Role of opposition in democracy on September 13, 2018Finally, Pakistan is under the stewardship of those who clamoured for ‘Naya Pakistan’. Time will tell whether it was all rhetoric or seeds for real change had been sown. At this moment in time, the start is not that disappointing- though there have been a few allegations in the media against delinquency on part of the ruling party, their representatives have been accused of meddling in … [Read more...] about Role of opposition in democracy
PTI’s turn to give back to KP on August 7, 2018One of the unusual aspects of the 2018 elections was Khyber Pakhthunkhwa (KP) election results. The province has never given any party a second chance in any general elections, however, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) proved to be an exception. This speaks a lot about the party’s performance.PTI now has enough seats to make a provincial government under its stewardship without any reliance on … [Read more...] about PTI’s turn to give back to KP
Analysing Malala’s homecoming on April 10, 2018Recently Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai visited Pakistan after spending five years abroad. Her homecoming received a mixed response, which has been testified to by popular feedback on social media. Some considered her a beacon of change and advocated that she was an admirable person for promoting women’s empowerment and education in Pakistan. The major chunk, however, was quite sceptical of her … [Read more...] about Analysing Malala’s homecoming
Can Pakistani democracy survive? on April 7, 2018The beauty of democracy lies in the fact that ideally, it is supposed to be accommodating to diversity and adaptive to changing times. This is what makes it worth following as a model of governance across the globe. Realistically however, implementing an ideal democracy is not as easy as holding general elections every few years. Although this shouldn't discourage states from pursuing republican … [Read more...] about Can Pakistani democracy survive?
Stewarding Pakistan’s demographic dividend on March 6, 2018At present, the youth constitute the majority of this country’s population. According to rough estimates, more than 60 percent of Pakistan’s current population is home to youth lot. This demographic dividend brings Pakistan knocking at the door of opportunity and risk simultaneously. If the potential of the youth is tapped properly, it could begin to rotate the clogged wheel of Pakistan’s … [Read more...] about Stewarding Pakistan’s demographic dividend
LLF 2018: more than a festival on February 28, 2018Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) 2018 was held last weekend at Alhamra Arts Centre, Mall Road, Lahore. Discussion sessions over a wide range of topics had been arranged for the public at large and to which people responded enthusiastically through their attendance and participation. Like every year, since it has started, I visited the festival as usual with some of my fellows and, in this op-ed, I … [Read more...] about LLF 2018: more than a festival
Achieving cultural modernity through writing on February 22, 2018In any society, writers have a crucial responsibility on their shoulders. Their vantage point to look at what is happening in the society is different from a layman’s. They tap the fault lines of conventional wisdom and help the society understand existing gaps in mainstream societal ideas. Failure to do so results in the decay of any society. They try to break the corrosive silence surrounding … [Read more...] about Achieving cultural modernity through writing
Trump’s diplomacy and the war on terror on January 13, 2018Every state has its own distinct interests and goals, and in world politics, only those states which can achieve these interests survive. Whenever a state interacts with other states, both are trying to push their own agenda. As such, the nature of interaction is either zero-sum or win-win. This can be observed most clearly in interactions between big and small powers. Each state adopts a sound … [Read more...] about Trump’s diplomacy and the war on terror
Time to redefine partition’s history on December 20, 2017Almost 70 years have passed since Pakistan came into existence. The generation that saw Pakistan’s birth coupled with traumas of partition is now in its final years. For the current generation, the only way to understand the context of how Pakistan came into being is a set of history books which presents history in an oversimplified manner without taking into consideration the multiple dimensions … [Read more...] about Time to redefine partition’s history
Pakistan’s haphazard fight against extremism on November 29, 2017British author Anatol Lieven writes in his book entitled Pakistan: A Hard Country that Pakistan is a hard country to make sense of. He writes, “Trying to understand Pakistan’s internal structures and dynamics is complicated; for if there is one phrase which defines many aspects of Pakistan and is the central of this book, it is ‘Janus-faced’. In other words, many of the same features of the … [Read more...] about Pakistan’s haphazard fight against extremism
