Greeting “The Stranger” in Balochi Literature
By Fazal Baloch The year 2012 came to an end with a relatively good note for Balochi literature. After a long wait it finally managed to have Albert Camus’ critically acclaimed novel The stranger. One of the world’s most widely read fiction works of the 20th century the Stranger, which first appeared in 1942 in French [...]
Avoiding Armageddon: South Asia’s Perennial Challenge
By Malik Siraj Akbar A decade after their partnership in the war on terrorism, the United States and Pakistan are still uneasy to describe each other as trusted allies. Both the countries find little common ground to further engage as close partners. The future of the relationship looks uncertain as the United States prepares to [...]
Pouring Oil Over Raging Fires
By Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur When a person, in his opening lines, terms the May 28, 1998 Chaghai nuclear explosion as historic, it creates misgivings about the purpose of that write up. Mr Usama Nizamani in his article “Gwadar: an emerging paradigm for Pakistan and the region” (Daily Times, March 19, 2013) did just that. [...]
Why General Musharraf Still Matters in Pakistan
By Malik Siraj Akbar Pakistan’s former military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, is ending his four-year old self-imposed exile on March 24th by traveling back to the country’s largest city of Karachi in order to participate in the upcoming general elections tentatively scheduled for May, 2013. Musharraf had seized power in a coup in 1999, promised [...]
State of Indigenous Languages in Pakistan
By Fazal Baloch Since 2000, February 21st is regularly observed as the International Mother Language Day all over the world. Feb 21st is one of the gory episodes, Pakistan encountered in the post partition period. On this bleak day at Dhaka police opened indiscriminate fire on Bengali students, demonstrating for the implementation of Bengali as [...]
Regime Change
By Alefia T. Hussain Time was of essence last Sunday. As the night wore on, the PM, along with representatives of coalition and other parties, had little choice but to act – and concede to the demand of the peacefully demonstrating Hazara Shias. So, in an extraordinary late-night decision on Jan 13, Prime Minister Raja [...]
The Demise of Book Reading Culture
By Fazal Baloch There is no denying of the fact that books play an unparalleled role in shaping the destinies of both individuals and nations alike and nothing guides man more effectively than books. However, it’s a sad reflection that among several other positive social values, the culture of reading has also persistently been declining [...]
The Tragedy of Journalists in Balochistan
By Hamid Mir The September 29th target killing of a TV reporter Abdul Haq Baloch in the Khuzdar district of the trouble-stricken Balochistan has compelled his fellow journalists to stop performing their professional duties and lock the Khuzdar Press Club. Khuzdar has turned into one of the most perilous areas for the media in Pakistan. [...]
Balochistan’s Duty
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider BALOCHISTAN has historically held the centre wholly responsible for the province’s underdevelopment and economic backwardness. But now the province cannot absolve itself of responsibility, as it has received unprecedented funds under the seventh National Finance Commission (NFC) award and more autonomy after the passage of the 18th Amendment. What it still lacks, [...]
Being Young and Baloch
By Malik Siraj Akbar In a chapter focusing on the Pakistani youth in the newly published book The Future of Pakistan, Moeed W. Yusuf, the South Asia Advisor at the Washington-based United States Institute for Peace (USIP), says 79 per cent of the youth in Pakistan “feels proud to be a Pakistani”. The response of [...]