M. Zaidi

Where does all the water go?

Where does all the water go?

Despite lack of water, neither citizens nor administrators are worried about plugging holes in water supply lines. Updated 13 Jul, 2014 09:49am

Comprehension challenge

AS terrorism becomes a major challenge for the new government, so does the comprehension of the phenomenon. The... Published 15 Jul, 2013 07:33am

Countering the insurgency

THE Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s recent decision to withdraw the offer of peace talks with the incoming government... Published 03 Jun, 2013 08:30am

Security for the people

ONCE in power, these are some of the immediate counterterrorism and extremism priorities the new prime minister can... Published 13 May, 2013 03:17am

Perceptions of national power

APOLOGISTS may downplay it, but the fact is that power is the core attribute of a state, defining its position in international politics by giving it the leverage to influence other states. Published 22 Apr, 2013 05:05am

In times of uncertainty

THE term “national security” is heard often but there is little comprehension of its integral component, the concept of national security uncertainty. Published 01 Apr, 2013 01:02am

Fair trial for terrorists?

THE Investigation for Fair Trial Bill, 2012 has drawn a lot of attention as it allows certain law-enforcement agencies to use modern evidence-gathering techniques and devices against suspected militants and Published 18 Feb, 2013 08:03pm

Terror and the law

THE criminal justice system of Pakistan stands on three pillars: investigation, prosecution and the judiciary. In a case registered under the Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA), 1997, the trial courts are the anti-terrorism courts Published 20 Jan, 2013 10:03pm

Laws against terrorism

CONCEPTUALLY, anti-terrorism laws usually include specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its own legislations when fighting terrorism-related crimes, on the grounds of necessity. Because of this Published 31 Dec, 2012 03:04am

Frivolous litigation

LITIGATION that is tangential to hard-core terrorism accounts for a huge proportion of cases tried in the Anti Terrorism Courts (ATCs) and thus takes up a correspondingly large proportion of both time and resources. Published 10 Dec, 2012 12:15am

Loopholes in the law

THE Anti-Terrorist Act 1997(ATA) was amended by many ordinances, but since ordinances are a temporary phenomenon, with their lapsing the same old ATA remains with its many flaws. Published 24 Nov, 2012 10:02pm

Faulty prosecution

SOME time ago, a Pakistani court acquitted nine men who had been on trial for the February 2008 suicide attack which killed the Pakistan Army’s surgeon-general, Lt-Gen Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, in Rawalpindi’s Garrison area. Published 19 Nov, 2012 12:15am

Nonviolent radicalisation

THERE is empirical evidence to suggest that non-violent radicalism, or what some analysts call ‘virtual radicalism’, not only exists in Pakistani society to a considerable extent but is also on the rise. Published 08 Oct, 2012 12:15am

Youth on the streets

AMONGST the biggest problems Pakistan faces is a very basic challenge which is sometimes conveniently forgotten — that of the population boom. Pakistan is one of five countries in the world where every generation Published 16 Sep, 2012 09:04pm

Development challenge

PAKISTAN’S ranking on the World Bank’s political stability index dropped sharply in 2006 and 2007 before stabilising somewhat during 2007 and 2008. Published 26 Aug, 2012 10:04pm

Just war and terrorism

THE theory of ‘just war’ is a widely used paradigm for analysing the morality of international relations, specifically warfare. Published 06 Aug, 2012 12:10am

The ‘others’

WE tend to think that terrorists are the ‘others’, people who cannot belong in a civilised society structure. It is also tempting to assume that terrorists must necessarily be evil, deluded or homicidal misfits who are the products of poverty, ignorance a Published 16 Jul, 2012 02:05am

Counterterrorism’s future

OVER the years, studies have suggested that an extensive military response to terrorism may temporarily increase terrorist activity rather than cause it to decrease permanently. Walter Enders and Published 25 Jun, 2012 02:04am

Drivers of religious militancy

IN a report titled ‘The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism,’ published in 1999 by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress Published 04 Jun, 2012 12:15am

Effective institutions

IT could be asked why two countries that gained independence at same time grow at varying rates. There are three schools of thought about this, one of the leading ones relating to institutional economics. This Published 14 May, 2012 12:04am