Growing extremism on campus on November 5, 2015The news that has been conveniently ignored by authorities is of girls getting attacked by the activists of the student group Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) for playing cricket on the campus of Karachi University with their male counterparts near a bus stop. The Rangers, in response, arrested four IJT activists but released them only half an […]
Islamic and Hindu extremism on October 22, 2015In Pakistan, what we know of the current tide in India is very familiar to us in essence. Intolerance and ridiculous political logic for defending extremism have been shared on both sides of the border, no matter what religion is under consideration. Where there is Shiv Sena in India, we have had our movements against […]
Pakistans involvement in the Khalistan Movement on October 15, 2015Following the defeat in the 1971 war when East Pakistan was separated thanks to the ill-fortuned policies of Pakistan that denied democratic rights to the people there, it was widely believed that India was responsible for instilling the separatist movement in East Pakistan, which created further distrust when it came to Pakistan and India. A […]
Dangerous transformations in prostitution on October 1, 2015Marred with negative connotations and considered to be outside the domains of ‘respectability’ in a society, prostitution is as old as human societies when they first started taking shape in history, even before the advent of moral dos and don’ts that organised religions introduced. Many anthropologists believe prostitution to be an inevitable part of society. […]
Need for reformation in Islam on September 24, 2015The most abhorrent line of thought in any religion is delinking belief in God from rationality. Intellectual curiosity and free thought present a social dimension that is a natural reaction to society’s ever growing dogma, rigidity and shrinking of space for alternate voices in the garb of social and legal dictums (like the blasphemy laws). […]
Condemnable actions of Saudi Arabia in Yemen on September 17, 2015Human misery has no limits, especially when the disaster is created by human follies for political dominance. In Saudi Arabia’s case, it is more a matter of the paranoia of Shia influence in Yemen where it believes that Iran is supporting and facilitating the Shia rebels. In geographical terms, it is strategically easy and a […]
Refugees, the Gulf States and the west on September 10, 2015When fleeing from war and persecution, from a violence-riddled country to a safer place for refuge, terming these people with the status of immigrant instead of refugee is perhaps the worst form of injustice we often notice in the media. Suffering from emotional strain and identity crisis, the sense of helplessness they feel when sailing […]
Religious syncretism and cultural growth on September 3, 2015Religion cannot be defined without taking into consideration the history of the region in which it is practised and which gives it the identity that people can relate with. Religion is the evolution of the variant ideologies that have merged together to form traditions and practices, which are reflected in our current lifestyles and belief […]
Misogyny, rape and silence on August 20, 2015Pakistan is a land of diversities with many lifestyles, customs and traditions stemming from the ancient agrarian roots of this land, which have remained integral in forming a human psyche that cannot escape the notion of honour deeply internalised in our societal thought. This stringent traditional honour is the result of the material dominance and […]
In defence of human rights defenders on August 13, 2015Human rights defenders are individuals or groups striving for the protection, advocacy and continuation of the causes that are held close to the basic rights and dignity of the people. The major responsibilities of human rights defenders are to keep in check policies that infringe on the basic liberties of an individual or a community, […]