Author Archive

Visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke, defending America’s new, stringent airport security measures, says that he too has to go through intensified screening. But the outcry from Pakistan on this issue suggests his defence won’t go down well with the public. Travelers from Pakistan are to undergo extra security screening according to new rules put in place by the Obama administration. With Pakistan bearing the unparalleled brunt of the war...

The call for a nationwide strike on Friday, January 1, 2010, given by several religious and political parties and councils to protest the Ashura carnage and arson in Karachi could have hardly come at a worse time. Dozens lost their lives and limbs in the suicide bombing (?) claimed by the Pakistani Taliban (?) – there are question marks on both accounts because the police have not confirmed either. Moreover, thousands of families were deprived...

Dawn.com invites its readers to share eye-witness accounts and photographs from the incident.  An explosion occurred on Karachi’s M.A. Jinnah road on Monday during a Shia procession commemorating Ashura. For the city of lights, it’s the third blast in three days and the latest in a series of blasts that have taken place during the holy month of Muharram. Photographs can be sent at photos@dawn.com *In response to Dawn.com’s forum,...

After much deliberation and debate inside the courts, in the media and among the general public, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has given its decision on the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that paved the way for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to come into power. The Supreme Court declared the NRO null and void in a short order which was passed unanimously by a 17-member bench. The landmark decision is set to create ripples...

On Tuesday evening, US President Barack Obama will finally announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan. After months of deliberation, the president is expected to announce an escalation of US presence across the Durand Line by more than 30,000 troops. This represents a 50 per cent increase over the 68,000 troops already fighting in Afghanistan. Speaking at the US Military Academy at West Point, Obama will emphasise that the goal of...

A legendary poet like Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) needs no introduction. In Pakistan, where one authoritarian government has made way for another since 1947, Faiz’s person and work is largely known as a symbol of resistance. In his poetry, he represented the people’s longing for freedom and democracy and became a source of inspiration for those seeking to build a just society. Faiz began his career as a lecturer in English at Amritsar,...

This week, news managers from Pakistan’s eight major private television channels voluntarily met to generate guidelines to govern media coverage of terrorism. The initiative was in response to public criticism of the independent media, which has been broadcasting increasingly graphic and disturbing images live from the scenes of terror attacks. The representatives of the media outlets have agreed to show less gory images and to utilise a time-delay...

US president Barack Hussein Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2009, just nine months into his first term in office. As US troops shift gear from action in war-ravaged Iraq to an expected surge in war-torn Afghanistan, questions are being raised whether the Norwegian Nobel Committee has rushed in its praise for Obama’s foreign policy that is yet to be termed a success. While the committee pays tribute to the first black US president for ‘his...

The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PMLN) has given the Pakistan People’s Party 48 hours to stop what it describes as a a ‘smear campaign’ against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. With this ultimatum, the tensions between the government and opposition party have come to a head. In recent weeks, the PPP and PMLN have disagreed on the issue of whether Pervez Musharraf should be tried for his actions on November 3, 2007. ‘Revelations’...

A new book warns that Pakistan is expected to become water-scarce by 2035, though some experts say this may happen as soon as 2020, if not earlier. In addition to global warming, which has affected the volume of the Indus River, Pakistan’s water shortages are caused by a long history of intensive irrigation regimes and poor drainage practices that have caused waterlogging and soil salinity throughout the countryside. And after dedicating most...