Neo-wars: masks and muskets on April 22, 2020Coronavirus, a microscopic germ, has literally brought our so-called advanced human civilisation to a grinding halt. The pandemic has pushed humankind in the age of neo-wars, characterised by non-military threats, notably pandemics and climate change. Amid the surging death toll and the consequent disruption in human life, from economy to religion, all stand corona-ised. From […]
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Pakistan on July 10, 2019Mankind had long been under the illusion that we are maters of nature. The truth has dawn on us that we are not masters, but dependents on nature for our socioeconomic and spiritual growth. Threatened by the unfolding climate-change, the human civilization is faced with unprecedented and realistic doom and gloom scenario not in too […]
Lunar calendar and technophobia in Pakistan on June 8, 2019The occasion of Eid can be a unifying factor in Pakistan. However, it continues to be a divisive constant due to lack of consensus on Eid moon-sighting every year. The world has entered the era of big data, nano technology, 3-D printing, quantum computing, and 5G Internet. These scientific and technological breakthroughs are poised to […]
Modi, the Zia-ul-Haq of India on June 3, 2019The most divisive and the biggest electoral exercise on the planet is over. Modi is back with a bang as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bagged 302 of the 542 seats; up from the 282 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The opposition Indian National Congress (INC) trails far behind with 52 seats. Apart from […]
China’s tryst with Hindutva’s geopolitical agenda on May 31, 2019With its best-ever tally of 303 seats out 542 in the general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has scored a landslide electoral victory in one of India’s most divisive elections. Modi triumphantly thanked his voters for giving him a “historic mandate” for five more years in office, and urged the […]
Human (in)security in Pakistan on May 3, 2019Freedom from want and fear should set a democratic dispensation apart from the non-representative forms of government. Imran Khan struck the right cords by highlighting stunting and malnutrition in his maiden speech as prime minister. He told the nation: “Pakistan is among the five countries in which most children die before the age of five […]
The elusive peace in Afghanistan on September 7, 2016The smouldering conflict in Afghanistan has now earned the notoriety for being the longest US war in the unenviable history of its disastrous overseas military misadventures involving immense blood and money of self and others. The unending conflict has claimed lives of 3,495 coalition soldiers since 2001. Furthermore, Brown University’s Cost of War Project puts […]