Pakistan – Aboard The Democracy Train

September 2, 2026September 3, 2026

Missing Links

There’s Much More To Daniel Pearl’s Murder Than Meets the Eye

Published Date: March 10, 2002– https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2002/03/10/missing-links/e1bf1bf4-162e-4f27-85c4-fcd4bda4d00b/

AMHERST, Mass. — Nine days ago there was an alarming indication of upheaval in Pakistan — a crackdown on the press. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the government pressured the owner of an influential English language newspaper, the News, to fire four journalists. One of them, the paper’s editor, Shaheen Sehbai, said the trouble started after his newspaper reported a link between the prime suspect in the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and recent attacks on the Indian parliament in Delhi and in the Kashmiri capital, Srinagar. When Sehbai asked the paper’s owner to identify who wanted to sack them, Sehbai said he was told to see officials at the ISI, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Instead he resigned and left for the United States.

August 19, 2026

Sleepy Pakistani Village Rises as China’s Gateway to Middle East

GWADAR, PAKISTAN — Over the last six months, the skyline over the sleepy fishing city of Gwadar has been transformed by machines that dredge the Arabian Sea and cranes that set up shipping berths in what is projected to become Pakistan’s biggest international port.

August 19, 2026

India, Pakistan Set for Counterterror Drills — Together, in Russia

In an unprecedented move, nuclear-capable South Asian rivals India and Pakistan are gearing up to take part in joint military drills.

Last week, Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed that India would participate in anti-terrorism military drills alongside Pakistan.

August 18, 2026

Opposition Parties in Pakistan Warn Against Ongoing Crackdown on PTM

Pakistan’s political parties have urged the government to exercise restraint in handling the grass-roots Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), arguing that the military’s crackdown and potential collision with PTM could threaten the stability of the South Asian nation.

August 18, 2026August 18, 2026

Pakistan Says it Struck a Blow Against Islamic State-Khorasan

WASHINGTON — Pakistan’s Punjab province Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) this week said it killed two prominent Islamic State (IS) operatives in the province and closed “a big chapter” in the history of Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) in the country.

August 18, 2026

Pakistan, US Take Action Against Militants Ahead of Trump-Khan Meeting

The United States and Pakistan this month started cracking down against armed militant groups, in what analysts describe as establishing a groundwork ahead of the meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Washington early next week.

August 18, 2026

Pakistan’s Feminists Fight Blasphemy Cases

Pakistani feminists say they are determined to fight blasphemy charges filed in mid-April by militant Islamic groups opposed to their International Women’s Day rallies held on March 8.

August 11, 2026

Pakistani Official: Kashmir Issue Forced Troop Pullback From Afghan Border

The renewed tension with India has pushed Pakistan to move some of its troops from the border region with Afghanistan to the Indian Line of Control (LOC), leaving fewer resources to contain the cross-border infiltration of militants along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a senior Pakistani army official tells VOA.

August 11, 2026August 11, 2026

British ‘High-Risk’ Designation for Pakistan Seen as Bad Sign for Anti-Corruption Efforts

The United Kingdom’s decision to add Pakistan to its list of “high-risk countries” for money laundering and terror financing may make it harder for Islamabad to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “gray list” in June, experts warn.

July 27, 2026July 27, 2026

Pakistan’s Religious Minorities Say They Were Undercounted in Census

Religious minorities in Pakistan claim the country’s long-delayed census, released by the government in May, appears to have undercounted them.

Although the sixth Population and Housing Census was completed in 2017, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics published the data on May 19. The previous census had been conducted in 1998.