Like #Rhodesmustfall, #Edwardesmustfall? on May 11, 2016Recently, a wave of decolonization was invoked across the colonized world by protests, aimed at removing statue of Cecil Rhodes, a British colonialist who black students consider as the founder of apartheid system in Africa, from the campus of University of Cape Town. The protests were prompted by an action of a black student named […]
What does it mean to be liberal in Pakistan? on May 4, 2016Last Friday, while offering Jumma prayer at a mosque in Bagh-e-Jinnah, one of the prayers by the Imam (prayer leader) put me into deep introspection. “Oh Allah! This country (Pakistan) is becoming liberal; please save it and guide its leaders to promote Islamic system in this country.” The nagging question that haunted me, after offering […]
Pakistan needs inclusive feminism on April 28, 2016Although the wave of women empowerment had been raging on for a very long time it created a dent in the world history defined by patriarchy in 19th century in the name of ‘feminism’ when women were enfranchised in the West for the first time. From then onwards, feminism did not look back. And although […]
Danger of a single story on April 21, 2016Nothing is more tragic than the tragedy of dispossession, but a cursory look at history shows how ruthlessly societies have been pitted against the tragedy time and again, for the sake of prolonged stay in power or national interest by vested interests, through projection of history in a single story, thus robbing them of their […]
Self lost from SELF on April 12, 2016At a point of time, when we, all human beings, have started to define ourselves by putting on different identities comprising religious, ethnic, national and sexual identities in the form of males and females, and are at each other’s throat to justify truth-value of our identities. There is a need to remind our crazy selves, […]
Can a ‘monkey’ be the saviour of citizens’ freedom? on March 31, 2016Robert Green Ingersoll says, “What light is to the eyes – what air is to the lungs – what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.” There is no denying the fact that throughout human history, human beings have always strived for freedom. According to the Social Contract Theory, for […]
Anxiety of Impotence on March 24, 2016As Anand Girdharadas writes in the International New York Times, “If anything unites America in this fractious moment, it is a widespread sentiment that power is somewhere other than where you are.” Anxiety of impotence has disenchanted the American public, and has robbed half of the US electorate, The Republican party’s vote bank, of making […]
Pakistan v India; never underestimate T20 loose cannons on March 18, 2016Cricket fever is at full pitch in Pakistan. All Pakistani cricket fans are desperately waiting for green shirts to enthrall them with their sensational performances in the short form of the game under the stewardship of T20 maestro, Boom Boom Afridi. The whole euphoria revolves around the match between arch rivals Pakistan and India on […]
What does it mean to be a graduate in Pakistan? on March 15, 2016I am a fresh graduate from one of the renowned academic institutes in Pakistan. Being a micro unit of youth bulk, with which the world, day in day out, congratulates Pakistan in terms of “demographic dividend”, through this piece of writing, I, as a representative of all those youth who are fresh graduates, especially graduates […]