Tag Archives: Pakistan

Pakistan’s counter-terror and counter-radicalization drive requires strict enforcement of existing laws. Its ruling elite, including the bureaucracy, need to stop thinking in terms of stereotypes and rely more on indigenous ways of dealing with conflict and crime than on borrowed recipes.

Two tweets and a letter from a friend include key lessons for Pakistan, which has seen simmering tensions on its border with Afghanistan.

The Pakistani predicament…stuffed lions and pompous, chest-beating heroes aplenty but no real leadership. The one hope is that the pressure coming from the Panama Leaks keeps being applied so that by the time of the next elections something cracks and new forces come to the fore. Otherwise its present course, spending way beyond its means, will lead the country to disaster.

Pakistan’s judicial system is crying out for justice, and for the prevention of abuse of law by the bar and the bench. What is needed is the killing of the propensity to abuse and exploit existing laws.

The Panama Papers are just one symptom of a deeper malaise. This is wherePakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief General Raheel Sharif need to intervene if they mean good for Pakistan.

But Prince Mohammed faces a tough challenge – modernizing the economy and society will require him to confront religious conservatives, a faction that the government has allied with for many decades.

Those having the power in Pakistan to correct things must not sit on the Constitutional fence anymore, they either face up to their moral obligations or gracefully give way to others who can.

Are Pakistanis taking a whole-of-government approach to coordinate counterterrorism and counter-radicalization strategies? Actions under the National Action Plan and its anti-terrorism operation are impressive, but where is the long-term strategy to replace hard power with the soft power of the state?

As water from tube-wells goes from sweet to salty, information on depth and quality of groundwater from an ambitious exercise to map the Upper Indus basin is yet to reach farmers in Pakistan.

The moral authority of Pakistan Army suffers in public perception in the face of the avarice, greed and ambitions of a few. The corrupt, whoever they are, need to be tagged, says one defense analyst.