…Every community will be treated as citizens of Pakistan with equal rights and privileges and obligations and that the minorities will be safeguarded and protected. (Quaid-i-Azam, March 22, 1948). British colonial India was divided on the basis of Muslim and non-Muslim majority areas in August 1947 but not in the name of a particular religion. […]
Pakistan’s madaris need reform
The vast majority (70 percent) of Pakistan’s population is rural. Tragically, most of rural Pakistanis have to live a substandard lifestyle. Overpopulation and weak democratic structure stand out as the chief reasons of poverty and illiteracy in the country. Over 50 percent of Pakistanis live below the poverty line; deprived of basic rights and necessities. […]
The state of human rights in Pakistan
“We expect to evolve a progressive democratic government in line with the Muslim belief in the equality of all men, and to work for international peace. As I have said many times before, Pakistan guarantees the just and equal treatment of all citizens, Muslim or non-Muslim, with freedom of worship, speech, press and assembly. The […]
Dr Atif Mian the pride of Pakistan
Dr Atif R Mian, a 43 year old Pakistani, is a Professor of Economics in the University of Princeton, US. International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranked him amongst the top 25 economists of the World. He has taught in reputable universities like the University of Chicago, University of California, Berkeley and now is proudly teaching in […]
Misfortune of Kashmir Committee
The partition of the subcontinent, back in August 1947, gave birth to the Kashmir conflict between the states of India and Pakistan. After 70 years, the unanimous solution of this issue is still impending. This quarrel has been growing steadily and both countries have fought three horrifying wars because of it. Disappointingly, it is the […]
Ahmadis in Pakistan’s electoral paradigm
“We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis […]
The unending Indo-Pak conflict
In this esteemed work, Stanley Wolpert shares his 60-years’ worth of personal experiences regarding relations of India and Pakistan. He starts with his first visit to India on the sad demise of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. He analyses the role of Lord Mountbatten in the partition, particularly his debate on a “single federal dominion” and […]
Pakistani nationalism — dilemmas and destiny
“…I have no doubt that with unity, faith and discipline we will not only remain the fifth largest state in the world but will compare with any nation of the world… you must make up your mind now. We must sink individualism and petty jealousies and make up our minds to serve the people with […]
Pakistan’s Ahmadi Inquisition
In the 15th Century, the Catholic Monarch Ferdinand II and Isabella I of the Spanish Empire established a particular panel or tribunal of ‘inquisition’ which worked till the 19th Century. It was a panel that aimed to ‘decontaminate’ Catholic orthodoxy and religious unification among the Christians in the Empire. Steadily, the rulers came under the […]
Contemporary political culture
The demise of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, unfortunately, left Pakistan vulnerable to four fabricated forces. The feudal classes, capitalists, religious stratums and the military establishment high-jacked the entire socio-political and economic structure of the country, compromising the morale of the nation by subjecting them to their own socio-political and economic agendas. These classes overwhelmed the […]