Bhutto deserves another chance Settling accounts -- One step forward, two steps back -- A poisonous concoction -- At home abroad -- The killing fields -- Game plan to endgame -- You can't shoot the economy -- Losing out on history -- Pakistan at the stake of accountability -- Voice of Pakistan -- Uncle Sam tests the waters -- Facing reality -- A diet for Pakistanis -- Mockery of justice -- The judiciary under pressure -- State vs. the rest -- Loading the dice -- The law of necessity -- Cold War blues -- Damned if she does and damned if she doesn't -- Foul is fair -- Nawaz Sharif's options -- Shaking them off -- Freedom, fairness, state and the party -- Playing with fire -- Who's in charge? -- Fair weather friendships -- No pressing matters for PM -- Defining the elements -- No more sacred cows -- The road not taken -- Writing on the wall -- Bridging the Gulf -- Tensions in Pakistan's Gulf policy -- Thinking beyond Saddam -- A bodyguard of lies -- Right and wrong -- Turkey unlikely to support OIC peace efforts -- Fight on the home front, PM -- Humour in uniform -- A precipitous situation -- Kiss and make up -- State terrorism -- Plunging into the Gulf -- Privatize or perish? -- Presidential decisions -- Defending ourselves -- A sticky affair -- A no-win situation -- A very mixed blessing -- Back to Parliament -- Time to break free -- Do the honest thing -- Imagine peace -- Budget politics -- Social contract disintegrates -- Tell us what happened -- The vicious rumour-virus -- Cool it -- The rise and rise of Nawaz Sharif -- Going, going, gone for a six -- India : the dangerous legacies -- Two can play -- Beware the millstones -- Panic buttons -- Despair and dread -- Friends not masters -- Waylaying the press -- A farewell to arms? -- Mr President, wake up -- The last hurrah -- Who is culpable? -- "Oakly asked Ishaq to dismiss Bhutto" -- How the other half dies -- Histrionics in Islamabad -- The Great Game revisited -- The White Paper's logic -- "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring" -- Desperate times -- Cricket in topsy turvydom -- Having his cake and eating it too -- Illusion and reality -- Fiddling while Rome burns -- Cart before the horse -- Tough agenda for US-Pak talks on nuclear question -- "Goodbye, goodbye, parting is such sweet sorrow" -- Only one way out -- The price of press freedom -- The rape of Pakistan -- What a beautiful country -- Art of stealing elections -- Live and let live in '92 -- Prove your credentials, Mr Wyne -- Globetrotting -- Exaggerated response -- "Dialoguing" with India -- Globetrotting again -- Heroes and villains -- Unravelling Afghanistan -- Seize the opportunity -- Milking the nuclear cow -- New agenda for a new chief -- India is isolated on NPT -- A pack of jokers -- Get going, Imran -- Grasping cynics of Islamabad -- Power plays in Islamabad -- Fudging the report -- Chronicle of a crash foretold -- Surgery needed -- Assault on the judiciary -- Who's getting too big for his boots? -- Will stop the Sindh from going to the dogs? -- Bhutto's social contract -- Don't take sides in Afghanistan -- Winners and losers -- Let the talks begin -- Fiddling while Rome burns -- What is going on in Islamabad -- Walking into a trap? -- Press accountability -- Clean-up the fanatics -- Army's Catch-22 -- Put Pakistan first -- The last laugh -- Contending with Bhutto -- Get rid of the 8th amendment -- Urgent : brokers wanted -- Begging the issue -- Absurd realities -- Without fear or favor -- Stand up and be counted -- A president who doesn't pull his punches -- Doing his mentor proud -- Stopping to conquer? -- Third force vs. third solution -- Pass the buck and praise the Lord -- Wrath of Allah? -- Plants and other stories -- Battles yet to be won -- The charade goes on -- Freedom from fear -- Full marks to everyone -- Politics abhors a cul-de-sac -- No more games, please -- Sharif's siege -- Change of scene -- The ball is in Nawaz Sharif's court -- Cat among the pigeons -- Stand up and be counted -- Killing fields of fundamentalism -- An extraordinary situation -- President's game-plan -- Tyranny cannot endure -- A true son of the soil -- The tragedy of Gen Asif Nawaz -- Byzantine intrigues -- Sindh agenda for a new COAS -- A tainted "image" -- Symbiosis of state and society -- ECO or what? -- The day of the general -- Walking or talking tall? -- Another "historic victory" for NS? -- Sharif offers Bhutto irresistible deal -- Theories galore -- Confidence building measures -- Cock-sure pygmies -- Drug policies -- Nawaz Sharif's days are numbered -- Nawaz Sharif's "Lafafah" legacies -- Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali is a true patriot -- Islamic retribution -- 101 days that shook Pakistan -- Rock bottom is quicksand -- The ouster of a budding Bonaparte -- Confusion worse confounded -- Institutionalising accountability -- Making history -- Scope for optimism -- Place your bets! -- Signposts to a "historic" showdown -- Hoping against hope -- Budgetary fix -- Hold a referendum -- Cracks within PDA -- Playing with fire -- Only one way out -- Countdown to D-Day -- Three cheers for COAS -- "Establishment" versus civil society -- Change the rotten status-quo -- Nisar Memon's burden -- Discretion vs justice -- Playing with fire -- Hip hip hooray! -- Murtaza Bhutto's dilemma -- Don't be so timid, Mr Qureshi! -- Qazi on the rampage -- Grad delusions of Rao Rahid and Mairaj Mohammad Khan -- We demand an autopsy -- Expose the beards and babus -- Bhutto deserves another chance
Summary:
This is the second volume of a series of books by veteran journalist Najam Sethi on Pakistan's sputtering journey under democracy from 1988 to 2021 after it emerged from a stifling decade of autocracy under Z A Bhutto from 1972-1977 and ruthless dictatorship under General Zia ul Haq from 1977 to 1988. In this collection of nearly 200 articles, reports, commentaries and analyses, Sethi discusses a wide range of issues relating to state, society and government under the Nawaz Sharif regime from 1990 to 1993. Among the many subjects covered are: mockery of justice and judiciary under pressure; the "law of necessity"; state terrorism; humour in uniform; thinking beyond Saddam; privatise or perish; cold war blues; Nawaz Sharif's options; freedom, fairness, state and party; disintegration of the social contract; the rise of Nawaz Sharif; India's dangerous legacies; waylaying the press; the price of press freedom and accountability; the "great game" revisited; how the other half dies; US-Pak agenda for nuclear talks; art of stealing elections; dialoguing with India; unravelling Afghanistan; grasping cynics and power plays in Islamabad; Benazir Bhutto's social contract; "cleaning-up the fanatics"; killing fields of fundamentalism; how and why to get rid of the 8th Amendment; third force vs third solution; the tragedy of General Asif Nawaz; Establishment vs Civil Society; Discretion vs Justice; Nawaz Sharif's Lafafah legacies; and grand delusions of Mairaj Mohammad Khan and Rao Rashid. The writing is full of sardonic humour, wit and penetrating analysis.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.