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The
Role of Indian Military
in South Asian Democracies
Columnist
TAUQEER H. TAKI SIRGANA argues that democracy in India
is just a facade.
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Abstract
From the last many decades the world of academics
is encountering new aspects of South Asian politics
where the stage of Indian military involvement in
internal affairs of South Asian states is becoming
more visible, which has its dimensions ranging from
politics to economic manipulations particularly backed
with strategic vision under the concept of ‘Shining
India’. What is the reality behind such an impressive
political exploitation from a state which calls itself
a democratic and secular state in the international
affairs of world politics? Is that the new dual face
of emerging democracies? Or is it simply the inevitable
strategic requirements are pushing states to opt for
dual policies like India? One can argue that the Indian
strategic vision which is cleverly camouflaged under
the democratic slogan is more inspired by the United
States of America. Why? The answer is obvious and
simple to me and that points to the ongoing policies
of the U.S.A in Iraq and Afghanistan being a champion
of democracy. Is India supposed to act or think like
the U.S.A? Most of the time this is a big and an ambiguous
question because what India has always been doing
has been hidden under the projection of so-called
emerging democracy. Such an undeserving projection
further provides India to play its important role
in the region to stabilize the regional democracies........more
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 Swat:
A Crisis and
an Opportunity
Air Vice Marshal FAAIZ
AMIR (Retd) asserts that the ongoing crisis offers
an opportunity to restore people’s confidence
in the state and to integrate these regions in the
mainstream.
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Once again the people of Pakistan have responded
like a nation. From Karachi to Lahore and Khyber,
they have come together to help their kin in distress
in Swat. So have the politicians and the Government.
The military has resumed the responsibility to restore
the much needed sense of security. The media, though
acting under restraint, has demonstrated maturity
and responsibility. In times of extreme distress these
are extremely positive indicators on which the state
needs to build on.........more
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North
Korea
Nuclear Test
Columnist MEHMOOD-UL-HASSAN
KHAN believes the key for a solution to
North Korea's nuclear program lies with China, and
to an extent with Russia.
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North Korea
once again stunned the world by testing another
nuclear device on May 25. Afterwards, firing of
missiles also shocked the world community. The Russian
military and South’s Defense Ministry estimated
North Korea’s nuclear blast yielded 20 kilotons,
or roughly the same as the American atomic bomb
that destroyed the Japanese city of Nagasaki at
the end of World War II in 1945. The U.S. Geological
Survey said it had detected a 4.7-magnitude quake
in an area close to where the test site is thought
to be. It was the second test in the last two years.
North Korea has again reaffirmed its global defiance.........more
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Managing Human Capital through Benchmarking?
Reinventing New Leadership Style in Pakistan
Columnist
Dr QADAR BAKHSH BALOCH makes a case for Pakistan absorbing
positive ideas from the Japanese style of management
and intertwining them with current practices.
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Abstract
This paper examines the differences between Japanese
and Pakistani managerial practices in handling of
their organizational human resource. The aim is to
understand as to how Japanese firms have managed to
perform productively so well and what message their
style may carry for our organizational leadership.
Assuming them as a tentative roll-model what can we
learn from their managerial practices so as to enhance
our efficiency, attain optimum productivity level
and exploit the business opportunities being offered
to us by the Central Asian region, SAFTA, and WTO.........more
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Pakistan
in the
Midst of a Game Plan
Brig
INAM UL HAQ (Retd) and Dr QADAR BAKHSH BALOCH warn
that American aid with strings attached would tantamount
to bartering away our sovereignty.
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Pakistan was
a peaceful country till the U.S. invasion of
Afghanistan. There were no target killings,
no bomb blasts, no suicide attacks, no militancy,
no terrorism, and no threat to the writ of the
Government. The Army was held in high esteem.
Law enforcement agencies including Civil Armed
Forces were able to maintain law and order in
their own areas of responsibility. People in
FATA exercised their age-old code of conduct
through the time-tested concept of collective
responsibility. Tribal Maliks and chieftains
exercised tremendous influence over their tribes
and jirgas were an effective tool in the maintenance
of law and order and stability in the area.
Tribals looked towards the Political authorities
for help and assistance. Likewise, the situation
in Malakand Division was absolutely calm and
tourists from various parts of Pakistan, as
well as foreigners thoroughly enjoyed the calm,
quiet and serene environment of the Swat valley
during summer seasons. The locals of Swat were
affable, hospitable and peaceful. No one could
imagine that turbulent times would ever afflict
those areas.......more
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A
Blueprint for Victory
Lt
Gen JAVED ALAM KHAN (Retd) suggests a way forward
for the Government and society to address problems
relating to Talibanisation, militancy and extremism.
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While thinking
about the title for this article, I decided to call
it "A Blueprint for Victory". Later I realized
that it appears quite immodest and that my friends
would pull my leg about it by separating blue from
print or by hyphenating the word. Having read a large
number of articles and seen various discussions on
television, I realized that most of them try to trace
the "why it happened" but very seldom attempt
to develop a wholesome way forward. In this article
I will attempt to suggest the way forward for the
Government and various institutions and segments of
society to address the problems facing Pakistan today
relating to Talibanisation, militancy and extremism......more
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Pak-Afghan
predicament
Columnist
MUZAFFAR K. AWAN proposes the creation of a confederacy
between Afghanistan and Pakistan as a way out of the
Pak-Afghan morass.
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The U.S. is now
deeply engaged in trying to translate the broad
strategic concepts for the Afghanistan war that
President Obama announced on March 27th 2009. There
have been subsequent visitations of Afghan president
Hamid Karzai and Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari
to the U.S., with broad-based triumvirate grueling
discussions. The details of all these efforts have
not been announced yet and many complex issues are
still being debated within the U.S. Administration.
What is clear thus far is that President Obama from
the get-go has been looking beyond the war in Afghanistan;
he has linked Afghanistan and Pakistan together
and is calling for a broad-based regional approach.........more
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Two
Decades of Hits and Misses
Twenty Years of Press Freedom in Pakistan
Dr
SEEMI NAGHMANA TAHIR takes a critical look at Press
Freedom in
Pakistan over the last two decades.
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Abstract
The History of press in this region where Pakistan
is located today is spread over a period of more
than two hundred years. The concept of press freedom
in Pakistan remained a dream for more than forty
years in the 62 years history of the Country. Besides
the fact that the founder of the country Mohammad
Ali Jinnah was a great supporter of the press freedom,
the press in the Country has remained in chains
for a long time - first under civilian and military
and then subsequent democratic regime. It was not
until 1988 when the Press and Publication Ordinance
1963 was at last abolished paving the way for a
freer press in the Country. Coincidently the press
freedom and restoration of democracy came almost
together in the Country. This paper will explore
the twenty years of press freedom in Pakistan and
the government-press relations with both democratically
elected ones and otherwise......more
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