The strangest plot by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

ASSUME they’re right. The JIT isn’t about corruption. The investigation is just a vehicle to oust Nawaz. Old tricks adapted for new times.

Fine.

We can go further. They — the permanent establishment, the boys, whomever — want to oust Nawaz because of what Nawaz represents and because of what Nawaz wants to do.

The militancy trap written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

FORGET Raheel this, Bajwa that, Nawaz stupid, Imran clueless. Step back, breathe, and try and trace where this is going.

We are sinking into a militancy trap.

There’s a ghoulish metric that everyone knows, but humaneness means most deny: a big one in Parachinar or Quetta equals a small one in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad.

Somewhere, someone knows the same. Somewhere, someone, here in this land, has decided that it’s a price worth paying — by us.

Because we’re hitting them, the militants, they can’t strike as much and as often as they did or would like.

A beautiful, ugly thing by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

“EVERYTHING burns,” says the Joker in the Dark Knight, a bit of modern-day American film lore.

Closer to the American political experience, there’s a favourite invocation of gun-rights activists and the like:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

America has its patriot-tyrant.

One, two, three written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

ULTIMATELY, they’re going to have to do it. They know it, we know it and the targets do too: decommission the favourites; defang the good ones.

Get rid of militancy.

Think of it as an arc: from Musharraf to Kayani to Raheel to the next chief, a progressive clampdown against groups that had to be taken on.

On a knife edge written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

IT’S not the confidence — he’s always had that. It’s the snarl and the menace. Imran is moving in for the kill.

And this time the prey is in sight and within reach.

Nawaz is in trouble. Locked in a self-created pincer, he’s given reason for his ouster — national security threat! — and given the means, too — corruption!

Tense final days of historic campaign written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

TEN days from a historic US election, the latest polling data suggests the presidential race is tightening once again after a disastrous stretch for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, a popular polling analysis website, “Trump has narrowed [Democratic nominee Hillary] Clinton’s lead in the popular vote to roughly 6 percentage points from 7 points a week ago,” though Ms Clinton

An impasse written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

               

AS promised, normal service today. There is one of two ways the weeks ahead could unfold. First, the less obvious, more likely path.

This dharna business goes nowhere. A new chief is appointed. The kerfuffle of the last couple of weeks is quickly forgotten.

And Nawaz emerges the strongest PM since possibly ZAB and certainly since the heavy-mandate ’90s version of himself.

A week to remember written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida
The write is dawn's
staff member

A Week To Remember

AT the request of the overseers of these pages, I have been asked to write about myself today — my past week or so, really.

A request categorically not because there is any restriction on writing about the week’s events, but because there may be some interest in a personal perspective.

Exclusive: Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military written by Cyril Almeida

Cyril Almeida

ISLAMABAD: In a blunt, orchestrated and unprecedented warning, the civilian government has informed the military leadership of a growing international isolation of Pakistan and sought consensus on several key actions by the state.

As a result of the most recent meeting, an undisclosed one on the day of the All Parties’ Conference on Monday, at least two sets of actions have been agreed.

First, ISI DG Gen Rizwan Akhtar, accompanied by National Security