Across the Neelum on July 6, 2021In the high altitudes of the Neelum Valley, on the very edge of the winding roads that connect Keeran to Kel to Tao-Butt, sits a khoka owned by XYZ*. Whenever you visit, you will find XYZ standing there, welcoming passers-by and travellers, as he pours them a hot, refreshing cup of dhood patti/qarak chai. Across […]
Small pest, big bite on July 4, 2020After having wreaked considerable damage across the farmlands in the East of Africa, from Ethiopia to Kenya to Somalia, swarms of desert locusts have moved towards their next target – South Asia. They’ve come a long way – born from the heavy rains in the Arabian Peninsula that allowed nearly three generations worth of unprecedented […]
IMF, the doctor sahib on April 30, 2020Ask any IMF official and they will tell you the IMF is like a doctor. Countries have a tendency to spend beyond their means and Pakistan is no exception. Eventually, habits soon come to haunt them: ensue the build-up of plaque; the thickening of arteries; and inevitably, a heart attack. It is, then, that countries […]
OIC — the silence of our friends on December 9, 2019Eight years ago, the OIC formally changed its name from the Organization of Islamic Conference to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.This was not meant to bejust a semantic shiftbut instead,reflective of the desire of the Muslim Ummah, to cooperate more proactively in better representing the 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. It could be argued […]