Dangerous Tide on March 28, 2023That politics in Pakistan is not a game for the faint-hearted remains a mantra that lost its effectiveness because of repetitive hammering into the national conscience. However, the vileness in our ways refuses to sit upright and continues to make a grand entrance in one way or another. The very startling remarks by Rana Sanaullah–not […]
Shattered Dreams on March 28, 2023A massive scam in Multan led to the suspension of eight law colleges over claims of financial malpractice and organised fraud amounting to Rs 459 million. The issue was first investigated when it was discovered that 14,000 students had been illegally admitted into a fraudulent LLB program that drew its legitimacy from fake documents; unapproved […]
Think Again on March 27, 2023Had the fiery conscience of esteemed writer Faiz Ahmed Faiz known that his no-punches-pulled commentary against the usurping of fundamental liberties would be just as pertinent decades after he had gone, he would have sharpened his pencil and left us with a few more revolutionary kuliyat. Because while we may not be living under a […]
‘Critically Water Insecure’ on March 27, 2023Pakistan is facing a serious water security crisis. Recently, the UN moved the country to its “critically water insecure category,” officialising what many have feared for years. About 92 per cent of the country is classified as semi-arid to arid, meaning that the vast majority of Pakistanis are dependent on surface and groundwater from a […]
Weather Abnormalities on March 26, 2023An unexpected hailstorm obliterated Okara’s wheat crop just a month before it was scheduled to be harvested-a development that is just as abrupt as it is unwelcome for an economy that has already seen its grain production fall to historic lows after last year’s floods. Flood-hit Sindh, the country’s second-largest food basket after northwestern Punjab, […]
Silencing Rahul Gandhi on March 26, 2023For quite some time, a re-energised Indian opposition leader with his flamboyant beard and crass taglines had been determinedly trudging along the crusade to point to the elephant in the room. When others jubilantly bowed down to the official narrative, he dared raise his head and asked discomforting questions; unfazed by the political repercussions. Though […]
Empty Glass on March 25, 2023Federal Minister Rana Sanaullah did no special effort to hide his smugness when he jumped to defend the ECP decision to delay polls on Wednesday. He asked the House to take a collective trip down memory lane and wonder whether this had been a first-of-its-kind event. But while he may be bright in his history, […]
IMF Deal on March 25, 2023We are in the midst of negotiating an IMF deal, which is intimately tied to this country’s survival. Our reserves have dipped to historic lows, the rupee continues to deteriorate by the day and inflation has skyrocketed beyond all reasonable proportions-it is safe to say that we no longer have the bargaining power to rewrite […]
No Respite on March 24, 2023Afghan universities have begun reopening after a long winter break, but the new term offers no hope to the country’s women, who remain barred from returning to class, reversing policies that allowed them to continue their studies after the Taliban assumed control of Kabul in 2021. Indeed, the Taliban has done everything in its power […]
Gloomy Ramazan on March 24, 2023Pakistan is currently at the beginning of the worst economic crisis since the country’s inception-food prices across the country are skyrocketing, fuel is unaffordable, a record number of people are unemployed or homeless and structural imbalances continue to haunt the country. It will likely take a long time before we make an economic rebound and […]