Things categorized as 'Anjum Niaz'
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Are you on the ‘sucker list’?
% Did you know that there’s a list of ‘suckers’ who fall for scams? The list has your phone number, email and credit card details. This list is sold to all ...
Sovereignty on sale?
% When the October 2005 earthquake shook our world, the then American ambassador Ryan Crocker planned taking charge of relief efforts. He convinced the Musharraf government that the Americans were the ...
New kid on the block
• Its name is IDP. It was reborn ten days ago. Baptized by Barack Obama while Asif Ali Zardari held it, the American president showered the newborn with a $1.9 billion ...
Drones are a red herring!
• "The drones don't fly out of Pakistan," grandly declares President Asif Zardari. It makes headline news. On the same day our army chief expresses similar sentiments. Earlier Prime Minister Gilani ...
Little Einsteins
% Pakistan needs big ideas like Einstein's to fight terror; not a kindergarten of little Einsteins who whizz around the presidency, the PM House and parliament pretending to stall the march ...
Together we can
• Enough! Bring Baitullah Mehsood to justice. If you can't, ask America to do it. And silence! All you handwringing hypocrites accusing Pakistan of killing its own people. Shame on you ...
Hillary’s hat-trick
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has scored her first international hat-trick. She delivered googlies that sent the three back to the pavilion. The lady walked off with the 'man of ...
Welcome back, My Lord
• If only President Zardari had not walked into the dangerous trap set up by his aides, Sherry Rehman and Raza Rabbani would still be in the cabinet. We lost the ...
Work is a dirty Word
• Work is a four-letter word we religiously avoid; mutinously shun. Until Musharraf sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, we were a nation of 'sitting around guys.' We morphed into 'jalsa and ...
Democracy’s Worst Revenge
• "Pakistan's disintegration, if that is what is now being witnessed, is a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, a riveting spectacle, and a clear and present danger to international security. But who ...
The Lie Factory
• "I need hibernation for at least three years, and don't have the luxury to do that," Asif Ali Zardari tells Christina Lamb of The Sunday Times, a year after his ...
The Spy Factory
• By now you must know that 70 American military "advisers and technical specialists" are on the ground secretly training the Pakistan Army to kill Al-Qaeda and Taliban. The CIA has ...
Publish and be damned!
• When a courtesan Harriette Wilson threatened to publish her memoirs and letters from her lover Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, the Duke churlishly told her to "Publish and be damned!" ...
Underdog millionaires unite!
• And all lived happily hereafter: The king, his army of princes and the citizens of Pakistan. Democracy won and the National Reconciliation Ordinance aka NRO lost. Before you dismiss this as ...
Mavericks, Machiavellis and mice
• Politician-lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan is a cross between a maverick and a Machiavelli. But he's definitely not a mouse! Listen to his latest univocal declaration: "Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry shall be ...
Crossing swords [English]
• Secretary of State Condi Rice has categorically pointed to “Pakistani soil” being used in Mumbai attacks. And she expects “Pakistan to act.” This is a blunt order from our benefactors ...
Made to order media [English]
• He's a doctor by career but a journalist by profession. How convenient is that! Yet, the maverick who rose to dizzying heights just in a span of eight short years ...
He’s no Jack Welch! [English]
• Does the name Jack Welch makes a ding dong when you let your mind straddle across to Raiwind and its chieftains who control Punjab? Ask the governor of that province ...
Cloud-cuckoo-land vs the viable [English]
• By the 29th roza we turn tumultuous. We act like desperadoes. We search for the new moon because all want to celebrate Eid. Most can't wait for another day. Eyes ...
Thy name is sovereign-i-ty! [English]
• Okay, that's fine; but at least learn how to say the word! From president and prime minister down to every blatherskite (TV anchors included) continue to mispronounce "sovereignty" that has ...
He’s come a long way! [English]
• I have a dream for Pakistan. My dream is to free this great country from the shackles of poverty, hunger, terrorism and disunity (President Asif Ali Zaradari, September 20, 2008) Today they ...
Making a joke of democracy [English]
% Here's the unmentionable truth: if today Pakistan had an independent judiciary, Asif Ali Zardari may not have been the president. The 107 legislators who voted for him in the NWFP ...
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest? [English]
• Hype and fear have overtaken the nation. Are we on a collective suicide path or are we about to witness the emergence of a messiah who will replace the ...
Why Dubai chalo, why not Karachi? [English]
• Karachi is in bloom of the brick and mortar kind. It's ablaze with flyovers, high rises and expansive roads. The coastal climate is idyllic. The breeze never stops; the sun ...