Muhammad Ahmad Hassan

Defeatism is something that too often characterises the public discourse on politics in Pakistan. Ranging from those of political dilettantes to even some of the more well-informed observers, most commentaries end with a gloomy forecast for the future. And that is not without good reason. The well-entrenched exploitative structures, which form both the economic base […]

Pakistan’s current political landscape is dominated by mainstream political parties that subscribe to the same centre-right neoliberal policy of reinforcing the status quo. This might not to be a particularly bad thing, except that the status quo in Pakistan has left a majority of the country’s population in crippling poverty. And to add to their […]

The struggle for freedom from British rule was long and arduous, and by the 20th century it had given birth to two distinct forms of nationalism. The one championed by the Indian National Congress (INC) involved shedding religious identity at the political level, and forming a unified Indian front against the British. The Congress considered […]

Government is often criticised on having lack of vision, and its approach to development considered piecemeal, addressing problems as they come along without any effective blueprint for progress. Similar concerns have been raised on the task of electoral reforms in Pakistan as the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral reforms, while having passed the 22nd constitutional amendment […]

The process of colonisation often leaves as its legacy a conflict-ridden society, which faces great difficulty in containing the violence within it. This is due to a variety of factors that mostly stem from the colonial power’s measures at controlling, and subsequently ruling its subject population. Knowledge is created by colonial authorities through their understanding […]

The mainstream political discourse in Pakistan seldom contains the nuance that would help in understanding the complex issues that the country faces today. Amidst the melange of accusations and counter-accusations, ranging from pedestrian commentaries of the casual political observer to vitriolic quarrels of stalwarts of political parties, little room is left for informed debate and […]