The “Sufi” bureaucrat: Qudratullah Shahab – by Waseem Altaf: We as a nation are emotional people. We can be easily swayed by passion rather than wit. One problem with being emotional is that we lose the ability to critically analyze anything placed before us. Secondly, we tend to

I am a Pakistani – by Shiraz Paracha: I am member of a society that has turned into a weird society during the last 35 years. Now, I level accusations without checking facts and understanding context of actions, decisions and events. Spreading and believing in rumours is my habit. Often my judgements

The battle against common sense: a rebuttal to Dr Manzur Ejaz – by Suleman Akhtar: This was written in response to “The feudal battle against the judiciary-Dr Manzur Ejaz” published in Daily Times on October 20, 2010. Blindfolding by the habitual antipathy and gratuitous adherence with the classical conceptual dogma whilst completely neglecting the persisting

Federalism through civil service reforms – by Qudrat Ullah: While the pivotal role of civil service for aptly maintaining statecraft, anywhere in the world, is self-evident, the historical renovation of the institution of bureaucracy proves it the force-multiplier which is quintessentially important for policy formation besides implementing developmental

Our expats: The Pakistanis living abroad, Part 2 – by Fawad Manzoor: In the original article( click here) I wrote about the negative contributions of our Ex-Pats with few positive ones. I was expecting the editor will hesitate in posting the article but I am glad he posted. I am also surprised that I

Of establishment and its beneficiaries – by Dr Ayesha Siddiqa: Read Part 1 of this article here This article is part of the same article posted here with the title “Political Homosexuality“. I have posted it as a separate article for its comments on Establishment equations and understanding of

Contextualizing corruption in Pakistan – by Asad Sayeed: A report published by the Collective for Social Science Research [PDF Link] Here is the conclusion of the report The Way Forward That corruption is pervasive and endemic in Pakistan is without doubt. As we have seen not only

Cellular Governance in Jhang – by Qudrat Ullah: Pakistan is a victim of bad governance and corruption. Due to institutional decay and slackness of the top babus (bureaucrats), government infrastructure, especially in smaller districts and tehsils where gubernatorial feudal elite and corrupt officials often make lives of

Sacred cow – by Khalid Wasti: ================== مقدس گائے ================== ہر مسلمان کا ایمان ہے کہ ہمارا دین مکمل ہو چکا ہے – کوئی نیا پیغام ، کوئی صحیفہ کوئی مقدس گائے آسمان سے نہیں اترے گی – اب اس زمین پر ہر شخص مقدس

Asif Ezdi: Establishment’s latest weapon against politicians and democracy: Asif Ezdi (whose columns appear in notorious Jang Group / The News indeed) has surfaced as the establishment’s latest tool in its war against politicians and democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan Media Watch has written an article on Mr Ezdi,

Ansar Abbasi, the undeclared spokesperson of Iftikhar Chaudhry – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: Is Ansar Abbasi a journalist or is he the chief spokesperson of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry? Let us have a quick look at today’s daily Jang (1 May 2010) and you see his two analyses on the front page.

Democracy versus ‘the establishment’ in Pakistan: The shadow of the Establishment At independence, Pakistan inherited an over-developed colonial state structure, a relatively weak political class, and a fragmented society from the British. Rather than sparing efforts for nation-building, the colonial state structure, designed to maintain

Civil service reform revisited – by Sania Nishtar: The International Crisis Group’s Report on Civil Service Reform has sparked conversations around the need and potential avenues for restructuring Pakistan’s civil service. This, however, is not the first time that a report on the subject has been made

The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie — by Salman Tarik Kureshi: Our captains of industry can justifiably blame inconsistent government policies, bureaucratic corruption, Bhutto’s nationalisations, political instability, bad law and order, infrastructural limitations, the power crisis and so on. But the fact of a powerless and politically inert big bourgeoisie

Castigating politicians: A sense of gloom and all-pervasive disillusionment and despair seems to have overtaken the country. Since a civilian elected government is at the head of affairs, the anger and frustration of wide sections of the people is turning on

Hit and left to die – by S Khalid Husain: The Punjab chief secretary left the scene of the accident after his chauffeur-driven vehicle knocked down and killed an ex-army officer; this was a cold-blooded act no different from that of a hit-and-run driver. This was a grave error

Mapping the establishment – by Ayesha Siddiqa: As the battle rages between the political government and its rival, popularly known as the establishment, the public silently awaits the final result. For some, the civilian government has already lost because its capacity to influence policymaking or make

We need more people like Maryam: Monday, October 05, 2009Syed Anwar Mahmood (The News) Maryam Gilani has done us proud. She has also set an example for her peers and colleagues to follow. And she has put to shame the senior ones who lost the

Establishment in Pakistan: A tool of the Saudi-American international mafia: Here is an analysis by Zamarrud Naqvi exposing the influence of Saudi-American players in civil and military establishment

Pakistan’s Foreign Office: a subsidiary of ISI: BBC Urdu dot com: Pakistan’s Foreign Office has always been a subsidiary of ISI پاکستانی وزارتِ خارجہ: طفیلی ادارہ! بیورو رپورٹ اسلام آباد بے نظیر بھٹو اور نواز شریف نہ صرف بھارت سےبہتر تعلقات بلکہ افغان صورتحال سے بھی

From Minus One to Minus Two Formula in Pakistan: Ali Salman’s analysis points towards the possibility that the anti-democracy establishment (military and civil bureaucracy) in Pakistan may be behind the campaigns to defame President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. مائنس ون نہیں اب مائنس ٹو علی سلمان بی بی

Malakand Commissioner AKA "Commissioner Taliban" has been transfered !: فضل کریم خٹک نئے مالاکنڈ کمشنر مقرر عبدالحئی کاکڑ صوبہ سرحد کی حکومت نے طالبان کے مبینہ حامی ہونے کے الزامات کی زد میں رہنے والے مالاکنڈ ڈویژن کے کمشنر سید محمد جاوید کے تبادلے کا باقاعدہ نوٹیفیکیشن جاری

Counter-terrorism through the civil service – by Mosharraf Zaidi: The attack on the Lahore police training facility yesterday, which as of the time of this article’s writing had not ended, should wake Pakistan up. There is an existential

Baboos grab the bounty… Ansar Abbasi exposes corruption in the civil bureaucracy in Pakistan, in the top most echelon BS-22…: Baboos grab the bounty Friday, November 14, 2008 By Ansar Abbasi ISLAMABAD: In a blatant case of self-serving and conflict of interest, the top members of the civil bureaucracy, federal secretaries and officers of BS-22 have secretly ganged up

Pakistan needs good bureaucrats like this one….: The Jhang modelSaturday, November 01, 2008 The extraordinary feats achieved by a mid-level government official, who served for some years as the DCO Jhang, have not received sufficient notice. The innovative bureaucrat, who has now rather tragically quit government