Filmbàr screening of Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life (1998) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 25, 2026, at 5pm

Filmbàr screening of Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life (1998) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 25, 2026, at 5pm.

A small mid-20th century social-service-style office is a waystation for the souls of the recently deceased, where they are processed before entering their personal heaven - a single happy memory re-experienced for eternity. Every Monday, a new group of recently deceased people check in, and the "social workers" in the lodge explain their situation. Once the newly-dead have identified their happiest memories, workers design and replicate each person's chosen memory, which is staged and filmed. At the end of the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she vanishes to whatever state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory with them. The story pays most attention to two of the "counselors," Takashi and Shiori. Takashi has been assigned to help an old man, Ichiro, select his memory. Reviewing videotape of Ichiro's life, Takashi learns that Ichiro had married Takashi's former fiancée after Takashi had been killed during World War II. Takashi has Ichiro assigned to another counselor, but is still troubled by his memories, causing both him and his quasi-romantic interest Shiori to re-examine their (after-) lives.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign Showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbàr screening of Agnès Varda's Le Bonheur (1965) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 18, 2026, at 5pm

Filmbàr screening of Agnès Varda's Le Bonheur (1965) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 18, 2026, at 5pm.

Francois is a young carpenter married to Therese. They have two little children. All goes well, life is beautiful, the sun shines and the birds sing. One day, Francois meets Emilie, they fall in love and become lovers. He still loves his wife and wants to share his new greater happiness with her.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Business Recorder Column September 8, 2026

‘Secret’ terrorism trials

 

Rashed Rahman

 

On August 31, 2026, the Punjab Assembly in its wisdom chose to pass the Punjab Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2026 after uproar and objections by the Opposition. The Bill was passed after the Opposition walked out. The latter’s criticisms were ‘naturally’ given short shrift. The content, timing, need for the Bill simply beggar the imagination.

The Bill adds a new Section 21AAA into the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. According to this new Section, a BS-20 grade officer (whose identity will remain secret) will be empowered to designate certain cases “special security cases” in which the identities of judges, prosecutors, police officers, witnesses and defence counsel can be withheld. The BS-20 grade bureaucrat will not only be empowered to decide which cases require these ‘protective’ measures, he will help coordinate case specifics. The record of such cases will be sealed with the Chief Justice and the ‘designated authority’, which means they will be denied access to the accused, thereby making appellate scrutiny and pursuit difficult.

The ruffled Opposition within the Punjab Assembly and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) have both warned that such draconian measures would undermine constitutional fair trial guarantees and create scope for abuse of state power. HRCP in a statement published on September 3, 2026 has expressed serious concern at the passage of the Bill, warning that its provisions allowing certain cases to be designated “special security cases” could undermine fair trial constitutional guarantees and create scope for abuse of state power. The HRCP says the amendment did not adequately define the circumstances in which these extraordinary powers could be exercised, raising concerns that they could be used against ordinary citizens, political opponents or protestors on the pretext of security. HRCP acknowledges that protecting judicial investigative officials from genuine threats is a legitimate state responsibility. However, it questions whether the need for such sweeping measures had been established.

It needs to be noted that no other province has felt constrained to pass a similar law as Punjab has done. Is there an argument that Punjab is more afflicted by terrorism than say, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Balochistan? In those two provinces, and especially Balochistan, the resort is to ‘enforced disappearance’, which naturally then obviates any need of a trial despite the disappeared’s family and human rights organisations pleading for judicial proceedings to confirm the disappeared are alive and well. Punjab has secreted a high ranking bureaucrat into its ‘secret’ trials experiment, which beggars the imagination as to need or efficacy.

HRCP has also raised serious concerns about the secrecy imposed by the Amendment. Such secrecy violates security of person, right to a fair trial and protection of dignity under Articles 9, 10A and 14 of the Constitution. HRCP also quotes Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees fair trial rights. HRCP argues that the secrecy surrounding the identities of key participants in proceedings under the new legislation could have serious consequences for an accused person. A person wrongly accused of an offence could be prevented from effectively challenging the evidence against them or questioning the fairness of the proceedings per se. HRCP says the Amendment is part of a broader pattern in which security justifications are invoked to expand state powers at the expense of fundamental rights. HRCP calls for the Bill to be reconsidered and brought into conformity with Pakistan’s constitutional and international fair trial guarantees. It demands that any security measures intended to protect judicial or investigative officers should be narrowly defined, clearly regulated and subjected to independent judicial oversight, so that such exceptional powers could not be used arbitrarily.

In the light of these compelling arguments and objections, one can feel nothing but pity for Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari attempting to defend the Amendment on television. As is her brief and wont, Ms Bokhari says the changes are aimed at strengthening the legal framework (!) and would not be used for political purposes (!!). She argues the amendments have been made within the existing legal framework and cases would be dealt with according to the law (?). Ms Bokhari may sincerely believe that her government had no intention of interfering in judicial proceedings but fails to address the concerns about a highly placed bureaucrat making such interventions. As it is, the people of Pakistan have grave concerns about the direction legislation, rules, etc., are steering the judicial system. This Amendment may well prove the icing on the cake of our present ignominy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

rashed-rahman.blogspot.com

Filmbàr screening of John Waters' Cecil B. Demented (2000) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 11, 2026, at 5pm.

