Need for a resounding, people-centric Pak-US tie-up
It is always a pleasure to come back to the United States, which is my second home, and a pride to return to Pakistan. I have been a visitor for the last two decades, since my first official State Department-sponsored IV trip in 2003 as a mid-career journalist. Despite my siblings and mother being American citizens, I neither made it a point to immigrate to laurels of the lone superpower nor was tempted with its silver-linings. Despite being a critic of the state of affairs back home — desperately in need of reforms, supremacy of law and pluralism — I was content in making a profound space for myself in all humility. This time around as I mulled a trip to the US, there was an ambience of fear, mistrust and a ruthless media campaign. A news-leak said that citizens from Pakistan too are in the line of fire, and the new administration of President Donald Trump is considering a travel ban. It also said that Pakistan has been placed in the 'orange' list of countries whose citizens ...