Pak Affairs

The net result of the plethora of amendments to ATA 1997 is that they have taken away the ‘specialty’ of the special law and have relegated it to the level of general penal law of the country. On 6th February, 2014, two bills were introduced in the National Assembly of Pakistan to make amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (ATA …

The PML-N, PTI and an assortment of religio-political Islamic parties had been clamouring for ‘dialogue’ with the Taliban. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also constituted a four-member committee, comprising, PM’s Adviser Irfan Siddiqui, renowned journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai‚ former ambassador Rustam Shah Mehmand and former ISI official Major (R) Amir, for negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). But, the process soon hit …

The most basic precondition of a true democratic setup is a healthy civil-military relationship. In all democratic countries, an elected civilian government enjoys full control over the military. However, in Pakistan, control over governance has oscillated between the two; a decade of civilian supremacy followed by a decade of military rule. The reasons for this periodic shuffling are incompetent political …

The economic model pursued by the successive governments since the establishment of Pakistan has premised mainly on the fact that the creation of enabling environment for the big businesses through favourable economic policies, tax exemptions and rebates will pave the way for growth. The idea governing the formulation of business-friendly policies has been that the emergence of a powerful business …

Nawaz Sharif’s decision to go to India to be a part of Narendra Modi’s coronation was not the right decision. The question to reckon with should have been whether someone with Modi’s dreary past and junky baggage would respond with the same sincerity. Modi’s invitation to the Saarc leaders to attend his oath-taking ceremony was nothing but a patronizing gesture …

As federal finance minister, Ishaq Dar, rose to present the federal budget for FY2014-15 in the National Assembly, he had an arduous task to perform in the backdrop of, by and large, missed targets for FY14. The three key targets; i.e. Tax revenue, Investment and Exports were down; the first by Rs 200 billion and the latter two, by 0.7 …

‘No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live. …

Fifty-seven Muslim countries, stretched from the Dark Continent to the shiny shores of Indonesia and Malaysia in Asia, are almost linked together like loops of a chain. The impotent and inept leaders have been calling the shots in internal as well as external affairs of these interconnected Muslim countries since decades. They have been organized under the umbrella of a …

The wave of Arab spring, though, has halted, yet its effects are still omnipresent. Agitation of Thai people against their government shows the nexus with this wave that is sweeping the governments away. Being myself a victim of similar circumstances, I was compelled to think that how we escaped this wave. We, the Pakistanis, are in effect inarticulate, and fight …

For Pakistan, Central Asia assumes great significance for many reasons. Pakistan’s geographical location vis-à-vis Central Asia’s landlocked nature and its geo-political and geo-economic importance naturally induce it to reach out to the region. Political and Security compulsions as well as energy, trade, transit and commercial gains mainly determine our policy towards Central Asia. Pakistan always sustained hope to become a …