Opinion

Despite his poor electoral performance, no one should laugh off the ‘Imran Khan factor’.

Why do people rebel? This depends on their level of frustration, anxiety and fear...

Is Raymond Davis our biggest issue? Or is the 24/7 coverage symptomatic of a nation that is unable to prioritise?

In the eyes of Pakistanis, Raymond Davis is a murderer and should be punished accordingly.

The Centre weds within it a state’s pluralism and its strategic realism. That Centre we do not have.

We have fallen for we have divorced ourselves from our glorious ancient past.

There are two types of military anti-Americanism. The first is Hamid Gul-ian. The second is Aslam Beg-ian.

Tunisia, Egypt and now Bahrain have ripped off that veil of hypocrisy and subjugation that has consumed them.

Perhaps if Qureshi really wants to be taken seriously, he should quit acting because that would be a sign of maturity.

Peace in the subcontinent will only come through a new vision, or after greater bloodshed.

Mad mullah leader Hafiz Saeed called for a nuclear jihad against India. He can get away with it; no one can stop him.

The Indianisation of cricket has led to predictability. India’s World Cup promises to be the dullest ever.

Small, landless farmers must form the backbone of agricultural development initiatives to improve food security.

From Veena to Taseer, the preaching brigade is the first with (often misleading) interpretations of honour.

Raymond Davis has succeeded where parliamentarians have failed — securing a temporary halt in the drone programme.

Anxiety for justice cannot be allowed to supercede a mutually-agreed-upon international legal framework.

Pakistan needs to take a position based on honour and ensure that Raymond Davis is tried according to the law.

Proper interrogation of Davis is essential to discover the linkages with a range of suspected US covert activities.

Tell any Pakistani that we are isolated and they react with strategic depth and the nuclear power theory.

We have missed the chance to demonstrate that we are a rule-based state, compliant with international law.

There is tremendous pressure on nuclear Pakistan to deliver as a developing state, to not become a failed state.

One wonders if the weight of the India-Pakistan baggage ever touches the interlocutors when they meet, as in Thimphu.

Spectacular displays of incompetence is pervasive and afflicts all spheres, civil and military.

There are few people in life — one in a million may be — who do not have the gene that causes fear.

Even when elected governments have been in power, governance in Pakistan has been by the elite and for the elite.

It is obvious the Egyptian revolution will have an impact throughout the Arab and Muslim world, including Pakistan.

We need brave men like who are not apologetic with truth. Salmaan Taseer did it just the way Faiz sahab prescribed.

Within the context of retaining Raymond Davis or handing him over, the question of his diplomatic immunity is key.

A good minister for information and broadcasting is desperately required for a number of reasons.

Christine Fair, long-time friend and generally a fair scholar, has fallen this time for misreporting.

The Wakhis of Gojal are facing enormous challenges in the shape of scarcity of food, fuel, medicine and relief.

The dilemma of present-day PPP leaders is that they don’t have any ideological attachment with the legacy of Bhutto.

Arabs are fighting among themselves over definitions of jihad and taghoot (satan).

What may guard Pakistan against revolutions is constitutional order, tradition of change through democratic means.

We are witnessing the rebirth of the Arab world.

In the subcontinent, we’ve become far too pragmatic, dining out with the strong and powerful and disdaining the weak.

The politicians could learn a thing or two from ordinary citizens.

Our great names were powerful thinkers, but also representatives of an intellectually potent zamana.

Karachi Literature Festival was a happy change from the flow of fashion shows that keep ‘tout Karachi’ entertained.

The focus should be on providing to existing public schools instead of going for an unjust distribution of resources.

All that the people of Taxila asked for in return from the philosophers was to hear their discourse.

Nothing rams home the reality that Pakistan is the offspring of Ziaul Haq's vision than perusing Hasan’s columns.

The happiest life I could ever hope to live would be one amongst my own and in my own country.

There will be little stomach for defying public sentiment and letting Davis go, but the alternative is far worse.

Local stakeholders and the generation currently in schools will ultimately assume ownership for economic development.

Guess who wins when Muslims get divided.

If Raymond Davis had acted like a proper spy then none of this would have happened.

Pakistan will never be free from dictates of donors until it raises its own revenue from its own domestic resources.

A full-blown economic crisis may well be not too far down the road.

There is no reason why Pakistan cannot step out of the shadow of its servitude and into the light of sovereignty.