Author: Uzma Ehtasham

By Uzma Ehtasham Pakistan’s rulers have discovered a cheap new language of sacrifice. It comes dressed in somber declarations of “austerity” and “national duty”, but melts away the moment it is asked to bear any real weight. This year’s Pakistan Day is the latest stage for this performance. The traditional 23 March parade, with its carefully choreographed displays of military power and pageantry, has been scrapped. In its place, the government offers simple flag-hoisting ceremonies and a litany of symbolic cutbacks, all advertised as proof of fiscal prudence in an era of oil shocks and empty coffers. The message from…

By Uzma Ehtasham There is a particular kind of silence that follows the shattering of a long-held illusion. It is not the silence of peace, but the hush of disbelief. For decades, the strategic doctrine of the United States and its most dependable ally in the Middle East rested upon a single, unspoken article of faith: that their combined military might was an immovable object, a shield against which no spear could hope to break. To witness that faith fracture in real time is to watch the geography of power rearrange itself not with the slow erosion of time, but…

By Uzma Ehtasham In the mist-shrouded valleys of north Kashmir, life has long been defined by a tension that is both immediate and enduring. The latest incident, in which the Indian army shot dead a young man accused of infiltration, is neither an anomaly nor a singular tragedy. It is instead a grim continuation of a pattern in which ordinary lives are subsumed into the machinery of conflict. For the residents of the valley, such killings are not headlines to be read and forgotten—they are reminders of a daily reality marked by fear, suspicion, and loss. Each death deepens the…

By Uzma Ehtasham KARACHI: The Iranian consul general in Karachi, Akbar Isazadeh, said that the Iranian nation remained united and insisted that US and Israeli ambitions of regime change would never succeed. In a detailed interview, he described recent tensions as an imposed conflict and said Iran was exercising its right to self-defence under international law. He said Iranian forces were targeting military and strategic assets of adversaries, which he claimed were linked to US interests in the region. Referring to Iran’s relations with Pakistan, Isazadeh expressed gratitude for Islamabad’s support, saying that Pakistan had shown solidarity at a time…

By Uzma Ehtasham In the troubled paradise of Kashmir, another young life has been extinguished. The Indian army, in its latest act of occupation, shot dead a youth in the north of the valley, labelling him an “infiltrator”—a word that has become a convenient epitaph for too many. This is the brutal, mundane reality of life under the world’s largest democracy: a place where extrajudicial killing is dressed up as national security and where the gun speaks louder than the law. However, the violence in Kashmir, while the most visible symptom of a deeper malaise, is no longer an isolated…

By Uzma Ehtasham There is a particular quality to the silence that follows a diplomatic bombshell. It is the hush of recalibration, the quiet moment when old certainties are weighed against new possibilities and found wanting. Such a silence now hangs over Islamabad following remarks by Russia’s envoy, Albert P. Khorev, who dangled before Pakistan the prospect of cheap Russian oil. The offer, delivered with the casual assurance of a man holding a winning hand, arrives at a moment of maximum regional volatility. As the United States and Israel press their campaign against Iran, and as Pakistan positions itself as…

By Uzma Ehtasham Three weeks into ‘Operation Epic Fury’, the United States finds itself entangled in a conflict that bears all the hallmarks of a strategic miscalculation. With B-2 stealth bombers now deployed to “eliminate the ability to rebuild” Iranian military capabilities, the Trump administration appears to be doubling down on a policy that even its own advisers warn could lead to catastrophe. The deployment of America’s most advanced strategic bomber, designed for penetrating the most sophisticated air defences, signals not a limited punitive expedition but a sustained campaign of degradation against a nation that has, thus far, proven remarkably…

By Uzma Ehtasham Two drones, ominous and silent, hovered over Faizabad, the busy junction linking Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Their presence, brief but alarming, was swiftly neutralized by Pakistan’s air defence system, averting what could have been a serious breach of national security. Islamabad Airport saw only a temporary disruption in flight operations, quickly restored, as officials confirmed that the threat had been contained before it could endanger passengers or infrastructure. Early reports suggest the drones originated from Afghanistan, while similar attempts in Kohat were also intercepted, demonstrating a pattern of evolving threats along the country’s peripheries. In the hours following…

By Uzma Ehtasham The escalating conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has once again plunged the Middle East into a maelstrom of violence, with consequences that stretch far beyond the region. Iran’s recent attacks on three naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with its declaration that any vessel allied with the United States is now a target, underscore the intensity of this confrontation. Iranian claims of having disabled Israel’s communications network, alongside strikes on oil facilities in Oman, Israeli military bases in Haifa, and American installations across Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, paint a picture of a…

By Uzma Ehtasham The publication of a new study examining how British media reports on Muslims has revived a long-standing debate about bias, representation and responsibility in journalism. According to the report, almost half of all news coverage referring to Muslims or Islam in the United Kingdom during 2025 contained measurable forms of bias, ranging from subtle distortions to overtly hostile framing. The findings, presented at an event in the House of Commons in London, offer one of the most detailed assessments yet of how a major religious minority is portrayed across the British press. The study, titled The State…