If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

This old thought experiment has a bearing on what we are hearing – or more specifically, not hearing – about the government's performance.

People in the Red Zone are aghast at reading this. "What the heck is he talking about!" I can hear them blurting out in exasperation. The whole world is going gaga over Pakistan, they say. Did this writer not hear US Secretary of War Peter Hegseth praising the Pakistani leadership in Singapore over the weekend? Did he not see US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appear in front of the media with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and thank him for his country's role in mediating peace between the US and Iran? Is the writer suffering from selective editorial amnesia and conveniently forgets US President Donald Trump's love for praising his favourite Field Marshal. Or has he, in fact, forgotten to read the latest Al Jazeera report that praises Pakistan's foreign policy and national security successes?

I can understand their angst. Having seen and read all this content, I have no disagreement with the fact that Pakistan has indeed done wonders. If the peace deal does come through – the world awaits Trump's verdict – Pakistan would have actually pulled off Mission Impossible 9. So, more power to us.

There's this small issue of Back Home. Here, like the proverbial tree falling silently in the forest, what the government is doing, or not doing, is making no sound. Silence. The deafening kind. I have actually forgotten the names of various ministers,........

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