Author Archive

I was always weak in mathematics. Numbers were never my forte and hence, I remained a not so bright student. Work wise, I play with numbers and like analyzing them. I wonder, if I had a better grip on elementary maths, maybe, I would have been more strong academically. Pakistan's apex investigative journalist, Ansar Abbasi has leased the front [...]

I try my best not to read The News, as it is an anti government, pro-PML-N, pro-military and pro-CJ newspaper. Whenever I do, there is one reason or the other to write something about it. In The News, of 31st January, 2012, an advertisement in the form of an APPEAL addressed to "Before the Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar [...]

The “Stupidisco” that Pakistan was converted into seems to be coming to rest. After Mansoor Ijaz’ refusal to come to Pakistan and demanding that this testimony be taken outside of Pakistan, the apex adjudicator, CJ Iftikhar Ahmed Chaudhry had no choice but to give two more months time for the Inquiry Commission to investigate and  adjourn [...]

“Army Chief sees deep conspiracy” screamed a banner headline in the Business Recorder of December 16, 2011 and I thought to my self - yes there is a deep conspiracy, just as there was a deep conspiracy in 1977 when the dormant FIR against the first elected Prime Minister of the country was revived and a trial was initiated and stage managed to [...]

Baluchistan is the most unfortunate province of Pakistan although the biggest in area.  Beneath its earth surface it is yet to be ascertained how much mineral wealth is awaiting human exploration, extraction and usage for the easement of Baluch brothers first, then on the marginal profit to be given to the people of other provinces.   [...]

He was never to come to Pakistan and tried to play a bluff game on the government and the people. For nearly two and half months, the whole nation has been kept in a state of limbo by the man called Mansoor Ijaz. Ever since the "memo" was turned into a "gate" ala Richard Nixon style, those who hate the PPP in general and President Zardari in [...]

I have been wanting to write on this matter in the last fortnight but just didn’t get the time to do so. I also hoped that someone from the mainstream media or other tweeting/facebooking/online social media gurus from Pakistan would write about it. New year’s eve 2012 in Dubai was a grand event. It seemed the who’s who of Pakistan were there [...]

Let us build Pakistan would like to offer its deepest condolences on the untimely death of Azeem Daultana, PPP MNA from NA-168 in Vehari, who died in a car accident on 9th January, 2012. May Allah rest his soul in peace. He was 32 years old and was the youngest member of the incumbent National Assembly. In the 2008 General Elections, Azeem had [...]

  Fame, glory, and wealth have been part and parcel of human history. The only difference between the present times and the yesteryears is that, in the not too distant past, a small segment of population was afflicted with these things. Rest of them were happy and stress free. Besides, on the part of those who craved and dreamt, [...]

“no rebutting of charges, allegations to be considered correct” – Let’s go back to March 2007 The Supreme Court of Pakistan under the leadership of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry commenced proceedings in the “memogate” case on December 19, 2011. Heading a 9 member bench, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry commented that as the President (who [...]

  Recently our fellow contributor and supporter, Peja Mistri wrote an excellent article titled “IMC – A monumental failure”. The article was written by Peja with apparent frustration due to the approach of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s conduct in court and the lofty hopes people had pinned with the restored judiciary. [...]

It seems like the Memogate scandal, if there was any, is losing steam quickly. Conflicting statements from “Pakistani Nizad Amreeki Businessman” Mansoor Ijaz,  which sway between the much liked “Get-Zardari” to no so liked “Damn-ISI” chants,  are making the Memogate scandal as an anti-climax (I didn’t say non-starter, as ghairat [...]

He told the Americans about OBL hideout…. He knew what America was going to do…. He told US what to do, remember Kerry Luger…? He even wrote a Book about Pakistani army and its links with the Mullahs... He is close to Zardari…. How can we get rid of him? hmmm Let’s just hang him. There’s no better opportunity … let’s just hang both [...]