Filmbàr screening of John Waters' Cecil B. Demented (2000) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 11, 2026, at 5pm.

In Baltimore, guerrilla filmmaker Cecil B. Demented leads a band of cinema revolutionaries who kidnap Honey Whitlock, a bitchy and aging movie star of big-budget froth. Cecil wants her in his movie, a screed against Hollywood they film during blitzkrieg attacks on a multiplex, a Maryland Film Commission press conference, and the set of a "Forrest Gump" sequel. He insists on celibacy; the cast and crew channel sexual energy into the production. With a family-values coalition, aggrieved Teamsters, and the police on their trail, Cecil needs help from porno, kung-fu, and drive-in audiences. What about Honey? Will she bolt or refuse to act? Or will she hit her marks and light up the screen?

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (Next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Khirki invites you to a screening of "Fragments of a Life of Struggle - Episodes 9 & 10" at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Khirki invites you to a screening of "Fragments of a Life of Struggle - Episodes 9 & 10" at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 5:00 pm.

This documentary traces the life and political journey of Rashed Rahman, a Marxist revolutionary from Lahore who be came involved in the Baloch national movement during the 1970s.

In these episodes, Rashed Rahman discusses how the insurgency in Balochistan ended, and his own life after returning to Lahore. He talks about the troubles of readjusting and about what became of the movement after his departure. The episodes further shed light on the circumstances of the Baloch movement from the 1980s to the early 2000s and the birth of a new insurgency in 2002.

Join us for an evening of film, discussion and collective reflection on history, politics, and the lives shaped by them.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom). Lift is operational.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

The September 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out

The September 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out. Link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com

Contents:

1. Rashed Rahman: The Industrial Revolution – II.
2. Luna Nguyen: Learning from Vietnam’s Struggle for Sovereignty.
3. From the PMR Archives: May 2019: Rashed Rahman: Global capitalist imperialism today (Urdu).
4. Saulat Nagi: Balochistan’s Imbroglio…– I.
5. Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur: The Necropolitics in Balochistan…– I.
6. Tricontinental: Hands off Asia.
7. Vijay Prashad: The World’s Silence on Gaza once headlines fade.
8. Atul Chandra: The Cockroaches have learned to march.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbàr screening of Aki Kaurismäki's The Man Without a Past (2002) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 04, 2026, at 5pm

Filmbàr screening of Aki Kaurismäki's The Man Without a Past (2002) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, September 04, 2026, at 5pm.

The film follows a man who arrives in Helsinki and gets beaten up so severely he develops amnesia. Unable to remember his name or anything from his past life, he cannot get a job or an apartment, so he starts living on the outskirts of the city and slowly starts putting his life back on track.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook).

Khirki screening of Sergei Eisenstein's "Strike" (1925) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, August 29, 2026 at 5:00 pm

From: Mohsin <mhsnmudassar@gmail.com>

Subject: Khirki Screening 29-08-2026

Date: 25 August 2026 at 5:33:32 PM GMT+5

To: rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

Join us for a screening of Sergei Eisenstein’s Strike (1925). The movie is a landmark of Soviet cinema and one of the most influential films in the history of political filmmaking.

Set against the backdrop of a workers’ strike, Eisenstein’s first feature film pioneers soviet cinema and lays the foundation of a new kind of filmmaking.

Join us for an evening of cinema, history and discussion at the Research & Publication Centre.

📍Research & Publication Centre, 65 Main Boulevard, Gulberg, Lahore

🗓️ Saturday, 29 August

🕓 5pm

Business Recorder Column August 25, 2026

Mountains and molehills

 

Rashed Rahman

 

The brouhaha over incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan’s medical check up and treatment in a private hospital (Shifa Hospital), as ordered by the Supreme Court on August 18, 2026, seems an unnecessary going a mile too far by what appears to be an insecure ‘hybrid’ (i.e. establishment dominated) government. Even if one concedes some weight to the government’s argument that the Supreme Court order may open the floodgates to requests for similar treatment by all other prisoners needing medical attention, it could have been handled better without going against the Supreme Court’s order in letter and spirit. If the government’s choice of sending Imran Khan to a government hospital (PIMS) yielded the result that it did, i.e. he was in good health and therefore returned to jail (notwithstanding the error of not conducting a recommended {on August 1} computed tomography angiography {CTA}), it would not be too farfetched to conclude that the private hospital check up in Shifa Hospital may well have yielded the same result, without leaving the government to face a possible contempt of court violation.

As things stand now, and taking Imran Khan’s sister Uzma Khan’s post-examination remark that her brother was fine, the government can be considered to have unnecessarily embarrassed no one but itself. Such self-inflicted, unnecessary wounds do the government’s case no good.

