111 510 510 libonline@riphah.edu.pk Contact

State of democracy

A major global pronouncement on the annual global state of democracy is out. The verdict: democracy is in doldrums globally and 2022 was a disappointing year for democracy. There is…

A different democracy

The present alarming situation of the country, which stands at the brink of a financial default, is a reflection of the failure of successive governments to transition from a low…

Democracy in 2022

As the world gears up to celebrate another trip around the sun, there is this innate human urge to review what we experienced in the year concluded. In Pakistan, this…

Democracy hasn’t worked either

A lot of young people high on revolution as they march towards Islamabad on Imran Khan’s bandwagon don’t seem to realise that as far as their lot is concerned it…

An attack on democracy

A possible long march by the PTI appears to be yet another desperate attempt by the former prime minister to destabilize the country. A cursory look at the past 25…

Democracy and dissent

Democracy can be a tricky term to explain in a political structure like the one that endures in Pakistan. Defining it can be as facile and effortless as Abraham Lincoln…

Digitally-enhanced democracy

Like many millions around the world, I have watched in awe, excitement and horror as a new world order has begun to emerge over the last decade and a half.…

Our bourgeois democracy

The failure of the PTI in extending help to the people and the recent price hike in petroleum prices by the Shahbaz Sharif-led government has put a question mark on…

Democracy on ventilator

Imagine a plane descending precariously through exceedingly turbulent weather with every passenger on the edge of the seats. Imagine a ship caught in stormy waves, bending from one extreme to…

A look at democracy

Part - I The National Institute of Pakistan Studies (NIPS) at the Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad is a rare centre of debate and discussion where one can speak freely. When Prof…