The historian Marc Bloch defined “feudal society” as a warrior aristocracy bound by vassalage. A lord was a noble who held land, the land was called a fief. Those granted possession by the lord were called vassals, expected to give service to their lord. Wealth was derived from agriculture organized not by market forces but…

A friend of mine who chooses to remain un-named forwarded an SMS message presently roaming the ether, to quote “A question in the minds of every Pakistani to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is your task only to give sermons to the public? Why has judgment not come in any high profile cases?…

It is unfortunate that Pakistan continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. While one acknowledges that as a developing nation it will be natural for any country to have its fair share of social, political and economical problems but where Pakistan is concerned, the real issue is not the problems but how practically…

The media hype being generated about Balochistan is a glaring example where the security establishment is being held solely responsible for the unfolding crisis. Most of our problems stem from jumping to conclusions based on incorrect facts, and going on to deliberately distorting then to suit mass perception. There are targeted killings going on and…

Blatant nepotism and rampant corruption weakening the country’s integrity and sovereignty, all signs are pointing to a dangerous slide into anarchy. The Supreme Court (SC) does “note” the corruption, with respect that’s all they have done for the past three years. While military takeovers can never really be justified, where is the constitutional mechanism in…

One of the great tragedies to befall this country was the assassination of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer by Mumtaz Qadri in Islamabad on Jan 4, 2011, bringing into sharp focus one of the important aspects of security that does not get the attention it should: fidelity. A policeman in the security detail provided to Taseer…

Macro-security being the business of the state, micro-security is the domain of individuals or organisations. With a citizen requiring the safety and security of his life and that of his family, property and business, and the state increasingly engaged in macro-security because of terrorism, private security business has become an industry in its own right….

A decade or so ago a joint venture foreign (JV) security company was using non-armoured vehicles (known as “soft” vehicles) to transport cash alongwith their armoured vans. Cash cannot be transported in quantity except in armoured vehicles, it is against the law but it costs 4-5 times more to operate an armoured vehicle over a…

Good governance in any society requires the safety and well-being of its citizens, peace and harmony cannot be maintained in isolation by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) alone. Personal security remains the responsibility of the individual, corporate body, establishment, etc in any country of the world. While private security has given significant support to the…

Dear Readers, It is our great misfortune that over the last many years numerous challenges have continued to pound the ramparts of the State while those in power have never done enough to stop the rot – domestic terrorism, economic meltdown compounded by rising oil prices and downward spike of the Rupee, alarming food shortage…