BEYOND DARA

(Published by Daily Excelsior on 22 November 2025) / https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/pakistans-constitutional-plunge-into-military-dominance/ Pakistan has crossed a line that even many dictatorships hesitate to cross. Its recent constitutional amendment, which elevates the serving Army Chief to a Field-Marshal-like lifelong power center, extends his tenure until 2030, and grants him sweeping legal immunity, is nothing short of a full constitutional surrender to military rule. It is not an internal political adjustment, as Islamabad would like the world to believe. It is a brazen, deliberate transformation of Pakistan into a uniform-run state where democracy survives only on paper and the constitution bends to the will of one institution. As Reuters reported, the amendment was passed with shocking ease, despite senior judges resigning in protest and warning that the constitution has been mutilated beyond recognition. Their message was stark that Pakistan’s legal order now protects the po...

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/imran-khan-and-a-failed-state/#google_vignette Imran Khan’s journey from cricket legend to jailed former prime minister reflects the chronic failures of the Pakistani state. It is the story of a state that has never learned to separate power from the military, truth from propaganda, and democracy from managed elections. It is the story of Pakistan. Today, Imran Khan, once Pakistan’s most celebrated cricketer, a global celebrity, and later the self-declared crusader against corruption, has been in detention for over two years. His legal cases span everything from corruption to espionage to rioting. He has not been allowed to meet his lawyers for more than a month. His party is fractured, his commanders are jailed or hiding, and his political future is uncertain. But to understand how Imran Khan landed in this crisis, one must first understand the nature of the state that both manufactured and destroyed him. Imran Khan’s political ascension began long b...

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/india-and-the-global-political-dynamics-of-south-asia/ 3 December 2025 By B. S. DARA From Pakistan’s internal shifts to Afghanistan’s isolation and China’s expanding footprint, New Delhi faces a complex regional landscape that demands sustained diplomatic engagement. India today stands at the centre of a region undergoing profound political, security, and economic transitions. The neighbourhood that surrounds South Asia, extending from the Himalayan belt to the Indian Ocean, and from West Asia to the Indo-Pacific, is marked by multiple crises that intersect with India’s national interests. These shifts demand careful diplomatic engagement, sustained strategic attention, and a rounded foreign-policy outlook. Now more than ever, India’s choices carry wider implications. As the world’s largest democracy and one of the fastest-growing economies, India is expected to play a stabilising role even when several of its immediate neighbours face internal turbulenc...