After decades of delay and inaction, the Hindu minority community in Pakistan will soon have a marriage law as a parliamentary panel has unanimously approved the Hindu Marriage Bill.
One of the two anti-government protest leaders in Pakistan on Saturday said that he has suspended talks with the Pakistan Muslim League-N government following a crackdown in Islamabad on demonstrators demanding ouster of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Signs of a possible solution to the political crisis engulfing Pakistan emerged on Tuesday with the embattled government saying it has reached an agreement with Imran Khan's party on most of their demands, except that of Premier Nawaz Sharif's ouster which it said is non-negotiable.
At the core of Sharif's initiatives is the belief that Pakistan's economic revival is not possible until it has improved and tension-free relations with neighbouring countries, particularly India and Afghanistan, said Tariq Fatemi, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs.
Describing the protests as a "mutiny against Pakistan", the government on Tuesday turned to Parliament for support as demonstrators continued to put pressure on a defiant Nawaz Sharif to quit as prime minister.
Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan on Sunday warned the Nawaz Sharif government that thousands of his supporters could enter the high-security Red Zone in Islamabad if the Prime Minister refused to quit, even as popular cleric Tahir-ul Qadri issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding the same.
Pakistan's apex court said it was ready to appoint a probe commission headed by a judge and armed with powers of the Supreme Court.
While ruling out the possibility of a military takeover, observers warned that the "military may move in if there is a major public disorder in the country".
Pakistan's parliament on Wednesday became the new battleground in the ongoing political turmoil with pro-government leaders and lawmakers of Imran Khan's party accusing each other of undermining democracy, even as protesters returned to the negotiating table.
The India card is now almost obsolete. There are more pressing challenges. People of Pakistan are fed up with years of bad governance, corruption and broken promises of successive governments. However, the politicians and former generals are still provoking sentiments on what is happening on the Line of Control for petty political gains, says Shahzad Raza.
Ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif has said his government wants strong relations with India and that all issues including "flash point" Kashmir have to be settled through dialogue.
Amid high drama, Canada-based divisive cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri returned to Pakistan on Monday after authorities diverted his Islamabad-bound flight to Lahore fearing unrest in the capital, as clashes between his supporters and the police left many injured.
Kulsoom, the wife of Sharif, died on Tuesday in London after a long battle with cancer. She was 68. Her body will be brought back and buried in the Jati Umra Lahore residence of the Sharif family.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has threatened to drag embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Supreme Court to seek his disqualification for allegedly lying about protesters and the army in parliament, as the political logjam showed no sign of easing.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
'Over the last year, Bajwa has created the environment to support bold moves on India. The ball is in India's court,' a senior Pakistan military officer tells Ajai Shukla.
Pakistan's largest city and business hub was paralysed on Friday on a strike call given by Imran Khan's party as part of its countrywide protests against the Nawaz Sharif government for allegedly rigging last year's polls.
'The generals couldn't care less about political corruption, being complicit themselves.' 'Coup d'etats are out of fashion.' 'Their only desire is backroom control,' says Sunil Sethi.
Lahore Police on Friday finally registered a murder case against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz, key cabinet members and senior officials for their role in the killing of 14 supporters of Tahir-ul Qadri in the city, meeting a major demand of the fiery cleric.
There is strong evidence to support the charge of high treason against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his punishment could be either the death penalty or life imprisonment, the Pakistan government's top law officer said on Wednesday.
The Panama verdict will decide how Pakistan handles its leadership problems.
Pakistan's senate has passed a resolution making it mandatory for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend its session at least once a week after he failed to turn up since assuming the position last year.
A lot of the terrorism that is affecting Pakistan is really a blowback of the Pakistani state's policy of using jihadist groups as instruments of state policy. And unlike some other countries with similar policies, Pakistan doesn't have the benefit of the political and social space for pulling back from the disastrous course, says Sushant Sareen.
Khan's government will be the third consecutive democratic government in Pakistan since 2008.
The Pakistani election on July 25 has a strong Indian flavour and connection, says Vivek Shukla.
A tense standoff continued in Pakistan on Saturday as overnight talks between the government and protesters demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation made little headway in breaking the political logjam.
Amid reports that the Pakistan government was under pressure to allow Pervez Musharraf to leave the country, the former military ruler on Sunday said he will not flee and defend himself in all cases.
With hardline commander Mullah Fazlullah at its helm, the Pakistani Taliban has vowed to launch a wave of revenge attacks and ruled out talks with the government.
Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari has returned to the country, ending his 18-month-long self-imposed exile, amidst speculations about his future role in the Pakistan Peoples Party, which has threatened a major protest against the Nawaz Sharif government.
Fresh clashes erupted on Monday morning between police and hundreds of anti-government protesters who forcibly entered the heavily-guarded Pakistan Secretariat in Islamabad after breaking its gate, hours after the powerful military asked all parties to peacefully resolve the political crisis.
By weakening Sharif, the corps commanders could have a final say in important matters like relations with India, dealing with Taliban militants, interacting with Americans and once again achieving strategic depth in post-NATO Afghanistan. Which is why they may be behind the unrest in Pakistan led by Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri, says Shahzad Raza.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Lahore on Friday for a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in a surprise visit to this country -- the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian premier in more than 10 years.
How does the country's civilian government reclaim legitimacy after the names of many Pakistanis, including the family members of PM Nawaz Sharif, figured in the leaked documents.
'Against the backdrop of difficult administrative, political and economic problems, Imran's temperament and staying power will be the subject of intense expectation and public scrutiny,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
General Qamar Bajwa, his colleagues say, is a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism. He may prove even more forceful in the fight against terrorism than his predecessor, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-i-Azb, which helped lower the frequency of terrorist attacks.
Confrontation between Pakistan government and the opposition escalated on Wednesday with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rejecting demands for his resignation and Imran Khan calling off the dialogue with his regime until he quits.
Facing his toughest test since becoming Pakistan's prime minister, a defiant Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday brushed aside the demand of protesters asking him to quit saying the country has survived "difficult times" and the current political crisis too shall pass.
The 5-day political stand-off between the Pakistan government and anti-Sharif protestors intensified on Monday as efforts by the ruling PML-N to reach out to Opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul Qadri failed with both the leaders remaining adamant on the ouster of the embattled prime minister.
A grieving Pakistan's policy shift towards the Taliban has comes at a great cost, says Shahzad Raza.
Mounting pressure on embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, opposition leader Imran Khan on Sunday vowed to fight till death and asked Pakistanis to rebel against the illegal regime after two persons were killed and about 450 others injured in police crackdown on protesters.
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