Afghans understand that the old state machine of their country is no more working as it cannot accommodate all ethnic colours within its torn and bruised body. Technocrats believe that all parts of the machine have become outdated as it has not been able to address the issue of ethnicity, sectarianism and national reconstruction since 1992. Conversely, there are different opinions in Pakistan....

He fought for the founding principles and the genuine mass traditions of the PPP. He admonished the lust for wealth, power and office. His courage and determination was implacable. Murtaza had led a turbulent and a challenging life. After his father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was deposed and later assassinated through the gallows in April 1979 by General Zia ul Haq, Murtaza’s life was shattered. This one traumatic event plunged him into the whirlwind of political struggle….

Invoking blasphemy and apostasy have been successfully used within Muslim countries to crush any debate about whether religion should play a role in matters of the state From being a prayer and reflection day, Friday, over the years, has effectively become a day of rage and rampage in the Muslim countries. ...when the rabblerousing clerics can and do unleash hatemongering congregations utilising the well-oiled infrastructure of violence....

There was outrage in the area as residents believed that this was a contrived ‘encounter’, and that those killed and detained were innocent men falling prey to a beleaguered police that was under pressure to perform following incidents of bomb blasts earlier in Delhi. The overwhelming demand for a judicial enquiry was denied....

Saudis and Qataris are openly supplying arms to the rebels, as are other Gulf States to varying degrees. Iran is determined to do everything in its power to ensure the survival of the Assad regime, including supplying oil, munitions and advisers and dispatching fighters, in however small numbers. The Iranian supplies are being routed through Iraq, whose Shia-led government is sympathetic to the Alawites in Damascus....

It’s not only Pakistani Hindus who routinely narrate horror tales. Indian Muslims are terrorised too while on visits to Pakistan as tourists as they are generally taken to be RAW agents or spies. The problem with the Pakistani administration is that it can’t tolerate Hindus and more than them, pious Muslims who profess their loyalty to India. My family and I realised this to our dismay during our recent visit as tourists to Lahore....

“Acid violence is a worldwide phenomenon”, said the Acid Survivor Trust International, the largest European organisation helping the victims of acid attacks, ‘that is not restricted to a particular race, religion or geographical location’. According to estimates, more than 1,500 people in 20 countries are victims of acid attacks every year....

While every country sets ultimate limits on its citizens’ rights and liberties, Tunisia’s broadly defined efforts to ban criticism of religion in Article 3 are worrisome. The article in its current, murkily worded formulation will likely restrict the range of expression in Tunisia, and may be used as a convenient vehicle for political and social repression....

However, except for a few elements in Bahawalpur, I found that the Pakistani states had a very different history and nature when compared with other states in South Asia. First, very few of them were ever part of any South Asian empire, except the British Indian Empire. Even Bahawalpur, the most eastern of states, owed allegiance to Kabul rather than to Delhi....

Shia Iran’s confinement of women is identically motivated. Rather than faith-based however, both the extremist Shia administration in Iran and the Sunni Wahhabi theocracy in Saudi Arabia pursue identical political goals. The elimination of women from Iran’s universities solidifies increasingly Islamist-centric policies, while in Saudi Arabia; the traditional tribal monarchy relies heavily on legitimacy borrowed from a fundamentalist and misogynistic interpretation of Islam....

Had that Bill been adopted I am sure Assam would not have repeated. Many more riots would take place if an effective law is not made and implemented. The provisions of the Bill are such that it would be difficult for perpetrators of violence to escape the law. Also it holds those who fail to maintain law and order responsible and in case, they cannot maintain peace will be punished. And above all there is fair provision for reparations and relief....

“Learn how the most vivacious leaders are better at hijacking movements than they are at initiating revolutions,” I replied. “We learned a long time ago that a revolution in Pakistan can only achieve two things: One, it will most probably initiate the breaking up of the country and second, even if launched by the so-called liberal and democratic forces, it is bound to be hijacked by the religious right....

Like any other phenomenon, religion cannot be analysed in isolation from all the maladies that inflict the people at any given time. A symptom may be an indication of a disease, but it is hardly a disease in itself. Instead of blaming the system, it is typical of bourgeois intellectuals to divide human beings into two definite camps where they are conveniently stereotyped as good or ugly....

The presence of religious political parties of the ilk of the Muslim Brotherhood is the consequence of a continued void that has prevailed ever since the Left was stymied. In Pakistan and the Middle East, in the past such parties had no substantial vote bank, and hence were never considered a phenomenon worthy of note, although they always had a nuisance value....

On the issue of war on terror, understandably the COAS’ opinion is that this war has become so complex and complicated that the entire nation has to join in to fight against it. “Pakistan needs to disengage and disassociate itself from the American so-called war on terrorism.” Stop the so-called war on terrorism and terrorism will end in Pakistan. Speak the truth when you see it!...