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Cricket: A potent tool of diplomacy

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July 16, 2012 Diplomacy is a vital cog in international relations; it is a process of amicably dissuading other states from doing something detrimental to a state’s interest. It also includes the abdication of some secondary interests in lieu of some favors. However, states do not find the middle ground on their vital interests, and are not reticent to go to war for their protection. Ever since, the inception of India and Pakistan, the region has witnessed, nothing but strained ties alternated with bouts of tranquillized milieus. There are various stumbling blocks, which continue to vitiate the relations between the two nemeses, but will not be delved upon in this piece. Both nations resorted to diplomacy to ameliorate ties with each other, but as yet have failed to achieve the desired results. However, whatever strides have been made for achieving thaws have been espoused by the love for cricket across the 1610 long international border. To say that cricket binds the two n

Kayani's speech: Ominous or Veritable

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COAS,General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani’s speech to a clique of officers in GHQ has  been exacerbated; however, before delving into this speech, there is a need to provide succinct background of civil-military relations during this democratic epoch. Democracy is considered as the only panacea for Pakistan’s problems. This claim is debatable. Let’s not go into the quality, sincerity and commitment of the drivers of democracy: politicians. But the foibles committed by the PPP-led coalition continue to leave the country in a huff. The PPP shunned criticism with impetuosity: chanting about the rigging done against them in 1990’s elections and of course the gruesome act of 4 th April, 1979. Agreed, they got a rough deal, but the past cannot absolve them from their responsibilities towards the people of my country. The army, under the leadership of General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has remained apolitical; those who think otherwise should give vent to their claims. The military is te

Azhar Ali: A crutch to a feeble batting contingent.

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The winter of 2009/10, brought ignominy for Pakistan’s cricket; the Aussies did not let us taste victory in any format, much of which owed to alleged in-fighting, though. The tour was followed by bans and fines, which meant that Pakistan’s touring contingent to England was bereft of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan for obvious reasons. Hence, the mantle of responsibility was on the feeble youngsters. Much to the delight, Afridi was made captain of all three formats, bringing him out of a self-imposed abeyance from Tests. The test team included some new faces, to include Umar Amin and Azhar Ali. Both of them were definitely in line for making the final 11, but maybe not early in the tour. Audacious as ever, Afridi won the toss on the 13th of July against Ponting-led Australia, elected to bowl and inducted Azhar Ali and Umar Amin at number 3 and 4, respectively. This article will delve on the excursion of Azhar Ali, since his induction in the test side. He certainly has the grit, t

Establishment: A misconstrued term

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I would be very unequivocal in talking about the English prowess of my politicians. They don’t know English, but the way they to try to speak in public gatherings, makes us all laugh. There fluency in English is a disgrace. However, there is one word which is spoken with a spot-on pronunciation. The word is “Establishment”; indeed, every Tom Dick and Harry uses this word in the normal discourse. Nawaz Sharif and his cohort are using this term way too frequently in reference to Imran Khan’s popularity as a political force; the media uses it all the time without any proof. What is meant by this term? This paper will explore two things; the meaning of establishment and its role in Pakistan. However, its role in other third world countries will also be discussed. Establishment refers to organizations that are permanent powerhouses in the country; they wield power incessantly. However, in the strictest sense it is the administrative machinery of the government. Powerful outfits

Rajarental: A dexterous lackey and a pariah PM

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I am very unequivocal in showing my reservations about this grotesque democracy in Pakistan. The follies of the PPP- led coalition has tarnished the reputation of democracy, which is deemed as the best governing system. The government has remained unfazed by all impediments, which have marred the country. One cannot possibly delve into those impediments, for they are too much, and well-documented. The credibility of the incumbent government is at its lowest ebb; rightly so, for it has thrown the country to dogs. However, it was widely opined, that the leader of the pack (PPP), was in a position to recover some lost territory, by supplanting Mr Gillani with a somewhat, less tainted and clean PM, but they foiled this opportunity in connivance with their partners, to include MQM, ANP and PML-Q. Much to our dismay, our head of state nominated the infamous, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf as a candidate for premiership of the country; an office that happens to be everything in an archetypica

