Author: Shakeel Akhtar

No religion teaches terrorism. Not the Qur’an. Not the Bible. Not the sacred traditions of any major faith. Yet violence is committed in their names. The contradiction does not lie in revelation. It lies in interpretation – and in who controls it. Terrorism is not born in scripture. It is manufactured through selective reading, political manipulation, grievance amplification, and identity engineering. A verse detached from context becomes a slogan. A slogan repeated becomes ideology. An ideology weaponized becomes extremism. The central question is not whether religion is peaceful. The central question is Who interprets religion in our time? Under what…

Not a cosmetic adjustment, not another temporary political understanding, but a structural recalibration of how politics, protest, policy, and national stability interact. Can we begin from a more honest premise? The state is only part of the solution. The responsibility extends far beyond one institution. Political actors, media platforms, economic stakeholders, civil society, and citizens all shape the climate in which stability either survives or erodes. A functioning country is not sustained by authority alone; it is sustained by collective discipline. Stability is not suppression. It is infrastructure. Across much of the modern world, organized agitation as a recurring pressure…

In the grand halls of the Munich Security Conference, the world’s most powerful voices gathered once again. But this year, the atmosphere was different – less ceremonial, more consequential. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke of responsibility – not merely influence. French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized strategic autonomy – not isolation. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed transatlantic unity within a changing global order. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed deterrence and collective defense in an increasingly unstable world. Each message carried a common undertone: Power must be exercised responsibly. Institutions must endure. Alliances must adapt – but not fracture.…

There were moments in recent years when it seemed that values had run out of the road. At the very time when moral confidence appeared to falter in influential capitals, other nations were paying for stability in blood. In cities and borderlands where extremism sought to fracture order, Pakistan continued to absorb the cost of resistance – soldiers, officers, and civilians giving their lives so that chaos would not spread beyond their frontiers. While some questioned whether principles still mattered, others were defending them in the most painful way possible. Principles once considered non-negotiable began to feel conditional. Human rights…

Strength Begins with Control I have often felt that when a state remains locked in the same internal posture for too long, clarity begins to erode-not because threats disappear, but because responses stop evolving. Strength is not only about holding ground; it is also about knowing when a phase has served its purpose.From where I stand, Pakistan today operates in an environment where ambiguity cannot be afforded. Along the western border, instability frequently spills over. In Balochistan, armed separatist violence-openly supported, financed, and amplified by hostile external actors-poses a direct challenge to sovereignty. These are not organic movements; they are…

Once, a primary school teacher entered his classroom in an unusually cheerful mood. Hoping to spark imagination, he asked his students a playful question:“If God were to grant you one wish right now-here and now-what would you ask for?”Hands shot up instantly.One child wanted money.Another dreamed of a car.Someone whispered about a big house.Each wish reflected something missing, something desired.Smiling wisely, the teacher intervened.“Instead of all these things,” he said, “you should ask for wisdom.”The class fell quiet-until one witty, mischievous boy stood up.“Sir,” he said innocently, “everyone asks for what they lack in life.”The class laughed. The teacher paused.The…