Private sector hires 294,000 Saudis during last 9 months    Saleh Al Shehri strike seals Al Ittihad's Sea Derby win over Al Ahli    HONOR unveils pre-order of the stunning HONOR MagicBook Art 14 Featuring an ultra-slim design, HONOR Eye Comfort Display and AI Cross-OS WorkStation    Economy minister emphasizes global partnerships to address pressing challenges Private investments in non-oil sector soar 70%    Saudi Arabia's GDP grows 2.8% in Q3, driven by non-oil sectors    PIF, HKMA sign MoU to establish $1 billion investment fund    Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian men to take off clothes as they evacuated war-torn Jabalya    North Korea fires suspected intercontinental missile    India celebrates Diwali, the festival of lights    Saudi Arabia and India agree to study feasibility of establishing power grid    Saudi Awwal Bank records SR5.9 billion net profit after Zakat and Income Tax for YTD Q3    'It was like a tsunami': Spaniards recount horror of deadly floods    Bahrain Crown Prince receives Saudi Interior Minister    Derby Week makes its debut in the Roshn Saudi League    HR Ministry takes penal action against 568 violators of Domestic Workers' Regulation    Al Nassr eliminated from King's Cup after a defeat to Al Taawoun    Teri Garr, Young Frankenstein and Tootsie star, dies at 79    Othman Al Omeir receives Legacy of Change Medal at the UK Parliament for advocacy in media    Neymar joins Saudi fashion trend, donning traditional attire at Al Hilal match    Indonesia Days event celebrates cultural diversity at Al Suwaidi Park    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    

Articles of the author Humayun Gauhar
LETTERS TO MY SON: Martial Law in the US
My dear Muhammad Ali: During the kafuffle over the rigging of George Bush's 2000 election, I wrote a satirical article asking why the US army didn't intervene. “What is wrong with it,” I asked sarcastically? My sarcasm was aimed at third world (...)

19 - 10 - 2008
From the Ashes
My dear Muhammad Ali: By the time the ‘Bailout of Greedy Investment Banks Bill' was passed, it was both too late and too early for me to write about it. Too late because my deadline had gone; too early because I still don't know the details. I will (...)

06 - 10 - 2008
We shall overcome!
My dear Ali: After the audacious bomb attack on that much-loved icon of Islamabad, the late lamented Marriott, there is so much to say in such little space that I must be crisp. Son: Never lose hope. Lose hope and you've lost the war. It's (...)

28 - 09 - 2008
The bishop and the ass
My dear Ali: I said in my last letter that America wanted President Musharraf out for five reasons but gave only four. The fifth is that America was upset with him for getting Observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, thus putting (...)

20 - 09 - 2008
‘Never trust America'
My dear Ali: You have been bombarding me with questions about the US and NATO attack on us. Look, son, they attacked us a long time ago. The only difference is that now they have escalated and exacerbated the situation by actually putting boots on (...)

15 - 09 - 2008
Letters to my son
My last article, ‘Closure', marked the end of the Musharraf era. They amount to 454 in all. From now on my articles will be on our fourth or seventh democracy era, depending on whether you count the three we have had under military rulers: 1962 to (...)

31 - 08 - 2008
2(B) or not 2(B)?
EVERYONE realized that things were very serious when President Musharraf cancelled his visit to the Beijing Olympics. He would not let our only true friend down easily. The double-edged Chinese saying, “May you live in interesting times” can be a (...)

10 - 08 - 2008
A place called Gotham
THERE is a fictional Gotham City. There is a real Gotham Country. Both are startlingly similar, except in one way. Gotham City has a Batman (and Robin). Gotham Country has none – or so it seems. Gotham's citizens are gulllible people known as (...)

27 - 07 - 2008
Bullet or ballot?
WHEN I recently said that, “Our salvation lies in the bullet, not the ballot” I upset my wife greatly. Poor dear, she can't even slaughter a chicken, but the microbiologist that she is, she doesn't balk at killing cockroaches, so what's the problem? (...)