The Egyptian revolution

The incendiary forces of the 2011’s Egyptian revolution: Were they socio-economic or political?             Revolutions have changed the course of history; they have not only affected the countries of their origin, but their ramifications have been felt elsewhere. It is normally deemed that, the French Revolution provided an impetus for further movements, to include nationalistic ones, which led to the unification of Italy and Germany in the latter half of the 19 th century.   Egypt has also witnessed revolutions, which continues to create an impact. It was the 1952’s revolution, which ousted not only the monarch, Farouk, but also the British; the latter had ruled Egypt since 1882. After that, the country was ruled by General Naguib, Gamal Abdul Nasir and later by Anwar Sadat.         In 1981, Anwar Sadat was assassinated by soldiers led by Lieutenant Khalid; this brought Hosni Mubarak to power. Hosni ruled Egypt nonchalantly from then onwards. But, as we say in English

Afridi is not a politician

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Eminent scholars around the world, base their stories about Pakistan on unsubstantiated claims; this is not only true in case of Pakistani politics, but cricket also. I would unequivocally say that, so-called cricket pundits are hell-bent upon castigating Afridi for anything untoward that happens in cricket. During Misbah epoch as skipper, Afridi was deemed as the culprit for instigating Anti-Misbahism and when, Hafeez was given the coveted appointment, these trolls were casting aspersions on his espousal. They never believed in Afridi’s open support for Misbah or Hafeez, for that matter. This piece would delve on the fact that, Shahid Afridi is not involved in gimmicks; all aspersions are nothing, but hogwash. We don’t need to be anti-Misbah to be pro-Afridi. Shahid Afridi came out of retirement during the tenure of Misbah; he came back in a team, which was led and developed by him in most grievous milieu. The series against Srilanka, happened to be his comeback series;

14TH MAY, 2010

We were the champions of the shortest format of the game; the trophy was lifted on 21 st June, 2009. The glory was a great bequest for a country beset with impediments galore. The euphoria was understandably huge, but short-lived; we were off to the Caribbean for the next edition. Our team was in tatters; many stalwarts were banned/fined, to include the victorious skipper Younus Khan and Shoaib Malik. PCB appointed Shahid Afridi as the skipper after the announcement of the squad which was an assortment of youngsters and veterans; some were perhaps inept for the T20’s. This article does not want to give a run-down of the whole event and how it panned-out for the then world champions, instead it will shed light on the culminating match as far as Pakistan was concerned.   Pakistan took on her nemesis, Australia in the semi final; they became nemesis because they had pummelled us down-under in 2009/10. I have seen the pits of Pakistan’s cricket; it would be unreasonable to call it as

My beloved country is in dire straits.

The love of one’s country is the greatest virtue of a civilized man”. This is a famous quote uttered by Napoleon Bonaparte. I fully concur with this very saying of the great general, for I consider myself insignificant without my country. From the very outset, I was ordained to think about doing something substantial for Pakistan; I have obeyed those orders, and will continue to do so till the very end. The patriotism that has been inculcated in me has made it difficult to digest the current state of the country. Hence, there are various things that annoy me about the current situation of Pakistan. The first phenomenon that really pinches me is Pakistan’s abysmal economic growth which is currently at 2.4 % according to the latest economic survey of Pakistan. Indeed, this is disappointing and not something to boast about, for the country is endowed with all the resources that one can ask for, be it copper, gold or other minerals, not to forget our talented population. I get more fru

Afghanistan and Pakistan

INTRODUCTION: The year, 1979 was very eventful, to say the least; early in the year, the Iranian revolution overthrew the western stooge Raza Shah; Pakistan was under martial law, while Afghanistan was still under turmoil, after the Saur Revolution of 1978.However, there was one event which left an indelible impact, not only on Afghanistan, but also on Pakistan; the event in question is the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This invasion culminated into a proxy war between the two heavyweights, namely USA and USSR ; this was the last Cold War battle. Afghanistan became the centre of attention for a good part of 9 years, but Pakistan had a significant role to play in the surrogate war. The country became a conduit, which assisted the Afghan freedom fighters to resist the Soviet Union . President, General Zia turned from a pariah to a champion of modernity. Pakistan became a US ally in the war, and hence, received huge sums of money, which helped her a great deal, but she had to