Chitral, we can help on November 3, 2018‘Ish Pa Ta,’ (salam) the Kailasha greeting, we learn something new every day. My recent trip to Chitral was not my first and most certainly will not be my last. It is a corner of Pakistan that continues to reveal more and more of its splendor every time I visit. I can write reams on […]
On the eve of the 2018 elections on July 25, 2018Everyone you speak to on the record off the record public and in private is aware a pantomime and a farce is being played out- but in good Pakistani style wink wink nod nod shrug shrug eyes to the sky and on the ground the spectacle will carry on with full knowledge July 25th will […]
Your vote can make a difference on July 11, 2018On July 25, Pakistan votes again. But what is the purpose of this exercise? Are we selecting representatives to govern on our behalf for a better future? Are those who are on offer, as candidates, up for this task? These are not rhetorical questions, these are fundamental questions which all Pakistanis must answer for themselves. […]
A new player in the political arena on June 27, 2018I voted for the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2013. I campaigned for them in both my constituencies of Islamabad, NA 48 and NA 49. A lot has changed in the PTI since then, and little has changed for Pakistan. A little wiser a little older as the saying goes, but progress we must, for there […]
A blow to representative democracy on June 22, 2018I had hoped Justice Shahid Kareem of the honourable Lahore High Court (LHC) would take the plunge and instruct the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to include the None of the Above (NOTA) option on our 2018 ballot. Alas, the court thought it prudent to keep this “important petition on his docket pending for six […]
None of the above — a fundamental right? on June 22, 2018I had hoped Justice Shahid Kareem of the honourable Lahore High Court would take the plunge and instruct election commission of Pakistan (ECP) to include none of the above NOTA on our 2018 ballot. Alas, the court thought it prudent to keep this “important petition on his docket pending for six months” so that he […]
None of the above option on ballots – symbolic or consequential? on June 19, 2018Once again, we have an opportunity to request the courts to direct the Election Commission of Pakistan to implement None of the Above NOTA as an option on the ballots in 2018. The question of what NOTA really is has been settled now. It is a fundamental right of the electorate in a democracy to […]
My vote, my choice on June 15, 2018The discussion on the option of ‘none of the above’ or NOTA, on the Pakistani electoral ballot is finally heating up. It is critical that this fundamental right granted to the citizens of Pakistan, is not viewed negatively by our society. NOTA, is in no way equivalent to not voting at all. On the contrary, […]
Living in interesting times – Part 2 on April 13, 2018The Pakhtun Tahafuz Movement is bringing to head a series of uncomfortable truths powerfully, publicly, and non-violently. Pakistan is 220 million souls, of which 70% are under the age of 30. PTM represents that demographic. Currently, our political-economic power interests and voices do not. More importantly, discrimination and disenfranchisement on the basis of power has […]
Living in interesting times – Part 1 on April 12, 2018 I tweet. I don’t write articles. But this is yet again another moment in Pakistan’s sad social political history where we have an opportunity to learn and fix ourselves. There really is no other sophisticated way to describe our malaise. Fix our mental state and thus actions. I am an optimist, I believe people […]