Category Archives: South Asia

While bombs go off in Karachi a war will be waged. (Israeli style) Continue reading →

More than 100 people have been killed during an assassination attempt on the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi.

Scene of bomb blastTwo bombs went off in a procession welcoming her back to the country after eight years in exile.

Her bullet-proof bus had just passed when the blasts happened.

She was unhurt and has been taken to her house in the city but at least 115 people were killed and around 150 others wounded. Continue reading →

“Pakistan was not targeted for regime change. Yes, Pakistan has no oil. But the US-Israel axis could find her culpable on several other counts, each quite damnable. Pakistan is the only Islamicate country to possess nuclear weapons; she was guilty of nuclear proliferation; she was the chief patron of the Taliban regime; she has been accused by India of supporting cross-border terrorism in Kashmir; and, on the first two counts, Israel could tag Pakistan as the most serious threat to her security. ” Continue reading →

The Pakistan Supreme Court has successfully created a constitutional mess that may do more harm than good. Its judicial activism and bravery in defying President Pervez Musharraf’s efforts to humiliate the judiciary and in reinstating the suspended Chief Justice was appreciated in legal circles throughout the world. Its exercise of suo moto jurisdiction to protect fundamental constitutional rights has also been a beacon of light for lawyers in Pakistan and other Muslim countries where state officials commit gross violations of rights with little accountability. Despite these adorable successes, the Supreme Court has begun to venture into political minefields, raising serious questions about the long term sustainability of its judicial activism. Continue reading →

Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf today agreed on a national reconciliation accord that paves the way for a power-sharing deal, the government and her party said.

The agreement gives an amnesty for politicians who served in Pakistan between 1988 and 1999, effectively clearing opposition leader Bhutto of the corruption charges that forced her into exile eight years ago.

Musharraf once regarded Bhutto as the most corrupt and threatened to arrest her if she ever returned. Now he depends on her for his political survival and has simply changed the laws accordingly. True colours shining through ? Continue reading →