After almost two decades the US-led NATO intervention in Afghanistan aimed at eradicating the Taliban has no end in sight. US President Donald Trump and the American people, if not the US military, decided that an honourable exit was necessary to end the longest war in US history. Despite the fact that one of Trump’s…
BJP’s chauvinist ideology of ‘Hindutva’ leading up to the elections has increased communal tensions and violence in several Indian states. Instead of politically countering the electoral setback to Congress Party in the State Assembly elections in December last year, Narendra Modi returned to his time-tested anti-Muslim anti-Pakistan election formula to ignite religious fervour among Hindu…
In South Asia we are quick to blame law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and the judicial system for the lack of justice in our courts. However, we have done practically nothing to strengthen the law, the hands of the enforcers of the law and the legal process necessary to provide fair and equitable processes. The situation…
A governmental body created by a legislature to implement and enforce specific laws, a “regulatory agency” or a “regulator” would usually have quasi-legislative functions, executive functions, and judicial functions. Many laws govern social and economic matters, such as income tax, environmental laws, occupational health and safety laws, real estate law, employment laws, etc. A regulatory…
One of the major basis for corruption the illness eating away the substance of the Pakistani state, its institutions and its people is perjury. An especially dangerous criminal offence, perjury or lying in court undermines the very purpose of the court, the laws of the country and the judiciary system at large: to bring justice…
While a globalized world was a cherished goal to bring people together, globalization is increasingly used by one or the other country or group of countries to dominate the rest of the world by a violent process. Looking around we see wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen where the powers that be are trying…
Dear Readers, The two-day visit of His Highness Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan was hugely successful as well as memorable. In addition to key members of his cabinet, including Petroleum Minister Khalid al-Falih, the Crown Prince was accompanied by a number of Saudi businessmen who held meetings with Pakistani…
The Pulwama attack that killed a little more than forty Indian soldiers, mostly Sikhs, brought the near dormant Kashmir crisis into international focus because of Modi’s so-called “surgical strike” and Pakistan’s measured response. Pakistan’s denial about the Indian claims was supported by the western media relying on satellite imagery. For a change this also swayed…
Within an hour or so of the suicide attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy in Pulwama on Feb 14 in Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) that killed 40 Indian soldiers (many of them Sikhs), near hysterical Indian news anchors and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) hard-core cadres went berserk blaming Pakistan. Egged on by the jingoistic media…
To highlight the connecting of the global with the local and therewith Pakistani’s problems and solutions in the light of global developments, the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) held an event in Karachi on Feb 24, 2019 with the former Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar as the Chief Guest. This dialogue was facilitated in strategic…
