Notes in Anguish

What matches the teargas smoke in Islamabad as the rumours afloat, and much deliberate misinformation. For example, Parvez Elahi has asserted that the govt used chemical weapons for crowd control, which is plain nonsense, unless he meant that excessive use of tear gas is tantamount to use of chemical weapons. Similarly, he insisted that police… →

Like most other Pakistanis I was glued to the TV last night till the wee hours of the morning. Mid-way through I got a call from an ex-army officer living in the U.S. He asked me to find a way to contact Gen Raheel Sharif, and warn him that Nawaz Sharif is not a person… →

The other day I heard Gen Hamid Gul on a talk show give out his take on a fundamental problem with Nawaz Sharif’s psyche. He said he had spent hours with the late lamented Abba- jee [Nawaz Sharif’s dad], Nawaz, and Shahbaz, over many sittings, trying to urge them to desist from the compulsion of… →

WHENEVER THE DUST SETTLES AND CALM RETURNS TO PAKISTAN, WE ARE LIKELY TO FIND THAT OUR “FREE” JUDICIARY HAS BEEN FULLY COMPLICIT WITH ALL OTHER BALEFUL FORCES IN TORMENTING THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN, AND IN DENYING THEM JUSTICE AND ROBBING THEM OF HOPE.IT IS ENTIRELY INCREDIBLE, BUT JUST EXAMINE THE FOLLOWING AS A SAMLE OF… →

The penultimate benchmark on this road, and one which can turn this impasse into a violent confrontation is the drawing into this fray of sectarian parties, like Ludhianvi’s supporters, and the JUI which, we are told, has started its march to Islamabad from Peshawar. If a clash is allowed to occur between these forces and… →

Dear Messers Babar Sattar and Zahid Hussain. I had the good fortune of hearing your discourse on the current situation in Pakistan, when you discussed the subject with Mr. Mazhar Abbas and Ejaz Haider on Capital TV at 10 pm on 21 Aug. Compared with much “noise” which strains to pass itself as informed discussion… →

There is a lot of debate on whether or not Pakistan should launch an anti-militant operation in North Waziristan; and whether U.S drone strikes should be allowed to continue against targets in Pakistan. These two issues should not be conflated. The North Waziristan issue has to do with the security goals of the NATO alliance… →

Many assume that there is someone in Pakistan attending to policy issues etc and policy- making: that there are people dedicated to this process which comes from a coordinated effort. If this assumption was correct, being surprised, disappointed, or even outraged by the results would be entirely justifiable. But I find that this basic assumption… →

I have three points to make on the accession of Kashmir to India. →

Ever since the May raid in Abbotabad to abduct and kill Osama bin Laden, a veritable flood of anti-army sentiment has come to engulf Pakistan, with the media leading the way. Compared to the public reaction to the fall of Dhaka in Dec 71, when most of our elite duly celebrated their New Years, the… →

Dear Dr Finkelstein. I am a Pakistani Muslim and have heard many of your talks on google videos and YouTube, most of them more than once. Unlike you, I do believe that if indeed there is a chosen people, it is the Jews. I do not believe in this “choseness” in the sense of their… →

In May 2007 I was forwarded a comment and asked if I would like to respond to it. The comment and my response are set out below: COMMENT. ” What remains glaringly obvious from historical analysis is that Christian Misbehavior stands in blatant contrast to its foundational teachings, but militant fundamentalist Islam is a direct… →