Daud Khattak is a senior editor for RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal.
Instead of focusing on the real issue confronting Pakistan, the media and political leaders create hype to arouse anger among the general public and divert attention from the real issue: Who has been managing Pakistan's policy with respect to Afghanistan?
The recent wave of street battles in Karachi, which killed 120 people this month, seems to have subsided, for now. The way it did tells a lot about its causes.
If Washington were to seize the chance to mediate a genuine and lasting piece in South Asia, Daud Khattak argues, Pakistanis would undoubtedly have a very different attitude toward America's role in the region.
To be sure, anti-Americanism still abounds in the Pakistan. Yet so far no prominent political leader or major political or religious party has called for protests against Osama bin Laden's killing by U.S. forces on May 2.
To hear the Americans and Europeans talk, it’s the beginning of the end game in Afghanistan. The United States and its allies are rushing for the exit.
The majority of Pakistani analysts who stress the need for negotiated settlement of all disputes between India and Pakistan more than they did in the past are of the view that Singh's invitation and Gilani's acceptance can prove an icebreaker.
The cold-blooded murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, the only minister in the Pakistani cabinet representing minorities, is not the first such killing and is unlikely to be the last.
No one can say for certain what will happen, but it is clear that the mounting pressure from the PML-N, the Pakistan People's Party's key political adversary, will further paralyze the Pakistani government's ability to make decisions. Whether or not the situation produces early elections, any persistent crisis could pave the way for forces ready to resort to extra-constitutional measures.
Despite the casualties and sacrifices of the security forces, their strategy is simply not working. And the repeated reemergence of Taliban militants in areas that have been victoriously proclaimed "cleared" has led ordinary Pakistanis to question the government's sincerity.
The most troubling aspect of the killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is the doubt it casts over the future of religious minorities and the vast majority of moderate and progressive elements that have been resisting the hard-liners.
The Pakistan People's Party government is likely to continue in power, mainly because of differences among opposition groups and the eagerness of others to get a share of power in the government.
Since the beginning of its so-called war on the Taliban, the main government tactic has been to send army troops into an area and compel the local to form volunteer militias to fight the Taliban and other militants.
The ever-worsening violence in Karachi, the commercial hub of Pakistan, seems to be pushing the country increasingly toward political instability, and is threatening to undermine its fight against the emboldened Taliban in the northwest.
RFE/RL's Daud Khattak argues that secular forces in Pakistan are in retreat in the face of growing Taliban violence, while religious parties are again fomenting anti-Americanism.
The words "this is a critical time for Pakistan" have been used so often since the country gained independence in 1947 that it has become virtually meaningless. Practically every ruler and ruling party in the country’s history has used it, usually as a prelude to the intervention of the military in political life.
As his neighbors work to salvage what possessions they can from their ruined homes, Gul Shirin sits in silence amid 13 freshly dug graves. The 80-year-old Swat Valley resident has lost nearly his entire family to the floods that continue to ravage Pakistan.
Already reeling from a range of crises, Pakistan is now coping with the most devastating floods in the last 80 years. And the receding waters are exposing long-standing political, ethnic, and religious divisions at a time when the federation needs unity more than ever before.
The Pakistani government is straining to respond to the massive humanitarian crisis unleashed by the worst flooding in the country in 80 years. An estimated 12 million people have been affected. With the government's resources stretched to their breaking point, people in the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, one of the areas hardest hit, find themselves largely on their own.
Although the government has announced it is stepping up relief efforts for the devastating floods that hit the northwest, it has been widely criticized for its slow and poorly coordinated response. This perceived failure has opened new vistas for pro-Taliban religio-political parties and outlawed militant organizations to win the hearts and minds of locals in this war-weary region.
The death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains in northern Pakistan has risen to nearly 400 over the past three days.
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