Dealing with dissent
Part - II Side-effect In any state and society, tolerance for dissent is the first step towards making the state and society internally strong, safe and civilised. However, the word…
Taxilas no more
IF you have travelled on the Grand Trunk Road, which we insist was built by Sher Shah Suri, towards Peshawar, some 90 kilometres from Islamabad, you come across a town…
Human development emergency: Pakistan’s greatest challenge
Economic policy debates in Pakistan tend to fixate on macroeconomic indicators—fiscal deficits, firm-level competitiveness, and GDP growth. Interest and exchange rates dominate discussions, while the deeper crisis — human development…
A wedding and many funerals
IT’S a challenging proposition at the best of times to trust Narendra Modi by what he promises to do for anyone. A problem surfaced early in his career when, as…
Fuelling the future
HEALTH is a legal right, which has been endorsed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a crucial indicator of a nation’s progress. Robust health ensures promising capabilities…
Path of instability
PAKISTAN is currently muddling through a storm of political instability, economic downturn and resurgent terrorism. Large sections of Indian media and pundits have seized the opportunity to demonise Pakistan as…
Democracy and prosperity at 75
THOUGH it was a few years ago, I still vividly remember an elderly acquaintance telling me about his perilous journey from East Punjab to Multan during partition. The gentleman was…
Listening to the rumblings?
A PEOPLE’S movement is underway in Israel against its ultra right-wing government. Prime Minister Netanyahu is trying to subvert the judiciary’s neutrality, with a selfish aim to kill the criminal…
Only if Rahul unites the opposition
TWO instructive approaches are currently underway to rein in or dislodge autocratic governments in high-profile neighbourhoods. The first method can be glimpsed in the popular movement that has grown into…
Development first?
EVEN a cursory review of discussions in Pakistan on the subject suggests that a desperate search for a shortcut to development has been going on for decades. How to attain…