With due respect, the Supreme Court’s order of August 18 too presented a sense of urgency that the subsequent check up nullified. Admitted, the months long solitary confinement of Imran Khan must have taken a toll in terms of high blood pressure, mental anguish exacerbated by the problem in his right eye, etc., but the court seemed anxious to reverse its previous slowness in taking up the repeated petitions by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) to have Imran Khan’s medical condition checked and his isolation broken by family visits and phone calls with his sons. The instruction to shift Imran Khan to Shifa Hospital, as the PTI’s repeated petitions wanted, too seemed not to have taken into account the implications regarding other prisoners, who could claim similar concessions. At the time of writing, reports speak of three prisoners having forwarded petitions to the court on these lines. They may not be the last ones.

Pakistan has a poor record of treatment of high profile prisoners of political standing. One only has to recall Nawaz Sharif’s treatment by (ironically) Imran Khan’s government to clinch the argument. He was not allowed to visit his ailing wife, who passed away unseen by him. It was only when medical check ups revealed serious complications with his blood platelets count that the powers-that-be relented and allowed him to leave for London and treatment. One would have expected the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to have shown far more sensitivity on the issue of the health problems of incarcerated leaders after undergoing that experience. There is also some seeming confusion within the government’s ranks regarding the whole issue, to the extent that now Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered an inquiry into the whole affair.

What the government succeeded in doing through its ham-handed dealing with the issue of Imran Khan’s medical check up and breaking of his isolation was to turn a molehill into a mountain of bad air and negative vibes. It would have been far netter for the incumbents to have obeyed the Supreme Court’s injunction while filing its review petition to prevent an avalanche of similar requests from thousands of prisoners claiming equal treatment. At least then it would not have come out looking ‘cruel’, ‘uncaring’ and, pardon the slip, ‘stupid’.

 

 

 

 

 

rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

rashed-rahman.blogspot.com

Filmbàr screening of Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, August 28, 2026, at 5pm

Filmbàr screening of Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, August 28, 2026, at 5pm.

Czechoslovakian immigrant Selma lives in a small American town with her young son Gene. She works in a local factory and enjoys musicals, watching them and acting in them. However, due to an hereditary condition, she is going blind and her main aim is to save enough money to make sure her son's eyesight is saved.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbàr screening of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5pm

Filmbàr screening of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5pm.

In the 1960s in London, Thomas, a successful, dedicated and arrogant photographer, has just left a homeless shelter since he is preparing photos about violence. He drives his Rolls-Royce to his studio, where he is taking pictures of top-models. He goes to a park and starts randomly shooting pictures. He takes some pictures of a young woman and an old man together, and the woman tries to retrieve the negative. The woman follows him to his studio, trying to get the negative and offering even sex with him for the negative, but he gives another one to her. He becomes obsessed, trying to understand the interest of the woman in the pictures. Then he reveals the negative and blows-up some details, discovering what might be a dead body in the park.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)  

Filmbàr screening of Andrzej Żuławski's On the Silver Globe (1989) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, August 07, 2026, at 5pm.

Filmbàr screening of Andrzej Żuławski's On the Silver Globe (1989) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, August 07, 2026, at 5pm.

A small group of cosmic explorers, including a woman, leaves Earth to find freedom and start a new civilization. They do not realize that within themselves they carry the end of their own dream. They eventually die one by one, while their children revert to a primitive native culture, creating new myths and a new god. Some time later, a space bureaucrat, running from a broken heart, arrives and finds the colonizer's descendants enslaved by bird-monsters called Cherns. Society is divided into numerous classes, and everyone is waiting for the arrival of a messiah. The newcomer is considered a suitable candidate, and for some time he lives as a god.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom)

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

The August 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out

The August 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out. Link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com

Contents:

1. Rashed Rahman: The Industrial Revolution – I.

2. Chris Gilbert: Global South Struggles for Socialism and the Workers' Side of Marxism.

3. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar: Pakistan's heyday as US-Iran mediator is a thin veil over its domestic crises.

4. Notes from the Editors (of Monthly Review).

5. Vijay Prashad: Socialism is slow to mature.

6. Sara Kazmi: The Marxist Punjabi Movement: Language and Literary Radicalism in Pakistan – III: Language and Literature in the Punjabi Movement: "Lok boli, lok vehaar": the people's language, the people's world.

7. Dr Saulat Nagi: Why Imperialism Fears Iran: Insights from Samir Amin.

8. Imran Bajwa: Two Trillion Dollars War.

9. From the Archives: PMR January 2019: Rashed Rahman: Inquilabi Tabdeeli ki Muasar Jadd-o-Jehad (The contemporary struggle for revolutionary change) (Urdu).

10. Daud Zafar Nadeem: Mahrang Baloch aur Punjab (Urdu).

11. Letter to the Editor: Daud Zafar Nadeem: Mao Spectre (Urdu).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Khirki screening of "Judas and the Black Messiah" at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 5:00 pm

This Saturday, join us at the Research and Publication Centre for a screening of Judas and the Black Messiah—an Academy Award-winning film that tells the remarkable story of Fred Hampton, the charismatic young chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and William O'Neal, the FBI informant tasked with infiltrating the movement.

