Rendezvous with Farah Pandith, US Special Rep for Muslim Communities

Last week a few “new media” journalists were invited by the US Consulate to an exclusive meeting with Farah Pandith, who has been recently appointed as the U.S Special Representative for Muslim Communities. The usual bloggeratti excitement was held at bay since the invitation card had a blazing “No-Camera” policy, which had most of [...]


India’s Zero Rupee Note against Corruption

This weeks The Economist carries a very interesting article discussing a small innovative idea by an Indian to denounce the rampant corruption spread across India. The idea was dreamt up by an expatriate Indian physics professor from the University of Maryland who, traveling back home, found himself harassed by endless extortion demands. He gave [...]


Mesmerization of Pakistani Politics

Guest blog by Agha Haider Raza
Politics in Pakistan mesmerize me. Not only does one enjoy the daily dose of rhetoric that is spewed from the mouths of our beloved politicians, but the one track mind of those in and out of government baffles the mind. Politics in Pakistan, much like the political [...]


Mumtaz Bhutto’s Interview with Express News Kamran Shahid

Mumtaz Bhutto leader of SNF talks to Express News host Kamran Shahid on 17th January 2010. I believe this to be a very interesting interview worth sharing on this blog, Mumtaz Bhutto generally an old-cadre PPP supporter shares his political views and is seen to be genuinely begruntled at seeing the PPP and the [...]


16 Dec decision of Supreme Court – A Critical Analysis

By Barrister Amjad Malik
16 Dec Supreme Court short order was an expected response of superior judiciary. Federation and all provinces through their lawyers jointly consented to its repeal, and none came to rescue the beneficiaries and even academic discussion was not made possible on the topic of powers to issue and right course of [...]


NRO declared Null and Void – What Now?

After a lapse of over two years, today a full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan came through with a historic judgment declaring the 2007 National Reconciliatory Ordinance null and void. It must be recalled that the NRO was the mastermind of the then President of Pakistan General Pervaiz Musharraf who in October 2007 [...]


He who is Not a Sinner should Cast the First Stone

By: Amjad Malik, MA, LLM
I have been vehemently advocating the need to erect a system of accountability by invoking a new commission and an Act of Parliament to curb mal practice, plundering and looting whilst one is holding a public office. This new Commission can truly ensure compliance with the Clauses of Article 62 and [...]


12 Cartons of Zardari’s Swiss Case Evidence goes missing

Things are definitely heating up for Asif Ali Zardari, with the NRO effectively being contested by a full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, it seems panic has started to prevail in the Presidency and disaster managemnt has begun. A few days back Geo Tv was tipped off on a developing story in [...]


“Corruption is our Right” – Peoples Party Minister on TV

Watch this Youtube video of a TV show where one Peoples Party Minsiter actually says in a discussion with full confidence that corruption is ‘our right’, if the elected parties dont do corruption then its their own loss. So much for the facade of denying that any party was ever involved in corruption, might [...]


Laidback Show Episode 8 – Imanae Malik

Cross posted from The Laidback Show | Show notes after the jump


Abbas Steel Group solely responsible for Pakistan Steel Mill debacle

Pakistan Steel Mills located 40km south east of Karachi came under some serious controversies after reports continued to appear in the media in early 2009 of some serious financial problems that may have effectively left this organization in some serious debt which may actually extend to well beyond a substantial few billions, reportedly upto the [...]


So what it’s just the NRO!

By: Agha Haider Raza
So the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) beneficiaries list comes out.  The media is happy that those persons who enjoyed taking advantage of the NRO have light casted upon them, while the government is trying to push forward the argument of how they have respected the Supreme Court’s judgment and have publicized the [...]


From Dogar to Iftikhar Chaudhry — what a difference!

Sohail Khan, a journalist from The News writes an explosive artcile sharing the remarkable proceedings at the Supreme Court of Pakistan where Sheikh Afzal owner of Haris Steel Mills names big bribe takers Agrees to settle Rs9 billion Bank of Punjab claim, the main accused in the Rs9 billion financial scam at the Bank of [...]


MQM’s 3800 Criminal Cases withdrawn under the NRO

The NRO mudslinging competition continues to go on, each party/individual boldly underplaying his/her own association with the controversial bill. What seriously amazes me, is that we still do not have access to the full and complete list of beneficiaries and are at the receiving end of confusing reports where the totals have seemingly fluctuated from [...]


Corruption threatens the civil system of Pakistan

Amjad Malik specially writes on post NRO scenario on corruption
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) presented to the government on Thursday a list of 248 politicians and bureaucrats, who were alleged to have plundered hundreds of billions of rupees but were cleared by the NAB under the National Reconciliation Ordinance 2007. Luckily, the presidential order could [...]