Megalomaniac

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday called for talks with India to defuse tensions and offered cooperation in the investigation into the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. In a televised address, he also warned against further escalation of the situation. “With the kind of weapons we have, can we afford any miscalculation? Should we not think about the consequences of an escalation at this point in time? If it escalates, it will neither be in my control nor [Indian PM Narendra] Modi’s. This is why I am inviting you again: we are ready to cooperate in the Pulwama investigation, dialogue on terrorism. Better sense should prevail. We should resolve our issues through dialogue.” He added that Pakistan “understands the pain of those who lost their loved ones in the Pulwama attack because Pakistan, too, has lost 70,000 of our own... We offered to cooperate with India. We said this because it is not in the interest of Pakistan for its soil to be used for terrorism anywhere.” A

India has “committed uncalled for aggression”, says Pakistan’s top security committee Pakistan on Tuesday termed India’s cross-border air strike “uncalled for aggression” and vowed retaliation. “India has committed uncalled for aggression to which Pakistan shall respond at the time and place of its choosing,” Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) said in a statement. Prime Minister Imran Khan convened an emergency meeting of the NSC hours after Indian aircraft carried out the strike. The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar and the military top brass, including Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The NSC called the Indian government’s claims of targeting a militant camp in Balakot “self-serving, reckless and fictitious.” Mr. Qureshi also held a press conference, along with the Defence and Finance Ministers in Islamabad. After reading out the NSC statement, Mr. Qureshi s

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” — Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In Pakistan, we love to give examples of people like Arundhati Roy when she challenges the Indian state and talks about atrocities in Indian-held Kashmir or student leader Kanhaiya Kumar when he talked about freedom to protest in India. More recently, the controversy surrounding students of the Aligarh Muslim University and Republic TV made headlines in Pakistan. We heard many an analyst criticising India for its sedition laws. While one agrees with the criticism and hails those challenging state narratives, one must always look inwards also. Unfortunately, when it comes to dissent in Pakistan, we suddenly take an ostrich-like position and turn a blind eye when our own freedom of expression and

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the general elections last year and formed the Central government. The PTI also won in two Provinces — Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. After a bit of an intra-party tussle, the Pervez Khattak group defeated the Atif Khan group and Mahmood Khan became the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. All eyes were then set on Punjab as observers heard one name after the other being considered for the much-coveted post of the Province’s Chief Minister, which some consider more powerful than even that of the Prime Minister. Hence, when Prime Minister Imran Khan named Usman Buzdar to the position, it came as a huge shocker for many. This shock was not because Mr. Buzdar had previously been in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — a lot of ‘electables’ had after all jumped ship from other parties to the PTI prior to the election. What was surprising was that not much was known about the new CM. In a video message announcing Mr. Buzdar’s candidature, Mr