Articles in this section

• Pakistan

  Pakistan’s aid class

  28 February, by ZAKARIA Rafia

  Cuts in US aid mean the collapse of many CSOs and a career crisis for the middle class managers of “civil society” We take a look at the winners and losers

  The cuts have already come but the crisis will come later. The budget passed by the United States Senate and House of Representatives announced an $8.8 billion shortfall in the amounts allotted to the US State Department and to USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. Money for the Overseas Contingency Operations Budget, (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan (Islamabad) and the Faizabad surrender – Capitulating to fanatics – The timeline, the demands

  1 December 2017, by AHMAD Usman, Daily Times (Pakistan), Dawn (Pakistan), Pakistan Today

  The ugly history of intertwining fanaticism with the mainstream means next time the extremists play their hand the consequences will be worse, the capitulation greater and the surrender more abject than the one we have just witnessed [see below the description of the events].
  The idea the (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan, Faizabad (Islamabad): Surrendering to mob rule

  29 November 2017, by HUSSAIN Zahid

  THERE has hardly been an instance where the state has capitulated so humiliatingly to a group of extremists holding the nation’s capital hostage . The six-point agreement brokered by the military leadership is virtually a document of surrender. A beleaguered civilian administration has signed on (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: Between Judges and Generals

  11 August 2017, by SULEHRIA Farooq

  A coup in Pakistan’s checkered political life is never news. However, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification from his post on corruption charges through a court verdict on July 28 has an element of newness about it. Instead of the Pakistan Army, the recent coup has been carried out by (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: Prime Minister of ousted by the court on ‘dishonesty’ – Will the Muslim League-N remain a dominant political force?

  1 August 2017, by MUGHAL Aftab Alexander

  Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif resigned from prime ministership after the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s ruling last week which declared him dishonest. Many suggest that the establishment played its invisible role in the whole episode because the civil-military relations were not smooth. After Mr. (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: Nawaz Sharif has gone. But the country’s high-level corruption survives

  28 July 2017, by ALI Tariq, ENGEL RASMUSSEN Sune

  The supreme court verdict that ousted the prime minister is exceptional. But political corruption on a colossal scale has irreparably damaged the country.
  Since Pakistan’s foundation in 1947, not one prime minister has served his or her full term. Things like assassinations and military (...)

• Pakistan

  China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - A “game-changer” or another “East India Company”?

  21 March 2017, by KHALIQ Abdul

  China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a big business proposition with huge Chinese investments spreading over 15 years having a total outlay of up to $46 billion: $35 billion on the energy sector in the mode of IPPs (independent Power Producers) and $ 11 billion for infrastructure (...)

• Pakistan

  Geopolitics: The dangerous US-Saudi attempt of regime change in Pakistan

  4 October 2016, by RAJEEV Ahmed

  Pakistan witnesses the largest political crisis in recent years. Leaders of the main opposition parties called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down because of the corruption charges brought against him by the investigation team formed by the country’s Supreme Court. Increasing instability (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen: Rent a country

  31 March 2015, by SIRMED Marvi

  In the wake of the worsening crisis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s decision to secure its influence through air strikes on the former, Pakistan became part of the story. The news about Pakistan’s reported participation in the air strikes against Yemen created ripples at home and for the right (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: After the Peshawar massacre of 141 children, Imran Khan’s retreat

  22 January 2015, by TARIQ Farooq

  The dharma [sit-in, mass public meeting] convention by the PTI on January 18 had some distinct features. For the first time, Imran Khan chose not to be aggressive, agitated or offensive. It was a retreat from his previous attitude. His usual criticism of the PML-N government for rigging and (...)

• Pakistan

  From Pakistan: Why we cannot hang extremism – ‘Military courts under a civilian government’s authority’ is a claim hard to digest

  12 January 2015, by TARIQ Farooq

  The passing of the 21^st constitutional amendment [for Speedy Trial Military Courts to deal with terrorism] with no one voting against it apparently seems a victory for Mian Nawaz Sharif. However, there are reports of dissent within the PPP and the PML-N. Raza Rabbani breaking down into tears (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: A ‘soft’ military coup? – “The army has earned lost ground and is being presented by the media and the government as a saviour of the system”

  30 August 2014, by TARIQ Farooq

  “The issue of election rigging is just a cover for Imran Khan. His real motives include covert opposition to the military operation against Tehreek-e-Taliban, opposition to the PMLN’s attempt to put Musharraf on trial and to cover-up the performance of the Khayber Pukhtoon Khawa provincial (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: “Developments in the last few days prove that the democratic transition that had been prematurely celebrated is a long way off yet”

  30 August 2014, by HRCP, YUSUF Zohra

  Lahore, August 30: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that the army being asked to adjudicate upon matters that should have been resolved by politicians made for an “exceeding gloomy day for the country”. The Commission has stated that that was what the marchers had been (...)

• Pakistan

  Would military take over once again in Pakistan? – Imran Khan and his ’Azadi [Liberation] March’

  16 August 2014, by TARIQ Farooq

  Opposition leader and chief of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, launched his long march on August 14 to protest against what he considers rigging in general elections held last year. He is demanding that Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif should resign to pave the way for fresh (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: New drone killings deepen instability

  19 July 2014, by ILTIS Tony

  Since June 12, 50 people have now been killed by US drone strikes in North Waziristan.
  A US drone attack in North Waziristan in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) killed 20 people on July 16. It brought the number of people killed by US drones in North Waziristan since June (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: Civil society condemns terrorists attack on Karachi Airport

  9 June 2014, by PCSF, Piler, PPC

  KARACHI, June 09, 2014: The Pakistan Peace Coalition [PPC], Pakistan Civil Society Forum Sindh Chapter and Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research [PILER] have vehemently condemned the terrorists attack at the Karachi Airport Sunday night, which continued till Monday afternoon, (...)

• Pakistan

  The tall building complex. Twenty-two dead – 9 jumped, 13 burnt – is the minimum body count

  13 May 2013, by bin RASHID Hashim

  “Every city I go to is a huge building site for capitalist surplus absorption” – David Harvey
  Twenty-two dead – 9 jumped, 13 burnt. This is the minimum body count of the fire at the seventh to ninth floors of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Plaza on Egerton Road. The 11-storey building (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: Too many people have too much to lose – and that includes the current military top brass

  24 April 2013, by bin RASHID Hashim

  Generals in Pakistan are generally quite lovely creatures, short, stout and often carrying a moustache as proof of masculinity, they are rather outstanding specimens of humanity. Medals adorned on their chests and up to four-stars protruding on their shoulder straps, they are driven by a (...)

• Pakistan

  Shrinking political space in Pakistan: “With a political non-entity like TuQ defining the caretaker setup in the upcoming elections, the possibility of moving beyond the authoritarian heritage have again been thrashed”

  22 January 2013, by TARIQ Farooq

  The speeches in praise of each other, after the four days of the ‘fake march’ exposed the reality of status quo politics today. It was insincerity at its best. In no way can this be seen as a victory for democracy. In fact, the rhetoric and actions can be seen as the hijacking of progressive (...)

• Pakistan

  Pakistan: Prime Minister Gilani gone, problems remain intact

  20 June 2012, by LPP

  Gilani’s departure from power reflects the deep crisis of Pakistani capitalist state. The infighting of state institutions does not bring any relief for the masses, it complicates the matters further. The departure of Gilani will solve nothing but deepen the crisis further. The real issues of (...)