I am leading a delegation of parliamentarians to China at the gracious invitation of the Chinese Communist Party in its 30th year of reforms celebrations. It’s my first visit out of the country as an MNA and I am proud that it is to China. I have with me a PPP and ANP MNA and a Northern Areas minister. Here is part 1 of the three-part city wise account...

The US has raised the stakes by firing missiles from its drones at a target in the southern district of Bannu in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). It is a settled area as the provincially-administered districts in the province are referred to and is not part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan. The thought...

President-elect Barack Obama took the stage in Grant Park, Chicago, just before midnight on November 4, scanned the sea of people assembled to listen to him, and greeted them: “Hello, Chicago!” The crowd roared back with joy. Obama flashed a shy smile, waited for the roar to subside, and then continued: “If there is anyone out there...

Twelve years ago Pakistan’s only and the Muslim world’s first Nobel laureate Professor Abdus Salam passed into eternity on November 21, 1996. Salam was chased and hounded both in life and in death. Even when dead and buried the pious ones could not tolerate the tombstone inscription that read, “Abdus Salam the First Muslim Nobel Laureate”....

They are in there and yet no one seems to acknowledge their presence. These elephants are realities that all of us can see but because of fear, self-interest, pragmatism, or just plain neglect, we don’t talk about them. Let us take a sample. Our president Mr Zardari left the country on November 11 and after two days of meetings in New York, has...

Despite the common feature of the region, each Middle Eastern country does has its own distinct feel, as I found travelling from Egypt to Jordan. Jordan is much smaller than Egypt in terms of both size and population–Egypt has 80 million people and Jordan six million. In terms of city life the two countries are quite similar: Jordan’s capital...

There has, in recent weeks, been much discussion on the role of the media. Is it irresponsible and sensationalist, selling bad news and despair? Is it a reflection of society? Does it invade the privacy of others or articulate society’s concerns? Does it take up issues that need to be addressed and remind governments of the dreams and aspirations...

The Predator strike on a Bannu village marks a first: the first missile strike outside FATA (the acronym to describe the seven tribal agencies–now the scene of the mayhem the United States and its blundering ways are visiting upon Pakistan). Predator drones we foolishly supposed would not venture outside the tribal belt. Our American friends have...

There was a moment at the Alhamra Cultural Complex, venue of the ongoing World Performing Arts Festival, which underscored the dichotomy that has today become a distinguishing feature of our society. As an Indian contemporary dance troupe belted out their invigorating choreographic performances, using classical Kathak, Bharatnatyam and even ballet as...

I am no expert in FATA or the tribal areas, and speaking Pashto at home hasn’t made me one. But whenever I talk to the custodians of the troubled areas, I often feel that, as gatekeepers of these areas, they are peddling a contrived solution to the problems that beset the place. A lot of people want the government to go back to the Malik system...

Those counting on Asif Ali Zardari’s reinvention, that as president he would cast off the baggage of the past and be a new man, can be reminded of a line from Dostoyevsky that the second half of a man’s life is but a continuation of the first half. Prince Siddhartha may have wandered off into the woods and attained enlightenment but that...

My current travels through the Middle East, to understand the Islamic schooling systems in the countries of the region, is providing some interesting comparisons between Middle Eastern societies and Pakistan. So much is similar, the close-kit family structure, the importance of Islam in people’s everyday lives, an overarching and often authoritarian...