Columnist

Through the fog of cold winter nights, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam is on the streets of Lahore, urging people to come participate in anti government rallies, urging them to rise up against the status quo.

When leading Baloch nationalist leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced his political divorce with House of Khan earlier this week-- the Prime Minister-led ruling coalition-- he also conveyed his anguish to the country’s powerful military establishment.

When Khalid Zaidi landed in Mashhad from Karbala, things still felt normal in Iran. The traditional Qahwa Khana cafes and shops were open, and importantly for Khalid and the hundreds of Pakistani pilgrims he was escorting as tour operator, the holy shrine of Imam Reza was open. 

President Trump’s handshakes with PM Imran Khan, claims of friendship and fondness, and claims of warm relations between the US and Pakistan are taken in Pakistan with a fist full of salt.

Shoes have been flung at former US president George Bush, at Indian Congress Minister Chidambaram and at Pakistan’s military ruler, General Musharraf. They were lobbed as protest, meant to cause embarrassment.

Nov. 3, 2007. It was my daughter Risa’s birthday party at an amusement park, and I had just stepped off a roller coaster ride when I got a frenzied phone call informing me military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf had imposed an emergency and declared the constitution to be in abeyance. 

For Nawaz Sharif, who is suffering from multiple ailments that pose a serious threat to his life, including kidney disease and a platelet-destroying immune disorder, leaving Pakistan was the last option.