Legislation and governments on June 5, 2021“Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught”– Honoré de Balzac The interesting thing about legislation is that those who understand its significance are the ones who actually observe the law while those who do not blatantly flout it without any fear of prosecution. In the […]
Development for social justice on May 29, 2021“The social justice movement of the 21st century is economic development”—Wendell Pierce Since humans first set foot on this earth, they have been occupied by what we understand today as economics. Anything and everything comes at a price and a host of expectations. Those who can afford to, buy, and those who cannot, pay with […]
Beyond biases and critical thinking on May 17, 2021“It’s not at all hard to understand a person; it’s only hard to listen without bias”- Criss Jami, Killosophy A lot can be derived from the thinking of a 12 year old boy who transcribed it in his tweet after 49 years, reflective of the sensitivity with which he must have observed his elders […]
IA Rehman — the non-conformist humanitarian on May 8, 2021“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”—Jim Morrison. On an oppressive August day back in 1986, after shifting from Karachi to Lahore, my husband took me to the offices of the Viewpoint magazine at 4A Lawrence Road to meet his former colleagues. The very first question Mr IA Rehman [Ibn Abdur Rehman, popularly known as […]
A nation’s pride is its best ‘weapon’ on May 1, 2021“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect”— Eric Hoffer Way back in the 1960s, during our primary school days, our textbooks were full of stories about children from different provinces, including Bengalis when East Pakistan was under our flag. These were largely descriptive accounts of prevailing lifestyles, focusing on […]
When mob kill — who is guilty? on April 24, 2021“Every unpunished murder takes away something from the security of every man’s life”— Daniel Webster Over time, this nation has developed a rather peculiar tradition. Whenever politicians are arrested or summoned before the courts, they rally huge crowds, usually armed with bludgeons and stones, and block the main thoroughfares, obstructing the path of emergency services […]
Rape victims need to be heard and not hushed on April 18, 2021“O Prophet! Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do”-Al Quran [24:30] All it takes is just one slip of the tongue, a little brain fog, perhaps, a public address about increased obscenity and the way women […]
Prioritize what’s important on April 9, 2021“Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities”-Myles Munroe In our routine life, we usually take things as they come or move with the flow or spend right and left without thinking about the future or become so miserly that we […]
Tribute to Haseena Moin on April 5, 2021“Writers are historians, too. It is in literature that the greater truths about a people and their past are found”?Sionil Jose Much to the surprise of the younger generations, those Pakistanis who opened their eyes in the decades of 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s had the opportunity to see a country that was very […]
Revolutionizing agriculture on March 27, 2021“If agriculture goes wrong, nothing else will have a chance to go right”-M.S. Swaminathan Embarking on a new business, the first things to be considered by an entrepreneur are “minimum costs and maximum gains.” People abstain from soiling their hands in a business venture that will result in perpetual losses unless they have faith in […]