Pakistan of 2022 on February 3, 2022One of the defining characteristics of this digitally connected society is the extent of choice and opportunity available. Thirty years ago before the advent of the internet, choices globally were constrained by culture, tradition, and convention. This did not change a whole lot till the advent of social media. Social media evolved rapidly because man […]
Why Pakistan Remains a Mess? on January 27, 2022When Pakistan was created, the British failed to plan because they were planning for us to fail. Imran Khan was elected as the Prime Minister, with monumental expectations. His slogan of justice and financial stability made the public sentiments reach a crescendo. He spoke of Riyasat-e-Medina and Pakistanis expected no less of him. Tables have […]
Faith, Unity and Discipline on January 20, 2022The motto of the father of the nation was faith unity and discipline, and this was the crux of his nation-building ideology. He wanted us to live as proud Muslims in a homeland for the Muslims and not become the persecuted minority of undivided India. This is what He meant by faith but unfortunately, his […]
Tourist Deaths in Murree on January 13, 2022The recent tragic deaths in Murree were a cause celebre on social media. In this instance of heavy snowfall causing arriving tourists to get stuck in their cars, room rates were reportedly jacked up as high as fifty thousand rupees a night. Food items such as bottles of water, bread and eggs were being sold […]
Pakistan Zindabad on December 30, 2021Declan Walsh’s book has a title that is off-putting for me as a Pakistani. “The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a precarious state” only retained my interest because I was listening to an audiobook. The narration sounded like a long-drawn and heartfelt opinion poured out by a journalist on an imperial assignment. The nine […]
Pakistan: The Way Forward on December 23, 2021Pakistan achieved independence in 1947. The areas that formed Pakistan included Bangladesh, which had been the richest state of Erstwhile Mughal India. The 23-year-old Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula put up a valiant resistance to the East India company but lost due to inexperience and the treachery of his infamous traitorous minister Mir Jafar. After the fall of […]
Pakistani Traits on December 16, 2021These days, DHA, Karachi is facing gas load shedding for the first time. It is important to note that we use the gas that originates in Sui, Balochistan-and ironically that city itself has no access to it. Gas distribution is a leading cause of Balochi discontent which led to a lot of political rallying and […]
Woke and Qalb-e-Saleem on December 9, 2021It is a human desire to enjoy fine food. Among food, meat is a superior source of nutrition. Americans made an industry out of meat production and ensured its nationwide supply so that prime quality meat was widely accessible and economical. Over the years as obesity increased and protein diets became the rage, the demand […]
Pakistani Lynching Mobs on December 7, 2021Penning this op-ed has taken a toll on me, as I am deeply distressed by the lynching of Priyantha Diyawadana, the Srilankan General Manager of Rajco Industries, Sialkot. For the past few weeks, I have used the space of this newspaper’s opinion column to express my views about the deep-rooted hypocrisy in Pakistan. This tragedy […]
Woke People and Qalb-e-Saleem (Part II) on December 2, 2021The dark side of the human species encompasses a tendency towards violence and aggression. Within females, this surfaces as relational aggression, which is all about women putting down other women. This was discovered and acknowledged due to social psychology research. There is the “power dead-even rule,” a term coined by Pat Heim, whose books are […]