20 - 07 - 2008
The oil bomb
“IRAN has really gone and done it now. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub into the Gulf. They are about to launch something much more deadly - next week the Iran Bourse will open to trade oil, not in dollars but in Euros” (Scottish (...)

13 - 07 - 2008
Global economic crisis is not what it seems
WE saw last week that our economic crisis is driven primarily by the greater global economic crisis, which in turn is driven by the skyrocketing prices of oil and the dwindling value of the dollar. The third crisis, which for us is at least just as (...)

06 - 07 - 2008
The budget: A chicken-egg affair
SOME unkind people are calling the budget a non-budget - no doubt another conspiracy hatched in the Presidency! The excuse that the new government had very little time to prepare the budget is lame. When a four-decade old party that claims to be (...)

30 - 06 - 2008
The limits of freedom
DOUBLE standards have screwed up the world - one rule for you and another for us. Muslims are as guilty of this duality as non-Muslims are, calling all and sundry ‘infidels' with great abandon, even twisting the intent of God if they have to. In the (...)

08 - 06 - 2008
Desperadoes making up stories
ONE could concoct a tale out of anything. Here's one. The President explained to me the other day the sort of generator or UPS I should put in my house. How could a President know such things? Conclusion: he must be thinking of shifting to his (...)

01 - 06 - 2008
Endless anomalies
I PROMISED last week that I would continue until I reached the present. I discussed the many anomalies that faced Pakistan before and after birth and about which all we have done is to bury our heads deeper into the sand. I am writing this in a city (...)

18 - 05 - 2008
Road to salvation
HAVING tried everything to find salvation, people are now at their wit's end wondering where the solution to Pakistan's problems lies. The answer actually lies in one word: Truth. Start facing up to the truth, don't be embarrassed about it, (...)

11 - 05 - 2008
Twists in the tail
ON the face of it, there seems little difference between the Murree Declaration and the still one-sided, unwritten ‘Nawaz Declaration' of this Friday for restoring the deposed judges, except that the lapsed April 30 deadline has been extended by an (...)

04 - 05 - 2008
Time to learn lessons
AFTER the failure of the first Nawaz-Zardari meeting on the judges' issue in Islamabad last week, a newspaper correspondent wrote that it seemed that Asif Zardari had learned no lessons from his long ordeal and is still wedded to his “bad old ways.” (...)

27 - 04 - 2008
What would you say?
WHAT would you say if the top people running a national institution or an organ of government overshoot their domain and trespass on the jurisdiction of other branches of government, be it the legislature, the executive or the judiciary or a (...)

20 - 04 - 2008
Ignore the master's voice
“SO this is democracy?” ask a bewildered people who mistakenly expected utopia to jump out of the ballot box. “Yes, these are the joys of democracy,” smugly reply those that reject that leftover of slavery, the British parliamentary system. The (...)

13 - 04 - 2008
Now walk the talk
MR. Prime Minister: I don't know you, except by your rhetoric and promises. But soon I will get to know you very well by your deeds and delivery. So will most of the populace. There was more big talk during the last election campaign in Pakistan - (...)

06 - 04 - 2008
Dawn of reality
children who always break their toys and then howl for years. Eventually, fed up and hoping that the children have matured, some, their guardians fix the toy and give it back to them. They start breaking it again. Aghast, the guardians throw up (...)

30 - 03 - 2008
Plant Flowers, not Thorns
new, discredited-re-credited leaders. While the young Asif looks and sounds oh-so-sincere, the old Nawaz seems to be acting. While Asif may be one hell of an actor, his admirers-turned-haters-turned-admirers once again would have us believe that the (...)

18 - 03 - 2008
Small Men, Long Shadows
22 galore for Asif, the sudden great leader Z. If AZ partners with N and forms a government called ANZ, he is in danger of losing America. If he goes with Q (which America wants him to do) he is in danger of losing popular support, because Q are the (...)

09 - 03 - 2008
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