The film explores questions of state power, surveillance, political organizing, race, solidarity, and the price of resistance. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in the United States, it offers lasting lessons about how movements for justice are built, challenged, and remembered.

Following the screening, we'll have an open discussion reflecting on the film's themes and their relevance to contemporary struggles around the world.

🗓️ August 1st, Saturday

📍 Research and Publication Centre

🕓 5pm

Everyone is welcome.

Filmbar screening of Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, The Wrath of God" (1972) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 31, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Werner Herzog's Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 31, 2026, at 5pm.

South America, 16th Century. Spanish explorer Don Lope de Aguirre leads an expedition down the Amazon river to find the fabled city of El Dorado. Beset on all sides by unfriendly natives, the journey will turn out to be a treacherous one. An even bigger enemy to the party is themselves, as they start to turn on each other. Even more problematic is their leader, who is quite oppressive and does not appear to be entirely sane.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea.

Address: Research and publication Centre (RPC), 2nd floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

No film screening by Khirki this Saturday, July 25, 2026

There will be no film screening by Khirki this Saturday, July 25, 2026 since the Research and Publication Centre is booked for an all day event.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbar screening of Leos Carax's "The Lovers on the Bridge" (1991 at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 24, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Leos Carax's The Lovers on the Bridge (1991) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 24, 2026, at 5pm.

Set against Paris' oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, while it was closed for repairs, this film is a love story between two young vagrants: Alex, a would be circus performer addicted to alcohol and sedatives and Michele, a painter driven to a life on the streets because of a failed relationship and an affliction which is slowly turning her blind. The film portrays the harsh existence of the homeless as Alex, Michele and Hans, an older vagrant, survive on the streets with their wits. As they both slowly get their lives back together, Michele becomes increasingly dependent on Alex as her vision deteriorates further. Fearing that Michele will leave him if she receives a new medical treatment Alex attempts to keep Michele practically a prisoner. The streets, skies and waterways of Paris are used as a backdrop to the story in a series of stunning visuals which dominate the film.

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion over tea.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbar screening of Hong Sang-soo' "On the Beach at Night Alone" (2017) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 17, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Hong Sang-soo' On the Beach at Night Alone (2017) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 17, 2026, at 5pm.

After an affair with a married man, actress Younghee decides to take some time out. She travels to the far-off, city of Hamburg. In a conversation with a friend she asks herself if her lover will follow her and whether he misses her as much as she misses him. During her long walks through wintry parks and along riverbanks, she attempts to make clear this illicit relationship with the director.

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Business Recorder Column July 14, 2026

Operation Shaban

 

Rashed Rahman

 

The nationalist insurgency in Balochistan is assuming a heightened character that fits in with classic guerrilla war strategy and tactics. The tipping point between scattered small attacks by the guerrillas and the current spate of widespread, even simultaneous attacks, appears to have been reached when the Jaffer Express was waylaid. In that incident, dozens of hostages were taken by the guerrillas. When they retreated in the face of heavy reinforcements, the recovered constituted dead bodies, according to the authorities. This was disputed by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), arguing the dead bodies purportedly belonging to the hostages were of people already in the custody of the authorities. There was an attempt, successful in three or four cases, of seizing the bodies from the hospital they were being kept in by the dead persons’ families. This seems to have tipped the scales of the government’s already intolerant stance towards the peaceful BYC, leading eventually to the arrest and sentencing to life imprisonment of the BYC leader Dr Mahrang Baloch.

Of the recent attacks in Balochistan, the one in which some 27 policemen were killed in the Mangi Dam area speaks of the ground situation more clearly than others. According to press reports, the policemen defended themselves but were eventually taken hostage when they ran out of ammunition, and in the absence of expected reinforcements. The latter arrived in force (including air power) when it was too late to save the beleaguered policemen. Some families of the slain policemen are holding a protest sit-in against the fate meted out to their loved ones.

This dilemma underscores the nature of guerrilla warfare and on the other side the classic counterinsurgency efforts. The guerrillas strike and retreat swiftly, circumventing thereby the arrival of reinforcements sent to help their targets. The government therefore presents the consistent picture of pursuing a reactive strategy, leaving the battlefield initiative in the hands of the highly mobile, and increasingly deadly in effect, guerrillas.

A perusal of the recent statistics of casualties on either side will confirm the picture, particularly if one sustains a healthy dose of scepticism regarding the security forces’ claims of guerrillas killed in retaliation. It is difficult to judge the truth of the claim by the security forces’ ongoing Operation Shaban against the guerrillas that they have killed 109 militants in one week. The question arises, if they were aware of the presence and identity of so many nationalist guerrillas, why were they not pre-emptively eliminated? Why only after the guerrillas had struck?

The indigestible fact is that the security forces are fighting a reactive strategy while the guerrillas increasingly hold the battlefield initiative.

