Quite unlike the PNA
It is finally the women who have united people who had long been busy identifying the factors that separated them from one another. The so-called religious political parties have given…
Empowering consumers
In the existing bureaucratic food regulations to ensure access to quality food, a consumer cannot get a food sample tested from an accredited laboratory and, if found not in accord…
Restructuring challenge – I
The cardinal principle behind turning around an economy is to increase state revenue and reduce state costs. Pakistan is in desperate need to have this in place to be able…
A genuine Pakistani great
As its youngest and first-ever Pakistani Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) to head the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) from 1957 to 1965, Air Marshal Asghar Khan is eulogized not only for his professional…
Literature, politics, and resistance: Part – II
In the first part of this column yesterday, we discussed some personal accounts by political activists and leaders. My definition of resistance literature is broad and includes biographical literature too,…
Bracing for a siege
Why should an elected government of a democratic country be bothered about a few thousand (or even a few hundred thousand) protesters marching to the capital? How can one march…
Parallel follies
THE very first verses I memorised, as little more than a toddler, began: “Aj aakhan Waris Shah nu, kithon qabran wichon bol/ Te aj kitaab-i-ishq da koi agla warqa phol…”…
South Asian politics in the 1970s: Part IV
In the previous part of this essay published yesterday, we had looked at politics in Bangladesh and Pakistan from 1975 to 1977. Here we start with India and see how…
Remembering Bhutto the writer
In the first part of this article that appeared yesterday on the 40th death anniversary of Z A Bhutto, we discussed his earlier books such as The Myth of Independence…
Animal stories: Part – I
This is the last two-part column of my series of essays on animals in literature. But before I proceed, one correction: in my previous column’s highlighted text (in print alone).…