Once again Pakistan’s judiciary is playing the role of a political squad which is against democracy as well as against humanity. It is doing every effort to topple democracy - sometimes by trying to sabotage the constitution in the cover of baseless Swiss cases against the democratically elected President Zardari and sometimes by targeting [...]

Pakistan’s apex investigative journalist and wannabe political advisor / strategist/ analyst / national builder / true muslim, Ansar Abbasi has written a special investigative report good enough to take the bragging rights of using the “Sindh Card” for the first time in reality. While the PPP and President Zardari are castigated time and [...]

I rue why I was born in Iqbalabad. Why my parents chose to take their city’s name as the family name. couldn’t they have selected names like Khosa, Qureshi, Ramday or even a Kiyani, I wonder! Our Supreme Court which is out with all its daggers and swords is leading a very potent front against the political and democratically elected government [...]

Every now and then, we reminded of the greatness of Pakistan’s military and intelligence prowess by none other than the military and intelligence supporters in our right wing media. While in love with their masters, some of these journalists hold a personal grudge against General Pervez Musharraf. In his yet another epic report, Pakistan’s [...]

Cross posted from The News, November 28, 2011 We thought with the resignation of Husain Haqqani, the issue of the memo will die down. It has not! With each day the issue bounces back more forcefully than ever. Is there something more than just meets the eye one wonders? Or are there some who want to keep it alive deliberately. It is obvious [...]

Shah Mahmood Qureshi who recently resigned as an MNA and a member of the CEC of the Pakistan Peoples Party after having been overlooked for the position of Foreign Minister of Pakistan is keeping two political parties of tenterhooks and giving impetus to the right wing media to speculate what will be the impact of his movement on the fate of [...]

There are no two doubts that this blog is of critical supporters of the Pakistan Peoples Party, who are operating independently of party guidelines and support. Pakistan’s Ambassador to USA,  Husain Haqqani has been forced to resign from one of the most important as well as lucrative positions any Pakistani technocrat could have. It was an [...]

It seems the Pakistani politics and the powers in the background still rely on the proverbial “masala formula” followed by Bollywood and Lollywood movies. The “masala formula” of Pakistani politics involves two main political parties along with a few who want to be in the big league, have the Pakistan Army that plays the role of a [...]

Let me very frankly say that whatever is happening to Ambassador of Pakistan in the USA, Husain Haqqani is not good either for Pakistan’s image or the Pakistan Peoples Party, which seems to be the target of all that is happening right now. Those who are supporting Husain Haqqani consider the attempt to get him as an attempt to get President [...]

                Related Post: Pakistan’s Civil Awards FCS Style   Let us look at the positives of Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s decision to resign from his position as a MNA on a PPP ticket and subsequently the party. He has done the honorable thing unlike the [...]

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Chairman and desperately waiting to capture Pakistan , Imran Khan, visited the "Holy" Laal Masjid in Islamabad on 18th March 2011. Yes readers, he spoke at a Friday sermon in one of the most terrifying places in the country. Most importantly, our right wing media didn't publish this major news for fear of alienating [...]

In May 2011, we had published two original articles titled “Imran Khan’s Financial Credibility” (10th May, 2011) and “Some questions about Imran Khan’s PTI NA-USA LLC” (13th May, 2011). The purpose of both the articles was not to taint Imran Khan and his PTI with sweeping statements like being corrupt, dishonest and unprincipled. Both [...]

Last month, what seemed like an innocent and satirical attempt to mock the influencing and prevalent mood of hysteria and conspiracy theories in Pakistan, a group of three 20-something boys led by Ali Aftab came up with a song called “Aaloo Anday” (396k views, 7.25k likes and 0.38k dislikes on Youtube). What made their song and its video most [...]

It seems that PML-N’s unofficial spokesman, Ansar Abbasi has a front page spot dedicated for his “reports” in The News. His reports are usually in forms of discussions with majority “unnamed” sources and a very few known personalities. Like Syed Adil Gilani of Transparency International, who gives Ansar Abbasi first look at his upcoming [...]