The history of insurgencies suggests that without a political side to their efforts, reliance by the security forces on force alone to quell insurgencies has seldom worked. Unfortunately, the weakest part of the counterinsurgency campaign in Balochistan is precisely its politics. The Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP’s) anointed Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti is arguably an illegitimate appointee, given that he was a caretaker federal minister during the last elections and therefore could not be appointed Chief Minister after the elections according to constitutional and legal constraints. It does not take much to understand who chose Sarfraz Bugti for this controversial appointment, and why the PPP resurrected its past inglorious role in Balochistan by hurrying to appoint him. The fact is that Sarfraz Bugti does not even enjoy the support of his own tribe (at best this support may be confined to the Massouri clan of the Bugtis), let alone the wider polity of Balochistan. The other worthy the PPP has picked in Balochistan is Shafiq Mengal, notorious for running a ‘death squad’ in the province. That clearly is why his house was recently attacked, leaving 17 of his supporters dead although Shafiq Mengal himself was unharmed.

The PPP’s political profile in Balochistan reminds the Baloch people of the role of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during the 1970s, when he launched a major army offensive to crush the opposition in Balochistan. It seems the PPP has chosen to return to those roots once again. They should be cautioned that the 1970s policy did not do Zulfikar Ali Bhutto much good (arguably quite the contrary) and is unlikely to do today’s PPP leadership much good either.

Meanwhile the moderate nationalist parties have been sidelined and marginalised, leaving no one to conduct a political dialogue with. Force alone does not work, will not work. In the process of reliance on force alone, and in the absence of a credible provincial government able to engage the moderate nationalists, Pakistan is rapidly losing the hearts and minds of the people of Balochistan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

rashed-rahman.blogspot.com 

Filmbar screening of Satyajit Ray's "Devi" (1960) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 10, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Satyajit Ray's Devi (1960) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 10, 2026 at 5:00 pm.

In the countryside of India, Umaprasad has been happily married with his seventeen year-old wife Doyamoyee for three years. They live in the house of Umaprasad's father Kalikinkar Roy, who worships the goddess Kali, with Umaprasad's elder brother Taraprasad, his wife Harasundari and their child Khoka. Umaprasad has a conversation with Doyamoyee and explains that he will move to the big city to study English and she questions why he needs to travel to go to school. Sometime later, Kalikinkar has a dream that Doyamoyee is the reincarnation of Kali and the locals come to Kalikinkar's house to worship her. Doyamoyee asks Harasundari to write to Umaprasad and soon he returns home. But Doyamoyee has been brainwashed with the situation and begins to believe that she might be the reincarnation of Kali leading the family to a tragedy.

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Email: rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

Cells: +92 302 8482737 & +92 333 4216335

The July 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out

The July 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out. Link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com

Contents:

1. Vijay Prashad: Could Capialism have thrived without Colonialism? – II: The Limits of Political Marxism.
2. Sara Kazmi: The Marxist Punjabi Movement: Language and Literary Radicalism in Pakistan: Post-colonial continuities –II.
3. Tricontinental: Nothing is more precious than Independence and Freedom.
4. Yinhao Zhang: The Material Basis of a Spectre: Why China’s Youth are Rediscovering Mao.
5. Changez Ali: Ms Rachel learns about Genocide.
6. Roshaan Khattak: Ash on the Lamps of Learning: How Cambridge blinked.
7. Ishtiaq Ahmed: The Rise and Fall of the Left and the Maoist Movements in Pakistan.
8. Alia Amirali: The War against Islamabad’s Katchi Abadis.
9. Rita Manchanda: How civil society reads India-Pakistan signals amid the West Asia War.
10. Dr Saulat Nagi: Kashmir and the Contradictions of the Neo-Colonial State.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Email: rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

Cells: +92 302 8482737 & +92 333 4216335

Filmbàr screening of Charlie Kaufman's Being John Malkovich (1999) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 03, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Charlie Kaufman's Being John Malkovich (1999) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, July 03, 2026 at 5:00 pm.

Craig, a puppeteer, takes a filing job in a low-ceilinged office in Manhattan. Although married to the slightly askew Lotte, he hits on a colleague, the sexually frank Maxine. She's bored but snaps awake when he finds a portal leading inside John Malkovich: for 15 minutes you see, hear, and feel whatever JM is doing, then you fall out by the New Jersey Turnpike. Maxine makes it commercial, selling trips for $200; also, she's more interested in Lotte than in Craig, but only when Lotte is inside JM. JM finds out what's going on and tries to stop it, but Craig sees the portal as his road to Maxine and to success as a puppeteer. Meanwhile, Lotte discovers others interested in the portal.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom. Lift is operational.

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion over tea.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Khirki screening of "Rashed Rahman: Fragments of a Life of Struggle (Episode 5)" at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, July 4, 2026 at 5:00 pm

*Khirki invites you to a screening of “Rashed Rahman: Fragments of a Life of Struggle (Episode 5)” at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, July 4, 2026 at 5.00 pm.

This documentary traces the life and political journey of Rashed Rahman, a Marxist revolutionary from Lahore who became involved in the Baloch national movement during the 1970s.

Episode 5 continues with the story of Rahman's involvement with the Baloch resistance. In particular, it looks at the difficulties of love, marriage and family while involved in an underground revolutionary movement. We also follow along with the international and domestic events of the 1970s and 80s through Rashed Rahman's lens. 

