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Syed Talat Hussain It is misleading to say that Pakistan, an embattled nuclear country of over two hundred and twenty-two million people, is facing a political meltdown. We have been at this point so frequently that any call to attention of an impending emergency sounds boringly familiar, evoking yawns.  And yet it is what it is: the Bandiyal Court’s final warning to the Shehbaz government about the consequences of not releasing funds for the Punjab elections on the 14th of May has gone unheeded. The government has stayed with its stance that the parliament has declined the request for the funds and it cannot bypass that restriction. In fact, today the meeting of allies at the PM House has reinforced this view: it has added more bite to the stance by its reiteration that the petition the Bandiyal Court is using to make the government pay up the money has been dismissed by four dissenting judges. The speeches that followed in the parliament including the one by the finance minister too

  Syed Talat Hussain It is pointless to hope that this court will back down from becoming a One-man National Show, taking charge of everything---from State Bank Consolidated Fund allocations for their self-decided date for the Punjab polls (KP election dates are yet unknown) to the Election Commission role and responsibilities. It has left for itself no room for compromise, neither with the government nor with the senior judges who have spoken with one voice on the transgression of the so-called suo-moto powers and the mal-practice of arbitrary bench making.  It has also chosen its position against the General Asim Munir-led Army high command. The Army has no love for Imran Khan, partially because they discovered in four years what loving him entails, and primarily because they think he is unfit to rule. His international lobbying especially with the Americans---how ironic considering he accused Washington of conspiring to throw him out of power---and his trolling of the genera

Syed Talat Hussain In the short-term, which is the dominant concern, Washington wants a smooth, bloodless, uncomplicated withdrawal of soldiers and sinews of its $2-trillion war from Afghanistan. It is positioning its air and sea-based resources to remove any hurdle that could subvert the process, but would obviously need Pakistan’s full assurance that it will extend a helping hand (both hands in fact) and commit to dealing with complexities that might pop up. Pakistan is saying “yes”. It wants all lines of withdrawal to stay open and secure through Pakistan’s jurisdiction. Pakistan is saying “sure”.  It also wants the Taliban to behave while it winds up its tent. Pakistan is expected to take the lead in achieving this goal. Pakistan is saying, “trying our best.”  It also wants Pakistan to do intelligence sharing far more deeply than it has done so far. Withdrawal means less intel gathering capacity (other than that capacity that is tech-based). Pakistan is expected to be a sport and f

Syed Talat Hussain “Disappointing”. This is how the Pakistan Foreign Office has termed the damning resolution adopted by the European Union parliament advocating a review/temporary suspension of Pakistan’s GSP+ status and its associated advantages. The resolution does so primarily on account of the blasphemy laws’ “abuse” but also a raft of other issues related to death penalty, attacks on journalists and members of academia etc are mentioned.  The resolution being what it is, the really disappointing part of this bruising foreign and trade policy blow (we export nearly 7 billion dollars worth of goods to EU) is how the government sat on its hands as the making of the resolution was taking place and its draft was circulating all around EU capitals for weeks. European diplomas confirm that they had communicated this serious matter and its devastating consequences to the Imran government’s various officials apart from their friends in the Foreign Office.  The resolution’s preparation t

Syed Talat Hussain   One swallow does not make a summer but one statement always seems enough to make new policy in Pakistan. As the clock on the American deadline to pull out of Afghanistan begins to tick, titillating theories of “Pakistan’s policy rethink” have started to float around. An image is being portrayed as if strategic planners ---the assumption being that the breed exists—are sitting in a room full of charts and maps devouring immense data and processing well-grounded conclusions to form a new universe for the country that would give it strong direction towards a grand purpose in times of immense flux that lie ahead.  We are told that General Qamar Bajwa’s statement seeking peace with neighbours (read India), and the statement’s various mutated variants like PM Imran’s tweet of sympathy for the Covid-suffering Delhi that have come out since, are meant to “readjust” the country’s world view. (That simple, hunh!) Background briefings to uninitiated analysts (actually tal

Imran Khan addressing a Jalsa in Kotli - Feb 5, 2021 | Photo: Imran Khan Facebook Syed Talat Hussain Prime minister Imran Khan’s foot-in-mouth affliction shows no sign of abating. His latest utterance on Kashmir is an unmistakable sign that every time he steps on to the stage and takes the mike, astounding things can roll off this tongue. Taking leave from the standard policy of the country on the long-festering dispute, he offered Kashmiris and Jummuites the option to become “independent” after they had acceded to Pakistan. The offer, just to make it clear, is an extreme exercise in hollow theory considering where Kashmir stands today. The part that is in India’s control has been absorbed in the Union after the October 2019 actions that also split up the occupied territory into two. The part with Pakistan---AJK---has its own issues that revolve around but are not confined to the status of Gilgit and Baltistan. So, the accession talk and promises of independence are neither here nor th