Ammar Rashid

For now, the dust has settled on Parachinar, at least until the next time it is visited by terror. To the credit of the battle-scarred residents and their exemplary non-violent protest, they managed to force a visit from the COAS and affect the dismissal of the FC Colonel responsible for opening fire on the protestors. […]

On the face of it, the Conservative party won the UK’s General Election on Friday; it secured the most seats and the largest share of the vote. Yet that account of Friday’s events simply demonstrates how numbers can sometimes reveal so little about politics — for the biggest story of the night was how the […]

If one goes by some of the public response to the televised appearances of TTP’s Ehsanullah Ehsan and ISIS recruit Noreen Leghari, there is something about the possibility of rehabilitating jihadi militants that can turn the most hawkish of Pakistani politicians and right-wingers into reconciliatory peaceniks. Sadly, the degree of tacit sympathy — explicitly fostered […]

Like every other year, International Workers Day was commemorated by the Pakistani government yesterday with carefully crafted statements about its unwavering ‘commitment to the dignity of labour’ and the extension of ‘congratulations’ to Pakistani workers for their contribution to the country’s socioeconomic progress. Of course, the Pakistani political elite’s commitment to workers’ rights evaporates the […]

Like every other year, International Workers Day was commemorated by the Pakistani government yesterday with carefully crafted statements about its unwavering ‘commitment to the dignity of labour’ and the extension of ‘congratulations’ to Pakistani workers for their contribution to the country’s socioeconomic progress. Of course, the Pakistani political elite’s commitment to workers’ rights evaporates the […]

As it became clear that Mashal Khan had not actually committed the blasphemy he was murdered for, Pakistani officialdom finally deigned to admit that his murder was indeed regrettable. Freed from being in the awkward position of criticising the public lynching of an actual blasphemer, the Pakistani political establishment, from PM Nawaz Sharif to the […]

  As one observes the political rise of right-wing populists across the world, it is hard not to notice a certain similarity in how they speak of women. Yodi Adityanath, the hardline priest recently elected as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in India, has long railed against women’s equality, declaring that ‘women don’t need freedom, […]

Inglorious Empire, a new book by Indian diplomat and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, has renewed debate on the legacy of the British Empire in India. In a powerful refutation of apologists of Britain’s ‘benevolent’ imperialism, the book lays out evidence of the colonially-imposed plunder, violence and conflict that impoverished, starved and killed millions in the […]

There is a distinct way in which gender issues are conflated with religious beliefs in Pakistani public discourse that often results in deeply disturbing rhetoric about women being tolerated and accepted as religious fact. A prominent voice in this genre has been the bureaucrat-turned-anchor Orya Maqbool Jan, a public figure who often expresses outrage against […]