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Four fiefdoms and a flag

Pakistan's four provinces are not an administrative map. They are four estates, kept intact by the men who profit from the distance between citizens and the state.

Illustration of a feudal landlord standing over a map of Pakistan rendered in orange, a small cowering figure beside him, a grand haveli in the background

The Thursday Times targeted in major cyberattack by Indian hackers

An extensive security investigation uncovered a sustained Indian intrusion into the publication’s digital infrastructure. With normal operations restored, The Thursday Times says its commitment to independent journalism remains unchanged.

The Thursday Times logo, glitched, over a stylised system log of unauthorised file and session activity running from 14 September to 17 October.
akistan's commitment to defending Makkah predates the pact it just signed, and its silence on what comes next isn't hesitation, it's strategy. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

How Pakistan overtook India in global diplomacy

What does it take to go from an unanswered White House phone call to a UN Security Council seat in two years? Ask Pakistan. The Makkah Defence Pact. US-Iran mediation. An invite from Damascus. India lost Washington's favor in the same stretch.

Two years ago, Pakistan had little pull in Washington, no place in the Gulf's defense architecture, and no seat at the UN Security Council. Today, it holds all three, and is rewriting the region's balance of power in the process. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

A prisoner in his own inner citadel

Imran Khan’s sister says he is fit, with normal blood pressure and improved eyesight. Official records document specialist treatment and family access. Yet the international narrative remains one of isolation and medical crisis. The record versus the rhetoric.

International coverage has prominently reflected claims of isolation, mistreatment and declining health. But court filings, documented medical treatment and Khan’s sister describing him as physically fit point to a more complex picture that warrants equal attention. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

India’s playbook for dissent has run out of pages

A Chief Justice called unemployed youth cockroaches. An exam sat by 22 lakh students was leaked, and some of them killed themselves. India's government waited, then delegitimised, then used force, then blamed Pakistan. Each step has failed.

India's government waited out its students, then used force, then blamed Pakistan. Each step came off the same shelf. Each one has failed. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES
At Khamenei’s funeral, Pakistan made a statement

Pakistan’s Swiss success was bigger than one man

Pakistan’s role at the Lake Lucerne Summit marked a rare diplomatic success, placing Islamabad alongside Qatar as a mediator in the US-Iran process. Shehbaz Sharif gave the effort political direction, while Field Marshal Asim Munir added security credibility.

Pakistan’s mediation at Bürgenstock was not a one-man story, but Field Marshal Asim Munir’s role gave Islamabad’s diplomacy the security credibility needed in one of the world’s most sensitive negotiating tracks. — FILE

And we’ll keep on fighting til’ the end

From crisis, isolation and doubt, Pakistan has stepped into the diplomatic centre of gravity. If the US-Iran peace framework holds, Islamabad will not merely have brokered a deal. It will have reminded the world that nations are not condemned to the reputations others write for them.

If this peace holds, Pakistan will have done more than broker an agreement. It will have recovered a part of its own national imagination. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES

Pakistan’s mediation role ≠ Israeli normalisation

Pakistan’s role in de-escalation does not amount to acceptance of normalisation with Israel. Islamabad’s Palestine policy remains rooted in statehood, Al-Quds, and pre-1967 borders, not the politics of the Iran file.

Trump’s attempt to link an Iran settlement with Abraham Accords expansion places Pakistan in a position it has long refused: treating Palestine as a transactional file. — MICHAEL MCCALL FOR THE THURSDAY TIMES
Published by Thursday Media International thursday.media