Join us for an evening of film, discussion, and collective reflection on history, politics, and the lives shaped by them over tea.

Address: Research & Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom). Lift is operational.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Email: rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

Cells: 0302 8482737 & 0333 4216335

Business Recorder Column June 16, 2026

Peace at last?

 

Rashed Rahman

 

Ostensibly, the US and Iran have ironed out their differences sufficiently to allow the signing of a peace agreement in Switzerland on June 19, 2026, according to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. However, there still remain some discordant notes. While US President Donald Trump says the agreement is now ‘complete’, Iran has yet to formally confirm this. Trump stated the agreement included the toll-free opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of the US naval blockade of Iran. If so, the agreement, even if it is interim in nature and there are still major issues to be settled, meets the desire of the region as well as the world to restore shipping oil through the Hormuz Strait. Trump railed once again against Israel for continuing its attacks on Lebanon, a spoiler role Israel has yet to abandon, and asked all sides (including Hezbollah) to ‘stand down’. It may be recalled that Iran has made the ceasing of Israeli attacks on Lebanon a firm condition of any agreement, interim or permanent.

In essence the coming together of the warring sides is predicated on a ‘framework’ agreement that posits a ceasing of military actions and reactions and then a negotiating process to take up the weightier issues separating the two sides. According to the Mehr news agency, the details of the Iran-US peace plan are as follows:

·     An immediate and permanent end to the “war on all fronts”, including in Lebanon.

·     The US and its allies must propose a plan to rebuild Iran with funding of at least $ 300 billion.

·     The US commits to refrain from interfering in Iran’s internal affairs.

·     The US will completely lift the naval blockade and withdraw its troops from areas adjacent to Iran within 30 days (it is not clear if this includes the US military bases dotted around the Persian Gulf).

·     The Strait of Hormuz will be opened within 30 days, subject to Iran’s demands (not spelt out).

·     Sanctions on Iranian oil sales will be lifted.

·     The parties will then hold negotiations within 60 days to reach a final agreement on the nuclear issue.

·     The US must unfreeze $ 24 billion in Iranian assets, half of which should be released with the start of nuclear talks.

·     Iran’s missile programme and Tehran’s support for its regional allies are not among the topics of a possible final agreement.

These points, ostensibly forming the framework agreement, already point to difficulties ahead in the negotiations to follow its signing. First and foremost, it remains to be seen, ‘railing’ aside, whether Trump can restrain Israel from continuing its aggression in Lebanon. Second, it is not clear the US has agreed reparations to reconstruct the damage inflicted by it on Iran to the tune of $ 300 billion. Trump is so far uncharacteristically quiet on this issue, since it implies the US committed aggression against Iran unjustifiably. Third, having failed to bring about regime change despite assassinating Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it remains to be seen whether Washington will haul back its and Israel’s covert subversive activities inside Iran. Fourth, the nuclear issue. Trump wants even civilian nuclear activities shut down, and Iran’s enriched uranium passed on to Washington to destroy. This goes far beyond the 2015 Obama agreement with Iran and awaits an agreed outcome, which appears difficult. Fifth, Iran appears to have rejected curbs on its missile programme and support to its ‘Axis of Resistance’ allies Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis, and perhaps even Hamas in Gaza. Tel Aviv of course will not be pleased, having been on the receiving end of effective Iranian missiles since 2025.

Although Iran’s position seems secure in the light of the above framework agreement points and the likely Iranian approach to these, Tehran must also look over its shoulder at the hardliners and popular opinion that has already come out in the streets to oppose the framework agreement and the very notion of talks, questioning whether the Iranian rulers have forgotten the blood of Khamenei.

One may be forgiven for posing so many ticklish objections and a critique of the framework agreement given the trajectory of war and peace between the two sides and Trump’s incorrigible constant shifting of the goalposts on virtually a daily basis. Trust is the big missing elephant in the room for both sides. One nevertheless hopes for an end to military hostilities, even difficult negotiations being preferable to further bloodshed and destruction. However, in the light of the above, don’t hold your breath in anticipation of a sincere, lasting peace between the antagonists.

rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

rashed-rahman.blogspot.com

Khirki invites you to a screening of Jamil Dehlavi's "Blood of Hussain" (1980) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Khirki invites you to a screening of Jamil Dehlavi's, The Blood of Hussain (1980) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 5:00 pm. This film was banned by Zia-ul-Haq, due to its potrayal of a fictional military elite. Set in the 1970s, the film is an allegorical retelling of the historic Battle of Karbala, following a farmer who leads a rebellion against a tyrannical regime.

Address: Research & Publication Centre, 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (Next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbar screening of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Tropical Malady" (2004) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, June 19, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Tropical Malady (2004) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, June 19, 2026 at 5:00 pm.

Tropical Malady explores the passionate relationship between two men with unusual consequences. The film is divided into two parts. The first half charts the modest attraction between two men in the sunny, relaxing countryside and the second half charts the confusion and terror of an unknown menace lurking deep within the jungle shadows.

