Showdown in Islamabad

Courtesy: Sharnoff's Global Views

Political showdown in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, has reached its boiling point. Police attacked the peaceful protestors of two political parties without any provocation. The course of events that followed, from last night onwards, have exposed the brutality of the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Saving democracy in Pakistan

Courtesy: The Balochistan Point

Sit-ins of both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are taking place in Islamabad for last 9 days. The call for revolution by Tahir ul Qadri and the demand to dissolve Nawaz Sharif government, on pretext of election riggings, by Imran Khan has created a storm in Political landscape of Pakistan. There is no doubt that the method of bringing change in the government and system by both agitating parties is entirely wrong. Similarly, any military intervention will result in ultimate destruction of Pakistan. However, one can’t ignore all those who have jumped the bandwagon to save democracy in Pakistan. 

Unending Political Crisis

Courtesy: The Balochistan Point

Political history of Pakistan has always been marred with crisis. The period of political stability has always been short lived. Incumbent government led by Nawaz Sharif has been dealing with one crisis after another and the political crisis seems to be unending.

Legitimacy of 2013 General Elections

Courtesy: Laaltain Magazine

Pakistan is faced with many problems today and there is no doubt that terrorism is the biggest one of them. The current government is working on its Internal Security Policy and has so far only drafted some laws which are indeed questionable and draconian in nature. This government has proved unable to take a solid stance against terrorism and is therefore failing on its mandate to truly represent the people of Pakistan. This failure is certainly also due to controversies associated with the last general elections which raise many questions about the legitimacy of the current government.

Shrinking Space for Women in Politics

Courtesy: ViewPoint Online

The political space of Pakistan has taken turns for the worst over the years. There is an ever increasing influence of Islamists who sell religion to gain power. Increase in their influence means that liberal and progressive elements are losing power, if they ever had any. Political scene is dominated by right wingers, be it mainstream parties like PML-N, PTI or religious parties such as JI and JUI-f. As a result the militancy has surged in Pakistan whereas plurality is taking a steep decline. One of the hallmarks of right wing dominated political systems is always a misogynistic attitude. Same is the case in current political setup of Pakistan where the space is shrinking for the women. 

A critique of Youth Business Loan Scheme

Courtesy: The Lahore Times

In an attempt to flatter the disgruntled youth, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the Youth business loan scheme. This scheme will provide loans ranging from 0.1 million to 2 million to Pakistani citizens within age bracket of 21 to 45 years. The total funds reserved for this scheme are 100 billion for one year. This is a large scale program and huge amount of taxpayers’ money is at stake. This has generated a wave of happiness and debate for certain reasons and millions of eligible persons are applying for this scheme. In my humble opinion this scheme is nothing more than a poorly conceived political stent in the guise of a development plan to win the youth of Pakistan who has been badly disappointed by current government so far.

Economic Explosions of PML-N Government

Courtesy: The Lahore Times

Those were the days of electrifying election campaign, when the passions were heated up. There was a war of words between PML-N and PTI leadership. Imran Khan was chanting the slogan of change and revolution, whereas Nawaz Sharif was talking about changing the country with the help of his experience. During election campaign, Nawaz Sharif said while addressing a crowd, “We carried out nuclear explosions in our last government and this time we will carry out economic explosions.” Now, Nawaz Sharif has been prime minister for 120 days and we know what he was talking about. We have heard the massive sounds of the Economic explosions which have taken place in last four months.

A tale of hypocrisy and double standards

Courtesy: The Lahore Times

I want to make one thing clear before narrating this tale. I am not supporter of either PPP or PTI; both of these parties should be criticized for their numerous shortcomings. I want to narrate a tale of hypocrisy and double standards which concerns both PML-N and its leaders i.e. Sharif brothers. PML-N and its leadership criticizes their political opponents for the wrongdoings which they also have committed in past. They behave like they have never done any thing wrong and completely ignore their past.

Balochistan cabinet conundrum

Courtesy: Pak tea House

On 9th June, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch took oath as Chief Minister of Balochistan. He is the first Chief Minister in history of Balochistan who belongs to the middle class. The selection of Dr. Malik triggered a wave of happiness amongst the people of Balochistan that some of their problems will be solved. In the Balochistan assembly, PML-N had clear majority but Nawaz Sharif made a landmark decision by nominating Dr. Malik for the Chief Minister-ship of the troubled province. Since then, there has been a long wait for the formation of the cabinet of Balochistan. Three ministers took oath soon after Dr. Malik but they have not been allotted portfolios. Now it has been almost 100 days that Cabinet has not been formed and the Balochistan cabinet conundrum continues to be a problem for the people.

CM Punjab: A show Off

Chief Minister(Cm) Punjab, Shehbaz Sharif and self-proclaimed Khadim-e-Aala(Chief Servant) has been doing unique protests. He has setup a camp office in the lawn of Minar-Pakistan in Iqbal Park Lahore in order to protest long hours of electricity failure. He is know to be a good administrator at times but his latest acts have proved him a Show Off.

Shehbaz Sharif is the Cm of Punjab for the second time. Overall he has held this post for six years. He is second-in-command of PML-N, his elder brother Nawaz Sharif being its chief. He is a very strong Cm and enjoys full powers unlike rest of the CMs. He currently holds 15 ministries along with being chief executive of Punjab. He doesn't attend Punjab assembly session regularly and don't convene meeting of his cabinet. Shehbaz Sharif is running a one man show in Punjab in a dictatorial manner.

The Politics of laptops

Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif, announced to give 100,000 Laptops to the deserving students all over Punjab, under Youth Development Program. This announcement stirred a wave of happiness amongst all those students who could not afford to buy Laptops. Just a few months after the announcement, the distribution of Laptops started. Up till now, over 50% of these laptops have been distributed to the students in different districts of Punjab. Total number of laptops to be given is increased to 110,000. The problem with this entire program is that CM is using the laptop distribution ceremonies to project his political party PML-N at the cost of taxpayer’s money. Moreover, Transparency International, Global corruption watchdog, has announced in a statement that there has been a corruption of an unprecedented 1.7 Billion Rupees in this scheme.