Shafqat Mahmood

Sep 25, 2024 | thenews.com.pk | Shafqat Mahmood

Where do we begin? With parliament, which is being used as a sledgehammer to beat up the judiciary? Or, with the Election Commission that continues to stonewall any undoing of a fake election? Or, maybe it’s the constitution, slowly dying, that deserves our attention? Mao said power flows through the barrel of a gun. In wars and revolutions, it does. When anything and everything is fair and there are no norms, the gun is the arbiter.

Sep 18, 2024 | thenews.com.pk | Shafqat Mahmood

What a farce is being made of our democracy! Amending the constitution is a serious business. But, last Sunday when the bill was ready to be voted upon, no one knew what was in it. Some speculated that this is part of some grand strategy to keep the opposition in the dark. It soon emerged that this was giving too much credit to the government. Even its ministers – including the law minister, who was supposed to be the bills mover – knew little about its content.

Sep 12, 2024 | geo.tv | Shafqat Mahmood

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) jalsa exposed the inner entrails of the government and the party. The government reluctantly allowed the meeting to take place and then, almost childishly, used every trick in the book to stop people from coming. The party's internal problems were exposed as many of its leaders were, as they say, conspicuous by their absence. They may have been present but nobody saw them. Also, some of the speeches were over the top and whatever the motive, did not go down well.

Sep 11, 2024 | thenews.com.pk | Shafqat Mahmood

The PTI jalsa exposed the inner entrails of the government and the party. The government reluctantly allowed the meeting to take place and then, almost childishly, used every trick in the book to stop people from coming. The party’s internal problems were exposed as many of its leaders were, as they say, conspicuous by their absence. They may have been present but nobody saw them. Also, some of the speeches were over the top and whatever the motive, did not go down well.

Sep 8, 2024 | dawn.com | Shahid Kardar |Shafqat Mahmood |Muhammad Amir Rana

IN an earlier article contributed by one of us in these columns it was argued that Pakistan is passing through a difficult phase, confronted by multiple challenges. And instead of being contained these are on the rise. On the one hand, the population is growing exponentially with opportunities for a decent living not keeping pace with the rising numbers. And on the other, the gap between diminishing state capacity and people’s expectations is making this task formidable.