Address: Research and Publication Centre, 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign Showroom).

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion over tea.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbàr screening of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Distant" (2002) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, June 12, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbàr screening of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Distant (2002) at Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, June 12, 2026 at 5:00 pm.

Mahmut, a 40 year old independent photographer, is a "village boy made good" at least professionally in the big city - Istanbul in this case. After his wife leaves him, he falls into an existential crisis. Then comes his cousin Yusuf, who left his native village after a local factory closed down, effectively unemploying over half the local men. He looks to Istanbul for salvation: a job on board a ship sailing abroad, at once exciting and crucial to supporting his family in the desperately poor village. The distance between the two men is apparent at once, and becomes increasingly pronounced. Whereas Mahmut is adjusted to big city life and suffers from many of its neuroses, Yusuf is a lonely, eccentric country worker with annoying nervous and hygienic habits, and a sick mother back home he must somehow support. This intimate drama was filmed in the director's apartment in Istanbul, using all his furniture, appliances, rooms, car and so on as the film's props. The actor playing Yusuf is actually the director's real-life cousin, and the actor playing Mahmut is an actual friend, a non-professional actor.

The screening will be followed by a discussion over tea. Lift is operational.

Adress: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Boulevard Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom).

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Business Recorder Column June 2, 2026

Trump’s constant goalpost shifting

 

Rashed Rahman

 

Every day, the news from Washington about the Iran war is wearingly the same. President Donald Trump seems to be in the habit of constantly shifting even agreed goalposts, reiterating with new verbiage demands that have reached closure, and accompanying all this shilly-shallying with threats of further military aggression. That leaves Iran justifiably reluctant to trust Trump’s everyday menu of ‘new’ and old demands, without any end in sight. The underlying reason may not be just Trumpian idiosyncrasies but in fact the failure of the US-Israel combine to achieve any of the declared (or undeclared) objectives of the war, chief amongst these being regime change. Naturally this fills the Iranian people with pride for having held off the mightiest military power in the world (the US) and the most aggressive (Israel) and salvaged its honour and respect in the eyes of the world.

On May 31, 2026, Trump once again proposed more changes to what he called a “largely negotiated” agreement, ostensibly to “toughen” the deal, leading to Iran’s parliamentary speaker and lead negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf responding with a statement that Tehran does not trust Washington and demanding tangible outcomes instead of “words and promises”. Speaking at a virtual session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, he said: “There is no trust in the enemy’s words and promises. Our only criterion is to achieve tangible results before we fulfil our commitments in return.” He went on to reiterate that Iran will not approve any agreement until it is sure that the decision protected the rights of the Iranian people. CNN reported that the president insisted on “tougher language surrounding Iran’s nuclear commitments (Iran has consistently, for decades, reaffirmed it does not contemplate making nuclear weapons) and its pledge to reopen the Straits of Hormuz” (Iran envisages a temporary toll on shipping through the Straits pending the lifting of the US embargo on its ports and the fulfilment of its demand for war reparations).

While Trump’s buffoonery on Iran continues, Israel appears to have been given a free hand to continue its aggression into, and capture of, southern Lebanese territory as part of its anti-Hezbollah campaign. It bears recalling that Iran has insisted Israel’s aggression in Lebanon must cease as part of any solution of the Iran war. Killings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and provocations by Israeli settlers at Al-Aqsa all form part of the by now familiar Israeli expansionist habit. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the Israeli military instructions to expand Israel’s control over 60 percent of Gaza to 70 percent. So much for the Gaza ceasefire. Meanwhile Trump’s much trumpeted Board of Peace for Gaza, which was touted as the instrument for turning Gaza into a Mediterranean Rivera, boasts of an empty kitty. Outlandish schemes by Trump, which later wither on the vine, are the hallmark of his crazy presidency.

In the process of the constant roiling by Trump, the world is left reeling at the destabilisation of oil flows and the global economy as a whole. Even the American public is paying for the inflationary effects of Trump’s mad adventure.

Israel’s seizure of a historic castle, Beaufort or Qalaat al-Chakif, in southern Lebanon is a repeat of its aggression against the country in 2000. France now feels a call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council is called for. Condemnation of Israel's advance and capture of the castle by Arab regimes remains so much hot air without any tangible effect. None of this is likely to stay Israel’s bloody hand. It is disappointing that despite stirrings of protest earlier against Israel’s aggressive expansionism, it all seems to have ended in a whimper.

The world needs a campaign against Israeli expansionism at the expense of the benighted Palestinians and now their Lebanese brothers-in-arms and US aggression against Iran on the lines of the past glorious solidarity campaigns against the Vietnam War and South African apartheid. Or has internationalist solidarity too had its day?

 

rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

rashed-rahman.blogspot.com

The June 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out

The June 2026 issue of Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) is out. Link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com

Contents:

1. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi: A War Lost or Won: A New World emerging?

2.Zongyuan Zoe Lin: What the Iran War means for China.

