Why America won’t help with Kashmir
Media commentator Aakar Patel, who also co-owns a publishing and content outsource company in Mumbai, recently wrote for The Express Tribune about the Kashmir freedom struggle and how India gets away despite its reign of oppression and coercion in the valley. For a change, Aakar is one of the voices from the Indian mainstream who infuses fresh life into the waning secular Indianess. However, his skewed proclamations where he raises questions like “What does azadi mean? It means freedom, of course. But freedom from what? (sic)”, which are not new to the Kashmir discourse, stink of ignorance and self-righteousness, and ...
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What our HEC can learn from India
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has made significant contributions since its inception in 2002, however the strategies used by the commission have room for improvement. Statistics clearly show that the quantitative results of the HEC are plausible, with drastically increased university enrollment and a huge army of PhDs in the making on scholarships. The quality of students on the other hand, does not seem too impressive. It is hard to challenge the fact that knowledge is not being produced in the country, and this raises a question: What exactly do we want to achieve with this enormous number of ...
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Trade with India, for a better Pakistan
If the choice facing Pakistan is abandoning its claims on the Indian side of Kashmir in exchange for free trade with India, then I see it as an automatic choice: the economic future of 180 million citizens of Pakistan is not worth sacrificing for the sake of some vague political aspirations of a fraction of the 12 million or so who live on the Indian side of Kashmir. The hyper-nationalists that populate a surprisingly large segment of Pakistani cyberspace will no doubt argue that this is “selling Kashmir down the river”. Has anyone ever thought of the fairness of it ...
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Overtures from Washington
There are clear and unmistakable signs of a possible thaw emerging between Washington and Islamabad, with the head of the US Central Command expected to visit the Pakistani capital this month. Both sides are counting the threads of converging interests and a strategic rethink is taking shape on Pakistan’s possible role in US talks with the Taliban. The deadly Nato attack on a Pakistani border post on November 26 last year had virtually frozen the relationship at both political and military levels, leaving the US to embark on a solo journey in uncharted waters as Washington engaged the Taliban for the ...
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The Pakistan-Iran pipedream
For a government often accused of indecision and weakness, Islamabad has been strikingly defiant about its determination to pursue a natural gas pipeline deal with Iran. Pakistan’s strident tone has not changed in light of Washington’s heightened sanctions regime vis-à-vis Iran, which bans countries from having commercial transactions with Tehran. The foreign ministry has declared that the sanctions do not affect the pipeline project. Other Pakistanis, however, fear that the sanctions may well present problems. One prominent lawyer has suggested Islamabad go so far as to lobby the UN to ensure the ...
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Video Blog: Friends without borders
This is my story of peace; of how my perception has changed about India over the last few years. It was the winter of late 2009. I was surfing through my Facebook fan page for Sheehsa, when I saw a message in my inbox which was sent by a girl named Arveen Singh. In the message Arveen asked me to promote her page on my fanpage. However, when I went to view her profile, I found out that she was from India. This immediately sparked my curiosity, and I sent her a friend request, which she accepted. Thus began a beautiful friendship. ...
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Islamabad Diary: Lacklustre dialogue at a glamorous affair
The predominantly male press corps of Islamabad spent a lot of time last week on Google trying to figure out exactly what a Birkin is and how it is related to the Pakistan-India peace process. “At least it’s cheaper than maintaining the nuclear deterrent,” said one journalist after finding out that a Birkin handbag cannot be had for under $10,000. Media coverage of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s talks with her Indian counterpart SM Krishna in Delhi was dominated by her looks, style and the price of her wardrobe. I confess to being guilty of the same crime. The media was accused ...
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PPP’s agenda: Toeing the party line
Quick – how many people have been thrown out of government this month for refusing to toe the party line? It’s getting to a point where it’s hard to keep track. If you stop considering those individuals who have been sidelined because their views are too controversial, the number of disgruntled Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members is even higher. We’ve heard it over and over again – political parties need to have an agenda, and party workers need to stick to their group’s principles. This is not only done to legislate effectively, but is also an important way for a political ...
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Kasab’s verdict: Lessons for Pakistan
The Mumbai terror attacks have been dubbed by the Indian media as their 9/11. Ajmal Kasab, the sole accused of the incident, will be facing a verdict at the end of this month. The sentence that will be awarded to him is pre-determined; perhaps the harshest and most well-deserved punishment as allowed by the Indian constitution and laws of the jurisdiction. A few years ago, Kasab and his accomplices terrorised the glitzy city of Mumbai for days and took the entire world by surprise. The shooting rampage and mayhem created by these despicable characters reversed the course of the ongoing pleasant ...
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Making friends in the new world order
“We need to accept responsibility for America’s unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles” (Statement of Principles, Project for the New American Century, June 3rd, 1997) While reading this statement, one inevitably notices the emphasis on the word “our.” Besides, when the US President says “God Bless America”, one wonders, “Ok, God Bless America…but what about the rest of us?” These are the questions that arise in the minds of Pakistanis and these are the concerns that Hillary Clinton attempted to address (quite unsuccessfully) in her recent charity trip to Pakistan. Today, America stands at ...
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