Articles

Pakistan has become a sad case of the army fighting against its own people. The deliberately-engineered crisis can be blamed on one man: army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa who is about to retire on November 29. Before he goes, he seems determined to inflict more harm.

Justice is an important concept in Islam. It is also often touted at the global level but regrettably, there is little justice in the world. The rich and powerful exploit the poor and weak. There is no system whereby people can seek redress for injustices inflicted on them.

In his regular column, Abu Dharr narrates how Abu Bakr and Umar adhered, to the best of their abilities, to the Qur’an and the Prophetic example in conduct of state policy. Usman, however, fell short when his family—the Bani Umayyah—wormed their way into the political system and subverted it from within.

Is it a coincidence that a day after Iran joined SCO, riots erupted over the unfortunate death of a young woman in hospital (not the police custody, as alleged)? There was nothing spontaneous about these riots; they were engineered by the US and its agencies.

Arabian regimes, most notably Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have embarked on what is referred to as “reforms”. These have centred around promoting vulgarity. The regimes thought their young populations will buy into it. Recent opinion polls show the youth reject such policies.

US President Joe Biden’s National Security Strategy document identifies three principal enemies: China, Russia and Iran, in that order. His prescription: to acquire more weapons, to terrorize opponents into submission. This did not work in the past and is not likely to succeed in the future.

In its relentless policy to make the occupation of Kashmir permanent, India pursues a multi-pronged approach: army brutality including torture and killings, imprisonment of political and human rights activists and preventing journalists from traveling abroad lest they speak out about Indian atrocities

Since his ouster from power in a US-dictated and army engineered coup, Imran Khan has attracted millions of people to his rallies. He demands transparent elections but that won’t solve Pakistan’s problems. It needs a revolution.

Malaysians will go to the polls on November 19. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob sensing loss of support within the ruling UMNO coalition decided to seek a new mandate. Interestingly, 97-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is also contesting the polls.

Josep Borrell, the EU Foreign Policy chief, gave a rambling speech to EU ambassadors. In addition to his racist remarks about Europe being “paradise” and outside it a “jungle”, his speech failed to address the inevitable emergence of a multipolar world and how to reconcile with it.