Pakistan-Indian women step up to prevent war on March 7, 2019Since the Pulwama attack, Pakistan -India tensions are on the all-time high. Indian incursion and their alleged attack on Balakot , subsequent denial and retaliation by the Pakistani armed forces, capture and release of an Indian Pilot and Pakistan pulling out of OIC session has kept the tensions on a high spin for both countries. […]
Absence of women from governance on February 25, 2019The current Pakistani government is making a number of task forces as well as a number of committees on various issues ranging from economics to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM). However, one thing is common in all of these initiatives: a conspicuous absence of women. The federal government recently issued a new Federal Cabinet notification […]
Creating safe spaces for women on September 27, 2018In 2012, I was city administrator for Pakistan’s fourth largest city, Rawalpindi, which had a population of over two million. Soon after my appointment, 65-year-old Rasheeda came to tell me how women in her low-income community did not have any recreational spaces. The ultra-conservative culture also meant she could not walk around on her own […]
Stephen Hawking — an unlikely hero for young girls on March 18, 2018“Each generation stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before them, just as I did as a young PhD student in Cambridge, inspired by the work of Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and Albert Einstein” – Stephen Hawking Many today stand on the shoulders of Stephen Hawking to gaze and wonder about the […]
Nothing to celebrate on March 7, 2018Women’s day is supposed to be my day, but I am not celebrating it. I am not celebrating it because my country Pakistan ranks second worst on the gender gap statistics. Simply put, women are not treated well in this country.The World Economic Forum’s 2017 Gender Gap Report placement of Pakistan shows that the greatest […]
Our social media: falling short on the advocacy front on February 24, 2018I recently had the opportunity to share a few days with some brilliant scientists and policy practitioners in South Africa. I met women who were so resilient that not even the lowest tier of the poverty swamp could dim their brilliance. These women climbed up to their empowerment and are now empowering others. I met […]
Zainab’s death: our collective responsibility on January 14, 2018Being mother of a little girl, I can at least empathise with the ordeal of pain and dread that parents of seven-year-old Zainab, the little girl found raped and murdered in Kasur, are going through. This pain will stay with them long after the social media gurus forget the incident and move on to other […]
The evil in us on December 23, 2017December remains a gloomy month in Pakistan. From the fall of Dhaka to the massacre of innocent children at the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar; our history is marked with profound tragedies in the month of December, apart from the blunders which take place around the year. This cold and dark month is notorious for […]
Non-violence as a strategy for Pakistan’s woes on November 20, 2017A mob of violent religious fanatics have laid siege to the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for two weeks now. Fuming and cursing people stuck on roads have become a common sight. This came in sharp contrast to my recent encounter with the Catalonian independence movement in Barcelona. On our way from the airport […]
Time to protect water rights of citizens on October 12, 2017As Pakistan awaits its national water policy, a multinational company (MNC) manufacturing bottled water recently launched its water plan at one of Pakistan’s top private universities. The event was well attended and had high level government representation. The scenario was presented as an alliance between the government, thinktanks, academia and the MNC to save the […]