Irresponsible journalism must end on March 16, 2018‘With great power comes great responsibility’ is a phrase commonly reserved for the larger than life characters leaping and bouncing across the big screen. But in today’s age, it is equally applicable to news channels. Technological advancement has altered power dynamics; information has become a bargaining chip. Thus those controlling its dissemination have become powerful. […]
The ill and the innocent on March 5, 2018“She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.” These are the musing of Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert in the novel Lolita. Humbert Humbert […]
The sit-in trend on January 10, 2018If democracy were a house, protest would be the central pillar preventing its collapse. Sit-ins are a form of protest which have become quite popular in Pakistan recently. This particular manifestation of dissent affirms the people’s political engagement. They are not numb yet. Raging with anger at the many injustices they have to face, they […]
The glass is half full on December 26, 2017The heaviest burden some shoulders must carry is that of other souls. While pursuing my undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh, I had the privilege of meeting Dame Stella Rimington, the first (former) female Director General of MI5- Britain’s counter-intelligence and security agency. Judi Dench’s role as ‘M’ in the famous James Bond movies […]
Mob justice and murder of humanity on December 17, 2017On the forehead of a common man in Pakistan is a price tag which reads, ‘reduced’. Attempting to survive the bitter realities of poverty, disparity and dejection, the society has readily accepted a rational which perceives individuals as disposable. Human lives are valued less than material wealth. The nation’s poor socio-economic conditions are propelling this […]
Seeing beyond the female body on December 5, 2017In Pakistan’s collectivist society, women are first and foremost recognised through their ever evolving familial ties i.e. daughter, wife, mother. Cultural norms tie each cycle of change to a woman’s body. Her mind is left unacknowledged. A woman’s appearance becomes a measure of how well she plays each role. If she wears Western clothes which […]
Watching vices on November 18, 2017Worldwide the idiom goes ‘seeing is believing.’ For screen regulating authorities in Pakistan the idiom reads ‘seeing is doing’. Reality is concealed in the name of morality. From Mahira Khan’s Verna to re-enactment dramas, they ensure we must not experience scenes of wrongdoing which are evocative. But if witnessing vices automatically translates into committing them, […]
Of jirga, judiciary and justice on November 12, 2017Seeking legal justice in Pakistan is not merely a process. It is a long, tedious, and possibly endless journey. Godot may arrive before the verdict. The current alternative, functioning in tandem with courts from time immemorial, is an extra-constitutional jirga (local village council) with misogynistic inclinations. Barbaric though a jirga may be, its decisions are […]
Shouldering social change on October 27, 2017The communication of any information is not desultory. When the outside world is brought within the confines of our homes by the media, it too must serve a purpose. A show and tell is not enough. The audience must be engaged such that seeing serves a purpose beyond simply knowing. Highlighting issues faced by the […]
Documenting honour on October 16, 2017Through the telling of stories, young children are taught the difference between good and evil. The narrative compass draws a circle outside of which all wrongdoing falls. An absence of such teachings enables cognisance of honour in an act otherwise deemed dishonorable. Documented stories which deconstruct the notion of honour in killing have the potential […]