Punjab’s undesirable politics of defection (i.e. Lota Politics): Despite advice from all sane quarters, Punjab is in the grip of a power tussle. A firm arrangement is making transition to an uncertain one that is going to be haunted by court cases and general acrimony. The PMLN

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman – an analysis by Haroon-ur-Rashid:

A slap on the face of war maniac columnists such as Aftab Iqbal, Hamid Mir and Irfan Siddiqi – By Asadullah Ghalib:

Reform ISI? Not like this: The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Mr Richard Boucher, said Tuesday that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) needed to be reformed. He did not point to any specific flaw in the conduct of

Pakistan army, have you ever won a war? – by Nazir Naji: کوئی جیتی ہوئی جنگ جھولی میں ہے؟ … نذیر ناجی جمہوریت سے محرومی کی سب سے بڑی سزا یہ ملتی ہے کہ معاشرے نظم و ترتیب سے محروم ہو جاتے ہیں۔ کسی کی حیثیت اور وقعت کا پیمانہ باقی

Hamid Gul and his jihadi agenda – by Abbas Ather:

War on Terror: Clash of realism and populism in Pakistan: Comment about the government’s policy on the war against terrorism is understandably rife in the media because of the sensitivity of the issue at hand. Some reporters speaking from areas of conflict are advising the government to “do what

Bangladesh: familiar trajectory?: Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) has been freed and become the party’s permanent chief. She was in jail for a year on corruption charges, which are still in place. Her son Tariq Rehman is known

ZA Bhutto vs General Zia: Who lived and who died? – by Abbas Ather: A beautiful column by Abbas Ather (Express, 13 Sep 2008) in memory of shaheed Zlufiqar Ali Bhutto.

Junooni media, retired Generals, and Zardari phobia – Abbas Ather:

Anti-democracy elite of Pakistan – Abbas Ather:

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto slaps General Zia and Ziaists from his grave – by Hasan Nisar: …. Tariq Ali’s interview on General Zia and Bhutto (BBC Urdu) Part 1: Part 2: Source: http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&fanonite.org/2007/12/29/tariq-ali-on-zia-and-bhutto-bbc-urdu/ Tariq Ali is speaking about his play, The Leopard and the Fox commissioned initially by the BBC. The play dealt with the

Zardari, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif – by Hamid Mir:

Nusrat Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari – by Munno Bhai:

Election of Asif Zardari as President – by Khurshid Nadeem: Asif Zardari: aik tareekh saaz intikhaab

The junooni group of the Pakistani media and the PPP phobia – By Abbas Ather:

President Asif Ali Zardari – Riaz Syed:

Bloody mess and the supporters of the fauji laundry – Munnoo Bhai: Munno bhai writes on the campaign of the Mullah Media Alliance against the political class and their insistence that NRO must be dry-cleaned in the ‘fauji laundry’.

How to clean up the bloody mess – Asadullah Ghalib:

How to clean up the bloody mess – Munno Bhai:

Asif Zardari and PPP: A story of sacrifice – by Nazir Naji:

Khurshid Nadeem’s proposal to tackle the Taliban and Al-Qaeda:

Disinformation cell part 2 – the paid agenst of ISI-Mullah alliance working against democracy in Pakistan:

Why do urban elite and right wing media hate Zardari? – by Abbas Ather: Abbas Ather, Daily Express, 2 September

Dr Javid Iqbal’s Vision of Pakistan: Nawai-Waqt – 13 September 2008

Mother of all challenges facing President Zardari: According to one report, there are five challenges that the new President of Pakistan, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, will face. These are ones posed by rising militancy, a failing economy, fledgling democracy, conflict with India, and his own personal

A great victory, a perilous task – Tanvir Ahmad Khan: Tanvir Ahmad Khan The questions of provincial autonomy, relations between the presidency and parliament, the right balance between the powers of the president and the prime minister and the fullest possible rehabilitation of the judiciary will have to be

President Zardari and media obsessions: On Tuesday, at the press conference following his swearing-in, President Asif Ali Zardari set the tone by saying: “The president will only carry forward the brief of the government and bow before the parliament; the president will be subservient

The politics of values – by Adrian A Husain: By Adrian A Husain POWER can at times appear shamanistic. It is able to steal into hearts, subtly persuade and, with devastating logic, finally prevail. The political adroitness of Asif Ali Zardari, the new president-elect of the country, has

A non-defence of Zardari – by Dr Meekal Aziz Ahmed: Editor’s note: I am cross-posting below an excellent article by Dr Meekal Aziz (published in The News) in which he states that the usual Zardari-bashing is getting rather tiresome and boring. We “need to move on” to build a tolerant,

Cheers To democracy – by Laila Sohail: With the election over, a clear mandate being given, and the parliament in place, Pakistan finally gets its much awaited taste of democracy. “The people of Pakistan have given their mandate…..” this s the most used line by those

My choice today: Wed 21 May 2008 – Reconciliation is the only way forward: Welcome to Let Us Build Pakistan. I have decided to post a daily selection of columns and also offer some comments on topics which are relatively ignored or misunderstood/misrepresented in the mainstream media. Today I am cross-posting two articles,