Begum Nusrat Bhutto has passed away. May Allah rest her soul in peace. She was a woman of substance who gave more to the world than took from it. She lost a husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, undoubtedly the biggest political leader Pakistan has seen after Quaid-e-Azam. She lost two young sons, Shahnawaz and Murtaza, both inspirations for their fight [...]

We now concur that our Adliya is Azad. It is free 100%. It is free for all the Muslim Leagues. Be in the N or the Q. While, Moonis Ilahi’s acquittal has found front page space, another case involving a PML-N senator can be found in the inside pages of the newspapers. Like last week, when a Lahore High Court bench stayed the reinstatement of [...]

One finds little legal guidance on this knotty question since the international community has yet to develop a legal definition given terrorism’s politically charged nature. Terrorism literally means using terror as a strategy. This definition would cover psychopaths mutilating hapless victims for immediate pleasure; husbands abusing their wives [...]

It’s not Zardari’s corruption they are after, Sharifs want to save their skin In a case of instant justice to the high and mighty, the Lahore High Court has restrained an accountability court from proceeding with references filed against the Sharif Brothers and their businesses. According to Dawn on 19th October 2011, the bench comprising [...]

There is ample room for disagreement with what Abira Ashfaq wrote in her article “Let Mumtaz Qadri live”  http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/8339/let-mumtaz-qadri-live/ But let us just concentrate on what she said while replying to the readers’ comments:   “Asiya Bibi should not be killed and the blasphemy laws removed. [...]

After all those decades, one would think the colonial past is, right, a thing of the past. Yet, some things just liger on, clutching steadfast, regressively progressing every other day. While it’s not uncommon to see laws from the nineteenth century quoted across courtrooms in the subcontinent, it’s still rather pathetic to even argue about [...]

Published: Express Tribune,  October 17, 2011 Hajj is a big business not just for the arrangers of the pilgrimage but also for the Saudi Arabian economy. However, the impact of Hajj on Pakistan’s economy and how much it can cost an individual is never deliberated. This year, private Hajj group organisers will manage 50% pilgrims while [...]

I was left aghast after seeing the pictures of Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali attacking members of MQM in the national assembly and seeing various members trying to control him. Others who were belligerent from the PML-N included Hanif Abbasi and Shafqat Hussain Baloch. The headlines in various newspapers read like this: “Qaumi Assembly mayn [...]

Things in the good old days were simpler—there were just lies, damned lies and statistics.  Today we also have an ever-growing range of indexes comparing countries on diverse dimensions, ranging from governance to economic competitiveness. Pakistan unfortunately lags behind on most such indexes. However, the two that have rankled Pakistani [...]

  I need not write more than this. Former Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, Khawaja Sharif will defend murderer of Shaheed Salmaan Taseer, Mumtaz Qadri, in his appeal at the Islamabad High Court. Yet another sad day for Pakistan in 2011!   Former LHC chief justice to defend Mumtaz Qadri Express Tribune Published: October [...]

  The State Bank of Pakistan has surprised the market by reducing the discount rate by 1.5% to 12%. This is the second rate cut in three months bringing the total reduction of discount rate by 2%. A number of analysts were expecting a reduction of 0.5% to 1% at the most. It may be noted that the earlier reduction of 0.5% in July was [...]

Source: Daily Times, October 7, 2011 This week, I could not agree more with columnist Munir Ataullah when he confessed to being “stumped” as he sat down to compose his column. I share his predicament although the reasons are different. Week in and week out, as I struggle to present my erratic thoughts in some kind of a structured piece, I [...]

Source: Daily Times, October 8, 2011     Afghanistan and India have signed a wide-ranging strategic partnership agreement during the recent visit of Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai to India. The agreement expands trade relations between the two countries, affirms Afghanistan’s support for India’s bid for a permanent [...]