Megalomaniac

Pandering to extremism Last month, the State of Pakistan perhaps made one of its biggest blunders when it surrendered to religious extremists. A lot has already been written in the media about the Faizabad dharna (sit-in) but as a Pakistani, one still cannot come to terms with the way it all unfolded. The elections bill 2017 was framed by a joint parliamentary committee over a period of three years and more than a 100-odd meetings in order to reach a consensus. A slight amendment was made in an oath pertaining to the Khatam-e-Nabuwat (Finality of Prophethood) clause in the Elections Act 2017, which was agreed upon by the government and other political parties. Not many would have even noticed it had it not been for a senator who pointed it out and started a debate on a tricky and sensitive issue. The government mishandled the situation. Instead of explaining the minor change in a proper context, the government panicked. From the law minister to the interior minister, everyone from...

Pakistan army negotiates deal with mullah brigade, undermines govt It was the beginning of the end of the Pakistani state as we know it this weekend, as the mullah brigade and the Army joined hands to assert their power over the state. If you want to see what ‘playing with fire’ literally means, just look at what’s been happening in Pakistan in the last three weeks. As for the last three days, what has happened is not just mind-boggling but has also left one feeling cold and nauseous – literally. Decades of terrorist attacks around us may have made one immune to violence but there are some incidents that just leave a mark on you permanently. The way the state of Pakistan capitulated before the mullah brigade on Monday is one such incident, which will also have long-term repercussions not just for the country but our society as a whole. For the past three weeks, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) held the capital hostage as a result of its sit-in at the Faizabad inter-change t...

Pakistan has no hope of a state that can enforce its writ In a surrender like no other, the state of Pakistan has made one mistake after another and shown that the mullah brigade can get away with anything and everything Anger. Despair. Disgust. Fear. Frustration. Shock. These are just some of the emotions one felt after the state of Pakistan literally bent over backwards to appease religious extremists as it made a deal with those who had laid siege to the capital. What started as a controversy surrounding the Elections Act 2017 due to an amendment to the oath turned out to be the undoing of the entire state of Pakistan. A mob led by extremist cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, leader of Tehreek-i-Labaik, staged a sit-in at Faizabad, Islamabad. For three weeks this mob sat there and hurled abuses at the politicians, judges, mediapersons, etc, and also ended up paralysing the lives of the people living in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The courts took notice of this and ordered the governme...