The Pakistani Spectator

A Candid Blog


Author Archive

So Mr. Chairman, How’s the Air-conditioning?

By Abdul Samad • Jul 9th, 2011 • Category: Politics

So Mr. Chairman, How’s the air-conditioning ?
I presume, you are, at this given instant, sitting in your centrally air conditioned office. Trying. To. Think. How to bridge the burgeoning energy shortfall. Perhaps, it would help if you switched off the air conditioning for a while. It would help even more if you make a covert [...]



Our Land Has Become a Graveyard

By Abdul Samad • Jul 9th, 2011 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look

A nation that cannot provide justice to its own citizens is a society on the verge of violence and anarchy. When state institutions, defunct and dysfunctional, cannot provide security of life- the most basic of rights as enshrined in the constitution- then the common man will wrest the initiative from the government and take law and order in his own hands.



Reply to John Kerry on American Exit From Afghanistan

By Abdul Samad • Jun 27th, 2011 • Category: Politics

I have always been an advocate of “winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people” argument. Brute military force, can win wars, but is never a recipe for long term peace and stability. Two wrongs do not make a right, and American policy in the region has only served to exacerbate the level of [...]



Are Drones Worth it?

By Abdul Samad • Jun 20th, 2011 • Category: Politics

US drone strikes, carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated remotely from Creech Air Force Base located in Nevada U.S.A, have seen a meteoric rise during the Obama administration, largely parallel to the December 2009 troop surge of 30,000 soldiers. While drones foment anti-American sentiment in Pakistan where they are conceived as an unlawful intervention [...]



Social (In)Justice

By Abdul Samad • Jun 19th, 2011 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look

The Wikipedia Definition of Social Justice goes as follows: Social Justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. Equality, well not a modicum of that exists, [...]