The New York Times just published Phillip Bowring’s latest op-ed on politics in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The piece is fine; it takes up general points on the strong dynastic trend in political leadership in the region. As he writes, “Bangladesh has Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the murdered first prime minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.” […]
2010 is the Year of the Tiger. But according to the World Wildlife Fund “one of the world’s largest tiger populations could be wiped out this century as rising seas threaten to engulf their dwindling habitat in the coastal mangrove forests ofBangladesh, researchers said on Jan. 20. A projected sea-level rise of 11 inches (28 […]
The Joint World Bank and IMF Financial Stability Assessment Program (FSAP) has just published its latest report on Bangladesh’s financial sector. Since 2003, when the last FSAP was published, Bangladesh’s financial sector has been improving steadily. Non-performing loans have decreased steadily throughout that time, while the total assets of banks doubled and credit given to […]
Nawaz Sharif present flowers to Justice Khawaja – daylife Saturday February 13 – The Chief Justice of Pakistan defied Presidential orders through a suo moto action against the Presidential notification for appointment of certain judges. Chief Justice, in a rare nightly emergency session, formed a three members bench that suspended two recommendations for judges’ appointment […]
In a first for the city, Pune was struck by a terrorist attack that killed nine and injured 45 peoplelast night. A few foreigners are among those killed. An explosive left behind in a backpack at the German Bakery in Pune’s Koregaon Park area exploded at around 7.15 pm. The Home Minister P Chidambaram said in a […]
Every objective analyst who follows Pakistan has come to the same conclusion – Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is becoming a serious threat not only to the country, but also to the entire democratic system that is already under tremendous stress. In fact, it is pretty much established that some behind the scene players in Pakistan […]
The BNP is taking an increasingly strident and unyielding line against the governing Awami League. Quite apart from boycotting Parliament and thereby refusing to participate in governance, the opposition BNP is threatening an oust-government movement. This move comes after an the assassination of a leader of the youth group affiliated with the BNP. Though, the […]
Vietnam: The Vietnamese government is trying to gather international support to bolster itself in it’s long-standing territorial disputes with China over the Paracel Islands. China has held military control over the majority of the islands for 30 years, and this year has announced its desire to set up tourism facilities in the archipelago. In response, […]
Zainab Jeewanjee discusses Vice President Joseph Biden’s recent interview on Larry King. Biden named Pakistan as a bigger “concern” than Afghanistan and Jeewanjee discusses his rationale.
Recent events in Iran have brought its relationship with China into sharp focus. Yesterday’s crackdown on protesters commemorating the revolution in Iran elicited numerous comparisons to Tiananmen Square (though not nearly on the scale of the comparisons made in the aftermath of the June 12th protests). The government’s crackdown on internet activity smacked of the […]
It is heartwarming to see India and Pakistan start talking, again. For years, both sides have realized that they have to deal with each other, but domestic political pressure forces leadership in both countries to instead engage in bravado, which is obviously pleasing the hawks on both sides of the border. However, this hypocritical attitude […]
Bangladesh is a firm contributor to the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces (UNPKF). In Africa and now Haiti, soldiers from the Bangladesh Armed Forces have helped in whatever security and peace keeping issue that looms ahead for the more or less inert United Nations. Perhaps, though Bangladesh’s presence within the UNPKF is a simple move, a […]
Zainab Jeewanjee continues on drones in Pakistan, with Part 3 in a series of articles on Unmanned CIA aircraft in Pakistan. She discusses the scarcely heard Pakistani perspective that the drones are actually welcome in Waziristan. Skeptical of the argument, Jeewanjee explains the consequences of dismissing valid concerns Pakistani’s have about drones.
I have been struggling for a while now to find something positive, if not uplifting about Pakistan, but despite my consistent efforts, I have been largely unsuccessful in my quest. I called friends, journalists, government officials and private citizens across Pakistan but all of them shared horror stories about life in Pakistan. So, what is […]
Two years ago – February 2008 – Pakistan began its transformation to democracy with a general election that brought Benazir Bhutto’s PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) into power. The party decided to continue its policy, introduced by its slain leader Ms. Bhutto, of reconciliation with all political players. It formed a coalition government with its rival […]
