Ali Malik's blog

Imran Khan has been in Pakistani politics for good 16 years now. He, however, has never been scrutinized for his policies, his understanding of issues and his ideology. Probably the prime reason of this absence of scrutiny is the fact the he and his party never came with their position on key issues except for jargons and political rhetoric. Recently, however, for the first time, he was grilled on his views vis-à-vis War on Terror and Af-Pak situation in an interview in “Sirf Sach”. His views were also reproduced in an article on Afghan War by Jemima Goldsmith in Daily Independent. An in depth analysis of his understanding of the issue highlights serious flaws and contradictions in comprehension and reasoning. The key reasoning behind Imran’s regional view stems for an assertion that Afghans can never be ruled by a foreign power and the region somehow is a graveyard of empires. This narrative was promoted by Brits after their failure to conquer Afghanistan, probably to hide embarras...

I thought but never thought as much as I did for this piece. The patriot in me is asking me to stay silent but the human in me has forced me to write this.  Ever since the PNS Mehran attack almost everyone is convinced that the job was an inside job. The attack at the largest Naval Base of the country is no small affair. More so, the attack followed a similar attack at the heart of Pakistan's Security Structure on GHQ in April 2009. In between, the world's most wanted terrorist was killed in one of the largest cantonments in the country. These incidents raise serious considerations about Pakistan's capability to secure its strategic assets. What aggravates the matter is the fact that the threat comes from within. The world which already considered Pakistan a failed, rogue and volatile state seems even more convinced of dangers Pakistan poses. And what adds to world's fears is the fact that Pakistan possesses nuclear arsenal. Nuclear Arsenal in a fragile state, facing a ...

A few months ago, mostly accidentally, I happened to meet a few officers of Pakistan Army who have served in South Waziristan and other areas of FATA, the epicenter of war on terror. What I heard from them made me explore Army's view on War on Terror further. Coincidently, my inquiry into Army's view on War on Terror coincided with killing of Osama Bin Laden. An incident that has put spotlight on Army's role in War on Terror and its allegiances in the war like never before. On the onset, let me make a few things clear. My opposition to Pakistan Army's strategic doctrine and its repeated interventions in political system is well known. I think Army made a mess of itself and of the country when it assumed the role of national savior, policy-maker, a  and custodian of a pseudo doctrine of "Nazriya-e-Pakistan". Neither was it helpful for anyone but Army men, when the institute, which should have been a symbol of national pride, turned into a corporate machinery h...

Ever since Zahir Shah's dethroning led to a cycle of chaos in Afghanistan, no issue, not even 9/11, had the potential of impacting Pakistan more than what is happening in our West in the Middle East. A movement has spread from Iran to Morocco, shaking the very foundations of the order that has dominated the region for past century. The print and electronic media that blabbers day in day out on every non-issue has completely blacked out one of the most critical debates that should be taking place in Pakistan. The think tanks, pseudo intellectuals, and retired bureaucrats and generals are mum. And yet what is happening around has most far reaching consequences for Pakistan and calls for an open debate on a broad based policy formulation vis-a-vis the Mid-Eastern crisis. This piece is an attempt to discuss the guidelines of a comprehensive Middle East policy.  Whether what is happening in Middle East is a consequence of CIA conspiracy, as is alleged by Saudis, Iranians and others...

The pace of events in Middle East has caught many by surprise. It seems a matter of months if not weeks before the existing order in the Middle East will pave way for a new order. What shape will the new order assume is uncertain for now. However, theocracy or elected governments on sectarian lines are two very probable outcomes. Just when because of its strong political parties, Pakistan does not face the direct threat of Middle East style revolts, the ripples of the above-mentioned eventualities have dire consequences for Pakistan. We are already too late into foreseeing what could happen in the world around us and have paid a heavy price for being blinded. Yet again, the changes that are going to happen in our west are likely to be costly unless we take the necessary measures to control the damage. If there has even been a reason for Pakistani establishment to push for a secular, liberal democratic Pakistan, it is now. Asian Middle East is the only region in the Muslim world with Sh...

This piece is dedicated to Governor Taseer. A man who had the conviction in his belief and fought for it till the very end. A brave man whom, in the words of Shakespeare, the death took with pride. It is a death that should be mourned for the bravery and courage of the dead, and for the loss of  multi-faceted life full of positive energy that has been lost. My knowledge of Governor Taseer was of third person. In fact, I was not a fan of him when he became Governor and yet in few weeks, he made me his fan. His candidness, confidence, quick wit and analytical mindset coupled with his popular politics made him a trend-setter in the politics of Punjab which has been marred by pseudo, scripted, thoughtlessly conservative and tunnel-visioned politicians for most part. That he was a successful entrepreneur and business tycoon, a dedicated political worker, a successful political administrator (whom his opponents feared), and had a social circle spanning from cart-food owners to the ...

The events of Tunisia have stirred the whole world and have raised questions about the future of Tunisia, the Arab world, and the developing world's bastions of stability in the cyclical boom of 90s and early 2000s. As the events keep unfolding in Tunisia, the world awaits answers to four key questions. What Happened? Whether what happened was a consequence of something deep rooted or was it a knee-jerk reaction is yet to be seen. Arab world, rewinding back 4-5 decades or so, has a tendency for knee-jerk revolutions without any unifying agenda or leadership. Whether what happened this time was a repeat of 60s or is it a more aware revolution with a defined set of compatible and workable ideals is yet to be seen. Another perspective on events, and with significant credibility, is that the Army in Tunisia realizing that the anger on streets is getting out of hand decided to make Bin Ali the scapegoat. If this is true then the success of the revolution in achieving its objective...

