Dr Farooq Sattar on Coronavirus Pandemic

The COVID-19  pandemic has spread with alarming speed, infecting millions and bringing economic activity to a near-standstill. As a result many emerging and developing economies were already experiencing weaker growth before the crisis; the shock of pandemic now makes these economies face the challenges even harder. The pandemic will leave the world deep in debt. The

Why is Karachi So Angry?

Violence Is Down in Pakistan’s Premier City. So Why Are Its Voters So Angry? By Maria Abi-Habib and Zia ur-RehmanJuly 23, 2018 Karachi’s residents went to the polls angry during the July 2018 elections. The city, Pakistan’s economic powerhouse, is in shambles, roads crumbling, slums expanding, deprived of basic government services although it provides the country with about 40 percent

Victory Margin of Various Political Parties in the 2013 Elections

This post aims to provide the readers interesting findings from Gallup Pakistan’s electoral database. The data has been consolidated from the Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP) data on general elections since the 1970 till the latest general elections held in 2013. It provides noteworthy information on the victory margins between the winner and the runner

Conspiracy Against Pakistan

Pakistan was subjected to an international conspiracy in 1971. India supported by former Soviet Union hatched the gory plan of cutting Pakistan into two and creating Bangladesh. India had been working upon East Bengal since 1948 with the aim of subverting the Bengalis and poisoning their minds against people of West Pakistan through an orchestrated

Plight of Mohajirs from 1947 Partition Raised in Human Rights Council

  During the ongoing 29th UNHRC Session, the European Mojahir Network organized an event on June 19, 2015 focusing on the plight of Mojahirs (meaning refugees), who had been separated after the 1947 partition between India and Pakistan. Speakers during the event were well-known experts of the area including Ryszard Czarnecki, Vice President European Parliament,

What Makes MQM & Altaf Hussain Popular?

The 60-year-old MQM leader-in-exile, Altaf Hussain, was dramatically arrested on June 3, 2014 from his home in North West London. He was to be interrogated on the recovery from his home of several hundred thousand pounds that he could not account for and was therefore exposed to a charge of money-laundering. He is currently out

Legislators and Tax Delinquency

By Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq  The recently-published tax directory of legislators not only sadly reflects on the financial affairs of majority of the senators and members of national and provincial assemblies but also raises serious questions on the distressing enforcement capabilities of the apex revenue authority, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). After February

Opposing Karachi as a Separate Province

By Naseer Memon  The demand for a new province in Karachi is based on distorted facts and misperceptions — that people living in Karachi are being exploited at the expense of rural communities. Such insinuations are far from reality; a disservice, to maim the fragile communal harmony in Sindh. Although such statements are immediately rescinded

MQM Threatened to Sue New York Times for this Article

For two decades, Altaf Hussain has run his brutal Pakistani political empire by remote control, shrouded in luxurious exile in London and long beyond the reach of the law. He follows events through satellite televisions in his walled-off home, manages millions of dollars in assets and issues decrees in ranting teleconferences that last for hours

A Critique of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance

by Naseer Memon The new local government ordinance in Sindh has become a burning issue. Public reaction to this law has been explosive, to say the least. Ruling allies demonstrated indecent haste in promulgating the ordinance and then the bill itself. Certain sections of the law make it abundantly clear that it will widen the

The Unabated Killings in Karachi and the Impotence of the Rulers

Living amongst dying, but for how long? It was couple of days ago when a contingent of law enforcement agencies raided Ashraful Madaris in Gulistane Juhar; located 7 kilometres from Ahsan-ul-Uloom and just a kilometre from the main runway of Karachi’s international airport. Some suggest that the security personnel on an inside tip came looking

Is Karachi Now a Lost Case?

Karachi has had a long history of volatility stemming from sectarian, ethnic and political strife. Political parties fighting each other for control have drawn the city into a spiral of violence in recent years, a trend which seems to be getting worse. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-132841-MQM-ANP-workers-among-eight-slain ] 1,700 people were killed in Karachi between January and August 2012.