Democracy always favors dialogue over confrontation. So, too, in Pakistan, where the terrorists who threaten both our country and the United States have gained the most from the recent verbal assaults some in America have made against Pakistan. This strategy is damaging the relationship between Pakistan and the United States and compromising common goals in defeating terrorism, extremism and fanaticism. It is time for the rhetoric to cool and for serious dialogue between allies to resume. Our motives are simple. We have a huge population of young people who have few choices in life. Our task is to turn this demographic challenge into a dividend for democracy and pluralism, where the embrace of tolerance elbows out the lure of extremism, where jobs turn desolation into opportunity and empowerment, where plowshares take the place of guns, where women and minorities have a meaningful place in society. But when we don’t strategize together, and when an ally is informed instead of consulted, we both suffer. The sooner we stop shooting verbal arrows at each other and coordinate our resources against the advancing flag of fanaticism, the sooner we can restore stability to the land for which so much of humanity continues to sacrifice.-- Asif Ali Zardari

Indeed, in the Maldives what we have seen is a sort of reflexive re-Islamisation: through responding to the terms of alternative discourses (e.g. democracy and human rights) and processes of global modernity, the society seems to be undergoing a new re-traditionalization. If this is so, there is not only de-secularisation. There is a sort of ‘secularisation’ taking place too. This is a secularisation of the imagined community, of the taken-for-granted national consciousness. Ironically, reflexive re-Islamisation is driving this secularisation. This sort of secularisation of the national consciousness seems to be a condition of effective religious liberty. Even if political secularism was to be enshrined in the Constitution, freedom of religion might not be effective without this sort of secularisation of the ‘imagined community’. -- Azim Zahir

What explains the change? The summer had passed peacefully. So did the Amarnath yatra. Most of the bunkers were dismantled. Tourists and pilgrims in unprecedented numbers had flocked to the state. Voter turnout in the panchayat elections was most impressive. The security forces had learnt to use non-lethal methods to control unruly crowds and initiated programmes to reach out to the people. All the same, peace in the Valley remains fragile. A single incident can spin everything out of control. The positive developments Kashmir has witnessed over the past 11 months cannot therefore be hailed as a trendsetter. Kashmiris, who have borne the brunt of the violence of the past two decades, seek a political settlement rooted in 'insaniyat' (humanity), 'insaf' (justice) and 'izzat' (honour). This is a perfectly legitimate demand. They must be persuaded that the national and state Constitutions are flexible enough to accommodate it.-- Dileep Padgaonkar

Ah, London. Say Khan’s name and three things come to mind: the World Cup, drones and London. Do check him out when he visits this city, which is often. Always dressed in the most expensive suits or the most stylish denims, Khan looks and sounds like a completely different proposition compared to what we see of him in Pakistan. From being an anti-West/anti-US firebrand and anti-corruption crusader in Pakistan, he turns into an introspective and “balanced” liberal patriot in London, trying to convince the very forces he blames for turning Pakistan into a hell, that he is Pakistan’s best bet. Nowhere in London will you find him righteously wagging his fingers and lashing his tongue like a charismatic media-savvy demigod who matter-of-factly mixes his Marx and Mao with Maududi and Qutb. The elite that he belongs to also has a history of welcoming military interventionism and of continuing to mistake Sunni Islamic hegemony and Punjabi chauvinism as proud political and cultural planks to build a nationwide ideology. These days it is called “ghairat” (honour). Imran should be learning from the positives and negatives of mainstream politicians, no matter how corrupt, incompetent or cynical they may look. Otherwise he is bound to get more hearts than votes. -- Nadeem F Paracha

When the sale of alcoholic beverages was banned in 1977 in Pakistan, it was more of a political decision than a moral one. However, it was also true that in the event of the ineffectual and divided opposition against Bhutto in the parliament and the streets, his opponents, especially in the shape of the Mohajirs (Urdu speakers) in Karachi and the right-wing anti-Bhutto bourgeoisie in the Punjab, largely expressed their opposition to Bhutto’s populist ‘socialist/secular’ regime through the IJT in educational institutions. During a rally in Lahore the same year, Bhutto responded by telling the crowds that, ‘Haan mein sharab peeta hoon, laikan awam ka khoon nahi peeta!’ (Yes I drink, but I do not drink the people’s blood). -- Nadeem F. Paracha