3. Rashed Rahman: The advent of capitalism and its impact on shaping the world.

4. Notes from the Editors (of Monthly Review).

5. Vijay Prashad: Could Capitalism have thrived without Colonialism? – I.

6. Sara Kazmi: The Marxist Punjabi Movement: Language and Literary Radicalism in Pakistan – I.

7. Roshaan Khattak and Thomas Jeffrey Milley: The spiral of violence in Balochistan.

8. Alea F: I was incarcerated for attending Aurat March on International Women’s Day.

9. Cuba: The Bay of Pigs Invasion 65 years later.

10 & 11. Letters to the Editor: (i) Letter fromCuba; (ii) Urdu letter on Left Movement.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Filmbar screening of François Truffaut's Day for Night (1973) at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, June 5, 2026 at 5:00 pm

Filmbar screening of François Truffaut's Day for Night (1973) at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Friday, June 5, 2026 at 5:00 pm. 

In Nice, the Studios La Victorine is producing the film "Je Vous Presente Pamela" about a French man who marries the English Pamela in England and brings his wife to France to introduce her to his parents. However, his father and Pamela fall in love with each other and she leaves her husband to live with him. The producer Bertrand and the director Ferrand invite British Julie Baker, who had a nervous breakdown and married her Dr. Nelson, for the role of Pamela. During shooting, the cast and crew are lodged in the Hotel Atlantic and Bertrand and Ferrand have to deal with problems with the stars Severine, an aging actress with drinking problems that affect her performance; the immature, spoiled and needy Alphonse, and Julie who is emotionally unstable. But in the end, they succeed in completing the film.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Business Recorder Column May 26, 2026

On the verge of peace?

 

Rashed Rahman

 

Indications from both sides of the US-Iran war point to progress towards an interim agreement to bring about a cessation of hostilities for a 30-60 day period, with the difficult questions on which the public postures of both sides differ being relegated to further detailed discussions within the framework of the broad interim agreement. However, even at this stage, the differences are there to be read on the surface on even the eve of the interim agreement.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said a final decision to sign an agreement with the US will be made by the Supreme National Security Council, with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to have the final last word. Khamenei was injured at the start of the war in the attack that killed his father and other family members and wounded him. Since then, he has remained underground. US President Donald Trump on the other hand insists that time is on the US’s side and the negotiations with Tehran are underway in an “orderly and constructive manner. He says he has informed his team “not to rush into a deal” as “the blockade (of Iran’s ports) will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed. Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” (as though there have not been a myriad already!). In any case, he said, Tehran could not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons at any cost. Pezeshkian has reiterated his country’s stance that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons but would not compromise on its honour and dignity. It should be remembered that Tehran only went from 3.5 percent uranium enrichment for civilian use to 60 percent after Trump negated Iran’s deal with the Obama administration, which included International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections. These remarks by both sides are accompanied by global leaders hailing the progress made towards reaching a peace deal in the light of reports that an agreement has been “largely negotiated”.

However, Iranian media reports that disagreement on two or three clauses persists. These issues are: the nuclear question, management of the Hormuz Straits, sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets and cessation by Israel of the war on Lebanon. On the nuclear issue, despite its repeated statements that it does not contemplate developing nuclear weapons, Iran is still reluctant to allow its 60 percent enriched uranium to be exported to the US (definitely a no-no) or even to neutral countries such as Russia. This simply reflects the level of distrust of Washington’s words and deeds, contradictory as these have proved in the last year or so. Iran insists on its control and permission to allow shipping through the Hormuz Straits while levying service charges. In this context it insists on the withdrawal of the US blockade of its ports. The world too is anxious to see the 20 percent of global oil flows through the Hormuz Straits restored. Iranian assets frozen by the US-led west are sorely needed by the struggling Iranian economy and must be accompanied by a phased or otherwise withdrawal of sanctions to allow Iranian oil and gas to flow freely to global markets, of whom China is the major destination. Last but not least, Iran insists Israel must stop its war on Lebanon, aimed primarily at Hezbollah. Iran has not as forcefully focused on Israeli continuing attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, which are taking a daily toll of Palestinian lives, sparing not even women and children.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has followed up on the recent flying visit to Tehran by Field Marshal Asim Munir by expressing hopes that Islamabad will soon host another round of US-Iran talks in Islamabad, even if no signs of preparation for such talks is so far visible. A senior Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) official is quoted as saying the Prime Minister is currently in China and it seems that the next round of dialogue will not take place very soon. Here too, contradictory signals rule the roost.

The US President, despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s urging, seems, despite the contradictory signalling that is the hallmark of his Presidency, to have come to the conclusion that continuing the very expensive war on Iran will provide little benefit and may further degrade his popularity at home. Whatever the aims of the war were (and there are as many versions as speakers on the issue), it now appears Trump has accepted the impossibility of attaining those goals through military means and has instead plumped for negotiations under the umbrella of an extended ceasefire. If only he and his administration had quelled their exaggerated vision of global hegemony being available on a plate because of US military might and calculated soberly, the loss of lives, weapons and materiel could have been avoided. What a waste.

rashed.rahman1@gmail.com

rashed-rahman.blogspot.com