Rahil Yasin
Articles by Rahil Yasin
July 24, 2011
Lahore: As terror once again struck Mumbai on July 13, killing 21 people and injuring more than 140 others, Indian leaders mostly avoided pointing a finger at Pakistan, for the first time in the history of both the nations.
Loss of lives and property is condemnable in the strongest words but thi...
July 18, 2011
LAHORE: Murderous violence has engulfed Karachi once again. Inhuman ´forces´ are spilling more blood on the streets of the metropolis. Gone are the days when people could walk safely on the streets of this place, once called as the city of lights, without any fear. Now, the same lights o...
July 03, 2011
Osama bin Laden´s death has provoked a flurry of new solutions to the Afghan war. Some argue his killing must lead the way to the end of war in Afghanistan but others aren´t agreed with the idea on the basis that main objectives of the war have not yet achieved as Al-Qaeda and Taliban mi...
June 19, 2011
After Osama's death, there is mounting pressure on President Obama to pull their troops out of Afghanistan but a speedy drawdown could only benifit the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
May 29, 2010
LAHORE: The statements of Pakistani and Indian heavy-weights during the past week show an apparent shift in the approach of upper ranks of both the countries. They have finally realized that the challenge lies in reducing the trust deficit between the two countries. Resumption of the Composite Dialo...
August 07, 2009
LAHORE: It has been almost one and a half year since the Pakistan People´s Party (PPP) came to power after a long period of dictator´s rule. The party has not yet delivered on major of its many electoral promises. Naive people pinned countless hopes to this setup. They learnt a little from the past ...
April 23, 2009
LAHORE: Normalcy returns to Balochistan. The latest wave of violence erupted in strategically important and resource-rich province of Balochistan after the killing of three leaders of Balochistan National Party (BNP), a nationalist political party which believes in national right of autonomy for Bal...
April 18, 2009
LAHORE: People in Pakistan are living in unfamiliar but discernibly dangerous times. Talibanisation, fundamentalism and religious extremism are the reasons for the existing chaos that has now become the hallmark of the country.
Pakistan has leaders who have thrown all norms to the winds to plea...
April 14, 2009
Barack Obama, making his first visit to a Muslim nation as president, declared the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam."
His claims are not based on any solid ground realities. Actions speak louder than words. The United States has forcibly overthrown, and attempted to overt...
March 31, 2009
LAHORE: Seven years after the Taliban government´s ouster by the Bush Administration, Afghanistan is far from becoming a stable and secure country. Karzai government has failed to bring about stability in the country and a democratic polity remains a distant dream. The insurgents are in effect...
January 31, 2009
LAHORE, Pakistan—People in Swat - once called the 'paradise' on earth or Switzerland of Pakistan - are living in tense times. The Pakistani Taliban have stoked fear in parts of the valley, and their control is growing. They gave demolished schools and bombed bridges; political workers are assa...
January 23, 2009
LAHORE: The Mumbai terrorist attacks pushed the peace process between India and Pakistan to the back seat. Both neighbors asked their people not to visit the other side of the border. Even the cricket series was cancelled by the Indian Cricket Board. Confidence building measures were chopped down ...
January 02, 2009
LAHORE: The war on terror has killed a large number of people, including children, and destroyed the infrastructure in those countries where this war is being waged. About 151,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in three years following the US-led invasion of their country, according to World Health Org...
January 02, 2009
LAHORE: The years 2007-2008 saw a dramatic surge in the world food prices, bringing a state of global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide food price increase have been currently identified as clima...
December 24, 2008
LAHORE: Pakistan's weak political leadership, its unwillingness to root out terrorists from border lands, its intelligence service's and army's alleged links to terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, the recent increase of Taliban attacks on a crucial NATO transportation route from Pakistan to Afgha...
November 28, 2008
LAHORE: We are living in dangerous times. This is the age of intolerance, extremism and violence. ´Unsecularization of the world´ has become one of the dominant social factors of life. Extremist ideologies are on the rise. Societies are more polarized. Anti-Semitism remains a scourge. Is...
October 12, 2008
LAHORE: When we think of sovereign countries, certain characteristics come to mind. We think of political figures with personal charisma and rhetorical skills. We think of civility and honouring democratic principles - of someone who stands above the fray. They might be small countries with small ar...
September 12, 2008
LAHORE: After February 18 elections, people were expecting their problems would be solved because their representatives are now in the parliament and dictator´s government has ended after a long period of nine years. But after winning the elections, they did not seem to have any clear agenda a...
August 14, 2008
LAHORE: The US, Israel and other Big Powers, all possessors of nuclear warheads, accuse Iran of pursuing a clandestine nuclear programme. They have threatened to take military action against Iran if it does not halt uranium enrichment. But the chances of a US or Israeli attack on Iran are off the be...
August 05, 2008
LAHORE: Bloodshed and violence started in this world after the first murder on earth took place when Hazrat Adam's (AS) son, Qabil killed his brother Habil. Power, pride, greed, jealousy, hunger, inequality and security seem the main forces which compel anybody to murder others and make impossible f...
July 30, 2008
LAHORE: Pakistan and Iran have diplomatic relations ever since the establishment of Pakistan and Iran was the first country to recognise the newly created state. Even before 1947, this part of the Subcontinent was in close proximity to Persia. As a result, it had strong geographical, linguistic an...
July 18, 2008
LAHORE: After the tragic incident of 9/11, terrorism became a global threat with the rise of extremists in the form of al Qaeda. The US, instantly, projected the Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda militant franchise as the architects behind the attacks on US soil. The immediate question rose how the a...
July 11, 2008
LAHORE: A large number of peace organizations such as American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Pax Christi International, Peace Coup, Peaceworkers UK, Seeds of Peace, Spirit of the Sword, World Peace Council, Ulster Project International, Peacekeeping, the Pe...
July 03, 2008
LAHORE: Political uncertainty, deals with militants, judges movement, army's falling morale, and AQ Khan's so-called network about the alleged selling of nukes technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea raises new concerns among the world leaders about the possible theft of Pakistan's nuclear assets ...
June 29, 2008
Gender equality – promoting equal opportunities for women and men in decision-making; supporting women so that they can fully enjoy their rights; and reducing the gap between women and men´s access to resources and benefit from development – is still out of reach for most women throughout the ...
June 25, 2008
Pakistan today stands at the critical point of its destiny which is in our hands to make or break. Sixty years ago we started with a beacon of hope and that beacon will be no more if our Generals keep continue to hold the Pakistan hostage through their time and again involvement in the politics. Due...
June 21, 2008
Swat, a valley and district in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a treat to the eyes with high mountains, green meadows, and fairy lakes. It is a place of great natural scenic beauty. Until recently, it was a popular destination for tourists. It was a princely state in the NWFP until it wa...
June 17, 2008
Some major religions have had times in their history when the images of their religious figures were forbidden. In Judaism, one of the Ten Commandments forbade "graven images". In Byzantine Christianity, during the period of Iconoclasm, (8th century, and again during the 9th century) visual represen...
June 11, 2008
In Pakistani society, women are treated as inferior beings, both intellectually and socially. The basic teaching imparted to every woman in our patriarchal society is to remain a silent spectator, even as a victim to any injustice meted out by a man and to be very careful of not going public with an...