One such consequence of Pakistan’s little Great Game in Afghanistan will be a repeat of 1990s-style civil war, sucking in not only the Afghans but also regional and world powers. The blowback into Pakistan of such misadventure — like the 1990s — is inevitable. The sparring between Pakistan and the US has escalated to a point where media, such as the US-based website www.Examiner.com (which also quoted part one of this column) has already stated that Pakistan is at war with the US in Afghanistan. “There is evidence linking the Haqqani network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop.”-- Dr Mohammad Taqi

“When everyone is dead, the Great Game is finished. Not before” — Rudyard Kipling in Kim. Every single one of the so-called players on the grand chessboard that has partaken in sowing the winds of death in Afghanistan has reaped the whirlwind. But they will not stop, especially not the Pakistani security establishment as it still looks for a hand to play in the endgame in Afghanistan. The Pakistani security establishment would have the current generation believe that everything was hunky-dory as far as Pakistan’s policy vis-à-vis Afghanistan went, before the Soviet bear and then the big bad American wolves descended on Afghanistan and therefore if somehow the status quo ante was restored, things will be back to that imaginary normal again. -- Dr Mohammad Taqi

While invited to speak as a President, I stand before the Council as a protester and as someone who has spent much of his adult life speaking out against leaders who placed their own interests over those of their people. Recent events across North Africa and the Middle East represented a defining geopolitical moment, comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was a time of awakening, a moment when Muslims across the world were standing up as one to demand equality, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. These developments provided a fitting rebuttal to those inside and outside of Islam, who claimed that Islam was not compatible with democracy. The determination of protesters in Tunis, Cairo, Benghazi and Homs had provided a lens through which it was possible to perceive that all people, no matter whether where they were born or which religion they followed, wanted the same thing: dignity and freedom. 2011 would be seen as a tipping point for peaceful protesters, as the moment when the balance of power swung irreversibly from the state to the streets. -- President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed in his keynote speech to the UN Human Rights Council’s Eighteenth session in Geneva on 16th September 2011. -- Maldives President, Mohamed Nasheed

During MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s animated press conference on September 9, he talked at length about what he claimed was Karachi’s first militant outfit. Hussain was talking about the enigmatic Thunder Squad (TS) – an armed extension of the Islami Jamiat Taleba (IJT) which, in turn, is the student-wing of the Jamat-i-Islami (JI). Many of us who’ve been part of student politics in Pakistan’s state-owned universities and colleges are well aware of such a squad. It is also true that long before any major political party constituted armed wings within their respective student units, the TS was the first true manifestation of armed action that not only included student militants but common criminals as well. The KU professor who claims to have been attacked by the TS in the early 1980s also suggests that though the TS is very well armed, it has been struggling (in Karachi) to keep pace with the ways of the militant wings of the MQM, PPP and the ANP. ‘These parties have finally beaten the Thunder Squad at its own game’, says the professor, with a smug smile. -- Nadeem F. Paracha

Wanted: A leader for Indian Muslims. That advertisement hasn’t quite appeared on the Classified pages of newspapers yet, but you can read it in the anguished conversations of many a woebegone Muslim overcome by the ills of his society and the plight of his fellow travellers. “Leadership is important: you must have good leaders,” professedly secular non-Muslims also shake their heads and say, while ruing poverty, illiteracy, religious obscurantism and general Muslim disempowerment. It’s true: Indian Muslims have never had a Chosen One. Dalits can flaunt their Jagjivan Rams and Mayawatis, Yadavs and Kurmis their Lalu Prasads and Nitish Kumars. Dravidians can stick Annadurai posters on their walls, Marathas can show off Pawars and Thackerays, and even tribal communities, much divided though they are, can swear by Sorens and Mundas. But there isn’t, and never has been, an Indian Muslim Leader who can claim to have the whole community by his side. Muslims’ lack of leadership suggests that, despite all the talk of secularism and communalism, they don’t feel all that distinct from the rest of India. They don’t just identify with other Muslims, they can as easily identify with and share the concerns of non-Muslims too. Admittedly they have some concerns and grievances as Muslims too, but they haven’t been acute enough to turn Muslims inwards politically. -- Saif Shahin

