A steel fist in a velvet gloveIt has been one long, bitter fight. And it continues. In the very first decade of our independence, the harshest of colonial press laws were employed to suppress us. Since the second decade until up t...
Headstrong heedlessnessThe July 25 elections now bear the stains of blatant coercion, engineering and other tactics meant to deny a level playing field to candidates who aren’t a part of the ‘favoured party’. Instead of an...
Caretakers will always fail in PakistanIn February 2012, then President Asif Ali Zardari signed the 20th amendment into the constitution, which provided for the installation of independent caretaker governments in the centre and provinces...
The idea of StateIn recent weeks we have been discussing the idea of a Deep State, State within a State and the Establishment and so on. But what is the State actually? Three main theories of the State can be identifi...
Gerrymandering the electionsHistorically, election results have always been disputed by political parties. Parties which lost the elections have always alleged that they lost because of rigging. The many dharnas of the Pakistan...
Measures against dengue feverThere was a time when leaving your house without wearing a full sleeves shirt or lathering yourself in mosquito-repellent first was considered suicide. You will get dengue everybody would warn, and fo...
The mismanagement of the westThe election-related violence that has gripped Pakistan in recent months has been horrible to watch. The loss of innocent lives is always a dreadful thing to witness, yet such incidents, especially in...
Surge in urea pricesSir: This letter is in response to the news being circulated in the Media regarding misrepresentation of the facts related to surge in urea prices. I would like to begin with the fallacy that urea pri...