“These are the two countries, Saudi Arabia and the United States, with whose cooperation the regime change operation took place.” “Saudi Arabia played the role of a conduit.” “Saudi Arabian government “serves their (the US) purposes in the region on their directions.” Imagine the impact of such half-baked ideas when said out loud on national […]
Click-Baiting
Kate Middleton has gone missing. The palace is in crisis. Why is artificial intelligence being used to post announcements? Did the future queen of the UK really use magazine covers from the years gone by to create family posts for social media? Would anyone like to raise their hand and admit that we, as media, […]
SIFC: A Game Changer?
The recently-established high-powered body, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is seen as a critical player in the economic resurgence of the country, with the potential to attract foreign investment, create jobs, and boost economic growth. Rightfully so, because at a time when the political elite was busy splashing muddy waters on each other and […]
A Call for Sanity
Pakistan’s struggles against a tumultuous political climate have long lost the interest of the world around it for one simple reason: there’s no bouncing back. The situation has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride, with political instability and economic decline creating a double whammy for the nation. Journalists like us keep preaching to […]
What Next, Madam Chief Minister?
In a country where glass ceilings are the norm and sticky floors, an unavoidable reality, any development that favours women at the expense of men is a rarity, a surreal delicacy. As a historic move for Pakistani politics, Maryam Nawaz took oath as the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab last week. But following the […]
Elections in Pakistan: An Afterthought
Three weeks is too long of a time for any parliamentary democracy to decide who deserves to be given the baton next. Haunted by a long-drawn-out delay, the 12th general polls in Pakistan held on February 8 were supposed to bring about at least a semblance of stability. Although brought on by a unique show […]
Election Diary: Post-Elections
It is not every day that a country of over 240 million heads to a nationwide exercise to choose the next set of leaders tasked with the crucial and most significant responsibility: governance. Now that the dust has settled, political parties are ready to proceed in full knowledge of their split mandate and there’s a […]
Election Diary: What’s Next?
Hope tends to lose its path whenever the tunnel gets slightly longer. Therefore, every passing day since the vote of no-confidence added to the worries of those who held democracy dear. When would we come out of the stopgap arrangements, they wondered? The glaring failures of the PDM government in overcoming the most basic of […]
Election Diary: Straight from PPP Secretariat
Very surprisingly, one does not need to stay in the PPP Secretariat, Lahore, for a long time to realise this. With the women calling all the shots, supporting each other, cheering them on and encouraging everyone to put in their best shoe forward, it looks like a scene out of a utopian novel. But you […]
Election Diary: Manifestoes and Specially-Abled
That we have miles to go before truly embracing each and every one of us as an integral part of the fabric does not need to be said out loud. But some occasions serve to push the dagger further in, rotating it through and through, and making our ideals a laughing stock. As Pakistan gears […]