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Syed Talat Hussain Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi must be on a long leave from the real world to say that the Biden Administration’s priorities and those of the bumbling government he represents are in alignment. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The two issues that he mentions as examples of shared views---climate change and corruption---are self-serving rhetoric. Bloated and fake figures on tree plantations are NOT caring for the environment. Scandalous political persecution is NOT a fight against corruption. At any rate, the latest Transparency International report that documents Pakistan’s consistent slide on the corruption index under the Imran government drills more holes in an already torn sheet of lies about the so-called anti-corruption agenda.  The reality is that the Biden Administration sits opposite to the Imran government on fundamental issues. The Danial Pearl murder controversy is an outstanding example of these deep divisions. You only need to read the...

Syed Talat Hussain A Voice of America report out of Islamabad quotes the Taliban representative sounding a dire warning to the newly-arrived Biden Administration. “If they remain in Afghanistan after this [the agreed deadline] we will also kill them even if somebody rewards us or does not reward us. We take our reward from God. We fight the invaders without a reward, without any bounty,” the report cites Sher Mohammad Stanikzai, a senior Taliban leader.  The context of the warning is a review of the Doha Agreement that is underway in Washington from where the signals are that the Joe Biden team may revisit the whole deal signed with much hope and hype last year by the Trump Administration.  The Talibaan anticipating a negative review may be attempting to forewarn the US of the consequences of reopening the Agreement. Hence the death threat. The Biden Administration’s review is pegged onto the assessment that the Taliban has used the Agreement to expand their influence in Afgh...

Syed Talat Hussain Back in the college days, a group of jovial rascals, who habitually bunked classes and had nothing to show for their studies, would place themselves at the cafeteria doorstep and invite freshmen to join a free tea party. The cost of that cuppa tea was a complete demolition job of the sanity of the new-comers. They were told that they had made the worst decision of their lives coming to the college. They were then walked through the high-way of high achievements the group members claimed they had under their belts, which were endorsed by the waiter and a few other standing nearby.  They were then let go, bewildered and bemused, with the parting advice of not taking their studies seriously. The more studious the victims looked the bigger the deluge (or should I say tsunami) of gibberish directed at them. Needless to say the waiter and the bystanders were all part of a set-up and were pre-booked cheaply for a meal. The list of the trophies of the practical jokers wa...

Syed Talat Hussain You can fake many things in life but you can’t fake revolutions. But that is precisely what the Pakistani nation was made to fake on the eve of the fateful elections two years ago. Spurred by the devious script of a country under siege, enabled by carefully-designed and flawlessly-executed national upheavals like Imran and Qadri dharnas and protests by sectarian groups, and fully supported by a courtier media drafted as partner-in-pantomime through spineless seth-owners, a revolution was announced. So arrived Imran Khan with fanfare and frills, riding high, talking loud. Journalists, economists, politicians, and significantly large victims of revolutionary anthems went delirious in ecstasy. Attaboy! What a man! Also arrived with him bundles of justifications as to why the haloed one must be hailed. When the economy was growing at 5.7 % the nation was told that Pakistan was sinking and needed a savior. When the debt was $20 billions less than today, the nation was tol...

Syed Talat Hussain With the dismissal from service of Judge Arshad Malik whose court had declared ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif guilty in the famous Al-Azizia corruption case is justice well-served---but only half of it. The judge had thoroughly degraded himself through a series of leaked videos pertaining to his sexual exploits and his casual confessions of being pressurized to give the verdict that knocked out Mr. Sharif. The judge’s actions spoke to the low level of probity he maintained which left the senior members of the Lahore High Court with no option but to let the bad egg be sorted out. To the extent, the judge had disgraced himself and his profession he deserved this fate, but his lowliness is but just one part of the dirt-pool that was created in the name of accountability to drown the main opposition party PML-N’s leadership.  Other cases in other courts including the National Accountability’s own drive against corruption are totally tainted by the same slur of manipu...

Syed Talat Hussain The good news is that the Stock Exchange Attack was foiled from becoming a big catastrophe. Going by the preparation of terrorists, their arms, ammunition and the ready to eat meals (REMs) they looked set to make a longer stay in this financial nerve center of the country and extend the damage to the repute and image of the business and investment climate in Pakistan. Another good news is that the opposition in the assembly session on the budget roundly condemned the attack. You can ask what else can the Opposition do at any rate if not condemn it? Well, for a perspective, see this. Imran Khan’s usual take on terrorism during the previous government’s tenure used to be suggestions that such acts of terror were perhaps the handiwork of Nawaz Sharif’s alleged friends in India who wanted to help him in his times of political trouble. Beginning to wonder why whenever Nawaz Sharif is in trouble, there is increasing tension along Pakistan's borders and a rise i...

  Syed Talat Hussain   When the Pakistan Foreign Office was crafting a stern response to the State Department’s 2019 report on terrorism that devalued Pakistan’s efforts to fight the threat internally and globally, there was some debate on how Delhi might exploit both the unflattering report and Pakistan’s retort. No one had imagined, however, that the challenge to their stance would come not from Delhi and Washington, but from their own prime minister. But that is exactly what happened. There is every possibility that none of the 388-words of the foreign office press release that listed several steps the nation had taken in fighting terrorism, had passed Prime Minister Imran’s notice. And this wasn't because he was making a rare appearance in the parliament when the press release was issued and was busy. PM Imran has a hyperactive phone and reads the communication of his liking even in the middle of the night. But for serious documents, he does not have the time. So e...