While peace in Afghanistan seems a long way off, and the two issues are not connected, the Pearl/Sheikh issue has emerged as a diplomatic hot potato, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

The most significant thing at the several ‘jalsas’ (protest rallies) that opposition have been organising across the country in Pakistan is to challenge the army’s role and, for the first time, the top brass is being named, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

The welcome news of ancestral homes in Peshawar belonging to Bollywood legends Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor being restored to eventually become tourist attractions in Pakistan seems to have helped in the yearend realisation of the common cultural heritage of both countries, despite their perennial political antagonisms and military rivalies

But it is interesting to note that 49 years hence, there seems to be no change in how the nation views the civil war and a bloody separation of its eastern province, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Pitching for her exiled father, Maryam has become a veteran. But she appeared to yield space to Aseefa, the surprise debutante, in terms of public response and social media fervour that followed this Multan rally, writes Mahendra Ved  for South Asia Monitor

Pakistani audiences seem unwilling to discard the supposedly "vulgar" stuff they are addicted to, given the common socio-cultural ethos of the subcontinent, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor  

Today, there is nothing in Junagadh and its recent history to indicate the one-time, albeit brief, aspirations of its ambitious and misguided erstwhile Nawab to accede to Pakistan, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor 

Even during the rule by earlier ‘proxies’ of which Nawaz was certainly one, the military was not exposed to attacks like the ones at the three back-to-back opposition rallies through October at Gujranwala, Karachi, and Quetta. This is an unprecedented situation. The Army has lost some of its image as the nation’s ‘saviour,’ writes…