Self Talk

C urrent politicians vs judiciary crisis of Pakistan has attracted extensive coverage in the local media. The decisions of the superior judiciary also make headlines in some foreign outlets too owing to their far reaching consequences. What I want to discuss is the validity of the criticism the apex court is being hurled at for issuing show cause notice to the nascent prime minister. While the court has made its position clear by passing the verdict in Mr Gillani's case, that a failure to abide by its previous orders will be deemed as crime, it is totally baseless to expect them to take a different line on the very issue in a space of few weeks. How can they forgive the current PM for not doing something that they punished the ex-PM for. It seems as the politicians are themselves showing the red cape to the judges in order to fix the blame of their failure on other institutions. This is similar to the fact that a bill for legislation against terrorism lies forgotten...

According to latest statistics released by US agency New America Foundation, drone strikes have killed 150 supposed militants in Pakistan this year with zero civilian casualities so far. The stated precision of intelligence and strike technology seems incredibly good. In contrast to previous years, the strikes have been hitting bull's eye this time around. Or perhaps the definition of those being killed has changed. According to Russian Tv the criteria on which  the Obama administration decides whether an individual is classified as a terrorist or otherwise. As ironical as it can be, this pain is taken only after killing the suspects. And the definition itself speaks volumes about the accuracy of strikes as well as figures. It states " All military age males in a strike zone count as militant unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving their innocence i.e. they have to prove their innocence after death". In other words, any male, who is in the age of servi...

This time in Pakistan, Ramazan moon was sighted at the same time, which is a rare thing in itself. Although not starting to observe Ramazan or celebrating Eid on the same day doesn't hurt as a nation yet we are running desperately out of option to symbolize our nationhood. God may have mercy on us and the same national consensus be seen on next moon sighting too. Yet the land never runs out of controversies. Veena Malik hosting a religious show during the holy month of Ramazan was the latest one. A 30 second promo of that programme which most of people must have seen, emerged on youtube and as soon as it did so, there was a hue n cry everywhere about that programme. People talked about her character, her controversy from BIG BROTHER and the famous ISI tattoo. Then her next venture, the south Indian remake of The Dirty Picture came under discussion and so on and so forth. Conservatives as well as some liberals criticized Hero TV for coming up with such a publicity stunt. I myself...

Writing a doctoral thesis, or to put it right, starting to write a scientific doctoral thesis is a difficult job. This is due to several factors. You have to focus, FOCUS on one thing continuously for days, and sometimes for weeks..... Every single line in the whole stuff should be connected from front and behind with its neighbors and so on and so forth. And to focus becomes difficult when there are so many things happening around. Well, sometimes it seems as they have started to happen only when I started writing mine. I will quote few examples. As I started to make a plan for writing one, Roger Federer started winning his Wimbledon matches. And he went on to win the Grand Slam, making history. All of it was so exciting that even if I wasn't watching it, I wouldn't have been able to concentrate. So I watched.... live tennis.... And I skyped with my family...... Salaar.... Then, during the same time, we had seminar of our team...... seminar attended.... And I skyped...

None of the above as an option in coming elections Is putting none of the above going to be an option on the ballot paper in coming elections? What if a large number of people choose it? A constitutional amendment is on its way to give the president the authority to interpret it according to his own terms and conditions CJ, the joy breaker of political times CM Gillani was playing a watchful inning. Although he came under more than few threats in course of his time on the pitch, he handles all the variations very negatively and stayed dheet on the pitch. He went on with his score and almost made the history when he crossed the heighest runs days record of a former PM, yet the umpire re-visited one of his previous decisions and declared him out. Rest in peace the not-record-breaking broken innings. A change of bowler is imminent with a new ball, possibly from a by election and other scandals investigation end. Gillani gone, democracy under threat Was democracy under no thre...

Health services in public sector hospitals in Punjab have recently been disrupted by young doctors’ strikes, called by Young Doctors’ Association (YDA), which has emerged as a representative body of mostly postgraduate trainee doctors. The deliberate health service suspension is aimed to force the government to raise their salaries and approve a job structure. It has allegedly resulted in quite a bit of suffering for the patients. It has given rise to a heated debate in the media and social networks about the fairness of these demands and the actual method of getting them fulfilled. Critics have raised the point that though the doctors’ ‘cause’ is fair and their right to protest cannot be denied, yet it is in no way superior to the harm that can be inflicted to a sick person who is not given adequate and in time medical attention. Medical graduates have shared their part of the story that is unfortunately a matter of great neglect on the part of the state towards health sector. ...

Standing tall, the tankey I remembered the day when, in August 1998, when returning from Khanas Pur Ayubiya trip, we stopped at the then used-to-be bus stop near Moti Mahel cinema. Someone pointed to a water tankey barely visible in heavily pouring rain and said, “Can you see that? That is the campus of RMC”. Although I was in F.Sc. Pre Medical then and was a potential candidate of being a future doctor, I had hardly heard of a medical college in Rawalpindi other than AIMC. And a year later when I got the news of my admission there, the only image of the institution that flashed before my eyes was a tankey lost in the rain. When I finally walked into Rawalpindi Medical College, first time in my life, I came to know that I had seen the most prominent part of the building already, the tankey . I was carrying the loads of happiness of qualifying for admission, and bundles of countryside livelihood habits and styles. I can’t recall what I was putting on that day, but I am sure...