Capital punishment violates the right to life on April 7, 2014I have two strong arguments opposing the death penalty: the right to life cannot be forfeited and the rope is not a social saviour. The death penalty can be awarded in Pakistan on 27 counts. At the time of the bloodied partition of Hindustan, the country had three death penalty crimes. Over a period of […]
No likelihood of another Cold War on March 27, 2014Cold war jitters are with us again after several years of peace and cooperation. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US President, after many years of a cool relationship, are now ‘one on one’. The body language of both implies that neither is fond of the other. Russia’s intention to formal occupy Crimea — a […]
Stop child marriages, please on March 2, 2014Child marriages were common in human history. Princess Emilia of Saxony, who was the daughter of Duke Henry IV of Saxony and his wife Catherine of Mecklenburg, in 1533, at the age of 16 years, married George the Pious, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and then 48 years old. Before modern history, child marriage was common everywhere […]
Secularism is not atheism on January 31, 2014There is mass confusion in Pakistani society between the secularism and atheism doctrines. Secularism and atheism are very different doctrines and the emergence of these two happened in the past at different times. Secularism is the most misunderstood and mangled ‘ism’ in Pakistan’s political lexicon. Commentators on the right and the left routinely equate it […]
Secularism: a solution for Pakistan on January 12, 2014The question as to whether Pakistan can be a secular state has been a hot topic for intellectuals and political thinkers since the introduction of Ziaul Haq’s Islamisation programme from 1977 to 1988. The question pertaining to secularism in Pakistan is an important one within Pakistan and outside the country for human rights activists and […]
Need to amend the Sale of Goods Act on December 29, 2013Pakistan, India and Bangladesh should enact a common law governing the sale of goods to boost economic growth and get rid of financial complexities. There is a need to modernise the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 to get rid of economic problems. At the outset, it seems pertinent to discuss the origin of the sales […]
Pakistan and the social contract on December 11, 2013Pakistan is facing political violence, terrorism, a hike in crime and terrible bloodshed. A lot of people harbour resentment against the state for its failure to protect the rights of its people. Some have labelled Pakistan a ‘failed state’. The Global Peace Index ranked Pakistan at second position on its terrorism list after Iraq. Terrorism […]
Is Social Darwinism still alive? on November 3, 2013As I follow current events, I sometimes wonder if Social Darwinism is still alive after all. Social Darwinism, the philosophy of the late 19th and 20th centuries, applied Charles Darwin’s evolutionary ‘survival of the fittest’ to society. The English philosopher, Herbert Spencer, saw life as a struggle for existence with unregulated competition guaranteeing progress. In […]
Capital punishment: not the answer in a civilised society on October 30, 2013The last 20 years have seen considerable progress on the abolition of the death penalty. Approximately 150 out of 193 states of the UN have abolished it or introduced a moratorium either in law or in practice. The inhumane punishment is certainly a blot on the progressive and civilised societies of the world. Portugal, a […]
Social Darwinism and American laissez-faire capitalism on October 8, 2013“The world of nature is a Darwinian world”, says the evolutionary biologist Professor- Richard Dawkins. He further says that he does not like to live in a world that is based on ‘Darwinian Principles’, as it would be a terrible society. Dawkins believes that a society based on Darwinian Principles would be a ruthless free […]