Nexus between virtue and vice – by Zafar Hilaly: It took the screams of a young woman being beaten in Swat to galvanise the country and the army to take a stand against the gruesome cruelties inflicted by the Taliban on the local population. Till then a sense

Pakistan’s Civil Awards FCS Style:   Note: FCS stands for fake civil society of Pakistan. In looking at the current civil awards announced by President Asif Ali Zardari, I am amazed as to how an elected government assumes it can reflect public opinion; I

Zafar Hilaly’s ‘hate India’ op-ed in service of his masters in the ISI: Related article: A glaring example of how ISI dictates Pakistani newspapers: The case of a missing WikiLeak cable No conspiracy theories, please by Zafar Hilaly Talking to Time Magazine on July 28, 1958, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt confessed:

No ‘good’ Taliban – by Zafar Hilaly: The regularity with which the military claims to be killing as many as 30-40 militants in a day may be gratifying, but the frequency with which the Taliban are bombing schools and police stations and killing friendly tribals, police,

Religious extremism: Bomb with the fuse lit – by Zafar Hilaly: Once upon a time to get on in Pakistan religion did not matter. On the other hand, a criminal record did not help. Today, by the looks of it, one can have a criminal record and still actually occupy

Shahbaz Sharif’s Taliban entreaties — by Zafar Hilaly: We can be sure that when the Taliban do not respond positively to his entreaties, Mr Sharif will not blame the Taliban, or fate, but Musharraf, the PPP, the MQM, the Americans, the Indians, the British, the Nigerians, the

Did the match between President Zardari and CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry end in a draw?: Here are two thought provoking articles on this topic. The first one is by Zafar Hilaly in Daily Times, and the second is by Cyril Almeida writing in Dawn. The game not worth the candle — by Zafar Hilaly

Nazir Naji & Zafar Hilaly’s SOS from Swat: Swat and saving Pakistan Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Zafar Hilaly More information regarding the Swat deal between the government and the Taliban has come to light. It now appears that the Taliban were bought off by the government for

How then can the Taliban be defeated? by Zafar Hilaly: Taking on the Taliban Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Zafar Hilaly The first battle of a war is psychologically an important one. Pakistan has lost not only the first battle, that for the control of Waziristan, but also the second,

Benazir Bhutto and the Taliban — Zafar Hilaly: Bhutto, who was by instinct a fighter, believed that the battle had to be a no holds barred contest and one that was to be fought to the finish. Casualties of all types, collateral or targeted, would be high.