Is America really our Enemy No 1?
By Raza Rumi : Six months ago, an extraordinary news report was published by Dawn, which recounted the contents of a military briefing given…
More on the Pakistan Wikileaks- US Operations Constrained by India-Pakistan Relations
My interview which has appeared on Wikileaks Central. The Dawn Media Group in partnership with WikiLeaks has been releasing the “Pakistan Papers.” Thus far,…
Pakistan: Fixing the civil-military imbalance
Sovereignty is the flavour of the month in Pakistan. Since the capture and questionable assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the Pakistani discourse has been…
The spectre of Islamist infiltration
The recent attacks on the Karachi naval base have once again sparked a debate concerning the much-feared radicalisation within the armed forces. Declan Walsh…
Our collective psychosis
By Raza Rumi Pakistan’s right wing has flourished on the crutches of a national security doctrine: A world view, which prioritises paranoia and ‘security’…
On the Issue of the United States, Pakistan Is Playing with Fire
I was interviewed on the recently released Wikileaks Cables on Pakistan. Here is part one. Will upload part two soon. Part two appeared on…
Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies are weak – Raza Rumi
My analysis on the national security issues of Pakistan. I discussed the PNS Mehran attack in Karachi. The breach of security at such heavily…
Social media and Pakistan – prospects and possibilities
When I started to blog, almost by accident, a few Pakistani bloggers were found in cyberspace. Within half a decade the number has multiplied…
Osama Bin Laden is dead: what next for Pakistan?
The dramatic events of May 2, enacted in Pakistan’s small, sleepy town of Abbottabad have surely shaken the world. The global icon of al…
Our textbooks and the lies they teach
By Raza Rumi Due to the 18th Amendment, a momentous shift in Pakistan’s governance arrangements is taking place through a politically mediated and largely…
Pakistan has been playing us all for suckers
Britain is spending millions bolstering Pakistan, but it is a nation in thrall to radical Islam and is using its instability to blackmail the…
Time for a consensus on economic policy
My piece which was published by The News under the title Prospects of change The recent decision of the federal cabinet to rationalise General…
Celebrating the Word
By Nadir Hassan At first glance, the second iteration of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) was a rerun of the first, with the same…
Dynasties and Clientelism in Pakistan
THE hallmark of Pakistan’s political elites is their narrow base. A limited number of families have dominated Pakistan’s legislatures since the country’s inception in…
Pakistani media does not report on the brutal realities of Balochistan
Ali Dayan Hasan — Pakistan representative, Human Rights Watch The News on Sunday (TNS) How does HRW view the current state of human rights…
Balochistan: Pushed to the wall
There must be something terribly wrong with the state of Pakistan that in its largest province, state schools no longer recite the national anthem…
Life’s Too Short Short Story Prize 2010/11
By Aysha Raja The Life’s Too Short Literary Review could never have been possible were it not for the Life’s Too Short Short Story…
Raymond Davis and our national honour
A few weeks ago, when the Raymond Davis saga had gripped the public imagination, I had humbly suggested, on a TV show, that this…
KLF: a mixed bag
By Huma Imtiaz When a literary festival’s headliner is author and religious thinker Karen Armstrong, one wonders whether to be amused, or descend into…
Wandering between two worlds – Karachi Literary festival
Ghazi Salahuddin’s write up for the NEWS makes interesting points about the festival and also mentions me as one lost between the English and…