A picture says it all!

Born and raised in a society of impulsive/emotional (and often wrong) responses, I, too, have this tendency to respond impulsive and this reflects in some of my posts on this blog too. When Benazir Bhutto got killed, my response was of anger and grief. I wanted to write so much on it here, driven by that anger and grief. But somehow something within me stopped me from writing immediately. I didn't realize it then what it was. My piece on that came good four days after the assassination and it was not driven by the impulsive emotion and had the impact of the reality seeped in well. When I heard the news of the assassination of Governor Taseer (may his spirit be in peace), my response was of anger, of grief, and of shock. And yet something, from within, stopped me from writing impulsively on this too. My inner voice says it is maturity. Similarity between Governor's death and BB's death doesn't end here. In case of BB, same anchors on national media tried to justify suici...

Winners of Asian Games Women Cricket - Team PAKISTAN!

The more I think about the idea of charter of Pakistan, the more I get struck by the absurdity of it. I think even Sharif himself is not sure what he means by Charter of Pakistan. If he means changes in constitutional structure, I believe that already is a settled matter in 18th amendment. May be there is some more room for issues pertaining to provincial autonomy and civil service reforms, but the forum for that is parliament. We are not living in Charter of democracy times any more and the country has a functional parliament that could pull something like 18th amendment unanimously and provides ample room to Mian Sahab to raise his concerns and seek consensus. As far as the 25 year planning of economy etc goes, it is an absurdity to even think about it. We are way pass the raw-Keynesian economic times, where the central planners used to decide the direction of the economy. It is a near consensus that the best role for government is to monitor and control the free flowing economy thr...

Attack on the shrine of Baba Farid in Pak Pattan is another attack of the barbaric gang of global terrorists on peace loving Pakistanis. Unlike Ali Hajveri and Abdullah Shah Ghazi, who too emphasized on the virtues of tolerance and integrated societies, Farid is different in one aspect and that is his poetry. A poetry which talks of retrospective self-analysis, harmony, peace, and tolerance. For his remarkable works of poetry, this 13th century poet and mystic is revered by poets, intellectuals, mystics, and people of faiths and ethnicities in South Asia and Persia. His works of poetry talk of common human beliefs of independent thought process, equality of human resource, equity in social governance, and denouncing of violence and intolerance. bhumi rangavali is one such work talking of peace, non-violence and harmony. Farīdā bhumi rangāvalī manjhi visūlā bāg Fareed, this world is beautiful, but there is a thorny garden within it. Farīdā jo taīN mārani mukīāN tinhāN na mārē ghum...

Tomorrow Supreme Court will give judgment on 18th amendment case. I sincerely hope that my apprehensions and fears turn out to be unfounded, but it seems that the Supreme Court will stab the democracy and parliament with her judgment. It most likely will strike down some key parts of 18th amendment, specially the ones pertaining to the appointment of judges of the the superior judiciary. In this the Supreme Court will strike down the principle of sovereignty of the parliament. It will be striking down a legislation that has been unanimously approved by both houses of the parliament and has the support of all electable political forces in the country. Not only that, the Supreme Court will do it despite the clear guide lines provided in the constitution, which it claims to uphold, as is given in 239 (6) : " (6) For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that there is no limitation whatever on the power of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) to amend any of the provis...

Nawaz Sharif has come out fully exposed. There is not even an iota of doubt now as to who is behind the current political turmoil. Unlike the few previous turmoils, where he did not let himself be fully exposed, he has come out with gloves off. It in a way is good, for now, on the table where every power player was upping the antes, now the time for show is here. I am not surprised at Nawaz's rush to the show. Circumstances and political events taking place in last two months made this move more and more inevitable. The political space in which he is operating is getting more and more squeezed and so his act had to be one of desperation. First, even if his supporters would deny it and even if the political pundits on idiot box would portray otherwise, Nawaz's mandate in 2008 elections was partly engineered. Lot of his candidates were given a favorable push in areas of north and central Punjab (only two areas in the whole country where he has political presence) at the expense...

Mansehra, Sargodha, Gujranwala and now Bahawalpur, if I were PML-N or their supporter, I would be going back to the drawing board and reviewing where one erred.   The myth of even a Punjab-dominating (or 13 districts only party) is busting in the midst of electoral politics.   One can keep denying it behind fake Gallup (Ijaz Gillani) surveys or the media steroids that lifted PML-N all along but it is about time that PML-N leadership and its leaders try analyzing what went wrong. Before we delve into the troubles of PML-N and their cure, let us first analyze the political landscape. First and foremost, for all the media and right-wing propaganda, PPP is still strong and getting stronger. They won a seat in Bahawalpur with a huge margin of 26000 votes just when the Islamabadi media pundits prophesized their demise in the floods. The constituency is in South Punjab, an area affected worse by floods and the constituency itself is 50-60 miles from some of the flood affected areas. ...