Month: April 2023

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan I have vivid memories of PTI’s founding event at Holiday Inn, Lahore in April 1996. My late friend Ahsan Rashid, Mehmood Awan, and I drove to the venue ahead of IK to get a feel and flavor of the attendees. The hall was abuzz with anticipation. Mazhar Sahi, a former…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan There are many versions regarding the final words of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto before he was led to the gallows. There is one, favored by his supporters. It narrates that as the noose was tightened, Bhutto was in a defiant mood andtold the highly nervous executioner, “finish it”. Then there are…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan One of my favorite pastimes on our farm was to have “poona,” an indigenous variety of sugarcane, harvested and have it squeezed for fresh “roh”, sugarcane juice. After sunset in autumn evenings we would sit under a banyan tree near a “karaha” an oval wide utensil heated by firewood, to…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan It was early days of PTI and Chairman Imran Khan gave me the responsibility of organizing the Party. Mairaj Mohammad Khan, a political icon, at one time designated successor of Bhutto, was PTI’s General Secretary. Since he was based in Karachi, he was unable to spend time in Islamabad. Hence…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan Nearly a hundred years ago in 1920 USA amended their Constitution prohibiting production, imports, transportation and sale of Alcohol nationwide. It was a radical change that was in the making since the 19th century led by fundamentalist Protestants seeking to rid the society of itsmoral ills. It was called “Volstead…