TALAT MASOOD

US President Joe Biden’s recent remarks about Pakistan being “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” and “nuclear nation without any cohesion”, doubting the safety protocols of the country’s nuclear weapons had justifiably outraged the nation. Although later the White House spokesperson downplayed the remarks. For indeed the safety and security of our nuclear assets meets global standards ...

All eyes are set on December 1 when the new Chief of Army Staff will take over the command from General Qamar Jawad Bajwa. In a normal democratic country, the change of army command is a routine affair and receives limited publicity. But for reasons well known it has great significance for Pakistan. And not surprising has been a subject ...

President Jo Biden’s latest unkind remarks about Pakistan being one of the most dangerous nations of the world is factually incorrect and has come at a time when there was an illusion that after years of misunderstanding and friction, the relations between the two countries were on the mend. The comments were also a reaffirmation of the President’s frustrations with ...

The recent devastating floods have exposed the best and worst of Pakistan. Close to 33 million people are still living in the open or makeshift tents. Generally, the government has dithered and at best its efforts can be described as perfunctory, both at the federal and provincial level. In sharp contrast some of the NGOs and members of community have ...

Probably we fail to realise that honesty and integrity is a functional requirement of a society and a nation. Apart from that, every religion and social norms lay the highest emphasis on it and as a Muslim majority country we have a special responsibility. More significantly, only those countries have achieved political stability and economic progress and moved ahead who ...

The occurrence of natural or human created disasters invokes in people different responses. Many among those unaffected living within country or in distant lands react in different ways. Majority of the people hearing of the disaster through newspapers and television or listening to radio feel remorse at best but soon other priorities take over. Whereas, some feel the pain and ...

At a time when the country is passing through an extremely difficult period at every level and more so after the advent of floods of unprecedented proportions it was expected that the leadership would focus singularly on policies that would assist in the rehabilitation and care of those millions that have lost everything. They would also address the severe economic ...

When one-third of the country has been submerged by floods and millions of people overnight deprived of basic necessities and forced to take refuge in open skies or at best makeshift tents the response of leadership in alleviating their sufferings becomes crucial. It also provides a rare opportunity for the masses to assess its leadership and their order of priorities. ...

After years of monitoring the human rights situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Amnesty International has come out with an exhaustive and scathing report on the conditions and policy of the Indian government. It has called on it to end the repression of rights in occupied Kashmir, release those arbitrarily kept in detention and take several other corrective measures. ...

There couldn’t have been a more apt description that Pakistan is presently facing a catastrophe of ‘biblical proportions’, as described by Becky Anderson, the CNN Managing Director, based in the UAE. It is a crisis that has devastated the lives of millions as the country is literary flooded by torrential rains with no end in sight. Pakistan has faced many ...