herding; in Holland it
The old and the new
You cannot keep everybody happy all the time but then nothing stops you from being pleased with others. This is precisely how Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's parting words to his outgoing cabinet members can be summed up. He was effusive in his praise for the efforts they had made during their stint spanning a little less than three years to ensure good governance. This was Mr Gilani before he picked up a 23-member new cabinet striking a balance between new and old faces.<br
The Kuch Nahi Sarkar
Which was the swivel moment when the Indian-born British citizen shook off his psychological shackles and came into his own? There will probably be as many answers as there are success stories. My personal favourite is the year in which an enterprising Sikh businessman bought out a distillery producing the most sustained, and possibly sustaining, export of the British peoples, Scotch whisky. The breakthrough was not in the financial transaction. Money is the easy part. The
Most bullied ally
Whatever credibility the US had amongst ordinary Pakistanis has been inexorably eroded by the Raymond Davis incident. The American, certainly not a diplomat in the traditional sense of the term, by his act of murdering two Pakistanis has unwittingly unleashed currents and cross-currents which have exposed the inherent weaknesses in Islamabad's "strategic partnership" with Washington.
The manner in which the US has gone about seeking the release of its citizen and the refusal of
The manner in which the US has gone about seeking the release of its citizen and the refusal of