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The Washington Post Dana Priest is the author, along with William Arkin, of Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State. Here she takes FRONTLINE through the rapid growth of Top Secret America, which began with an impulse to secrecy and a blank check from Congress in the days after 9/11, and which now employs nearly a million people at 1,900 private companies and 1,300 federal organizations. “These are gigantic edifices that are going to stay,” she says. This is the edited transcript of an interview conducted on June 18, 2011 by Frontline website. -- Dana Priest and William Arkin

Given that FATA is a much-talked about but little known area, first a bit on the FCR. When the British annexed these areas in 1848, they sought to use the fiercely independent tribes to act as a bulwark against “Russian expansionism in Central Asia” by allowing them their writ over internal affairs, according to tribal codes, while retaining control on matters of security of British India. With this quid pro quo arrangement under constant challenge — as per one account there were 62 military expeditions in the area between 1849 and 1889 — the British imposed the first incarnate of the FCR prescribing special procedures for the tribal areas distinct from the criminal and civil laws in force elsewhere in the subcontinent. What has been introduced is generally described as “good but insufficient,” “too little too late,” “the minimum that could be done,” and “better late than never.” Cynicism apart, just the fact that even the bare minimum took so long makes this “no mean achievement.” Though limited in scope, the reforms in FCR seek to grant some basic rights to the tribal people who, according to various analyses, want a repeal of FCR or a comprehensive overhaul while factoring in some traditions. -- Anita Joshua

First Tunisia, then Egypt and now Libya — meanwhile Syria scorches. But from the example of Egypt, where the romantics of Tehrir Square seem to have been taken for a ride, it appears that overthrowing dictators is the easiest part of a revolution. Use of social media continues on varying scales in Yemen, Egypt and Syria. The key reason, however, is the continuing loyalty of the military high command to Assad based on their common affiliation to the Alawite Shiite sect. Many Syrians also fear that if their country were to adopt the sort of democracy the US brought to Iraq, Syria, too, would descend into a debilitating inter-sectarian civil war. -- Dilip Hiro

The birth of Bangladesh not merely shattered the Ideology-of-Pakistan myth, it also   exploded the notion of Imagined Community. A community cannot be imagined out in the absence of essential commonalities: race, colour, geography, history, language, and religion in some cases. Understandably, a media house considering itself the guardian of Pakistan’s ideological frontiers is indeed perturbed by Sharif’s statement (incidentally founding father of this media house appeared in court to testify against Manto when Manto was charged with obscenity). Thus, Gen. Zia’s Pakistan is a superb delineation of Benedict Anderson’s ‘Imagined Community’. British academician, Benedict Anderson defines the nation as “an imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign”. Ironically, Pakistan is also a tragic deconstruction of Anderson’s over-blown theory. -- Farooq Sulehria

“This week has been like that moment when you surface from a nightmare and realise that though the nightmare-image is terrifying, it is also incredibly fragile.” Such was the description of recent events in Libya by one of the country's leading novelists, Hisham Matar. “For the first time in our history the idea of democracy is a real, tangible idea, not a fairy tale. Revolutions aren't about negative objectives, about simply getting rid of people. They are about discovering who we are; and what it means to be Libyans.” “One of the objects of dictatorship is to create a narrative that defines what it means to be in the present and what the future might look like; in fact it even tries to rewrite history. Dictators are involved in the same thing as novelists: they are involved in narrative,” he said. -- Charlotte Higgins