End elite capture
For decades, Pakistan’s economy has been held hostage – not by external enemies, but by an internal force more dangerous: elite capture. From the 22 families that controlled Pakistan’s wealth…
Our elite’s bankruptcy
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, the fire next time.” AS Pakistan’s difficulties in meeting its external payment obligations deepen, its elitist policymakers, both past and present,…
Why bash the elite?
ELITE-BASHING is Pakistan’s newest sport. As the country stares into the default abyss, the ubiquitous phrase — ‘elite state capture’ — putatively explains all that has gone awry. Fat-cats are…
Cooking a Pakistani chaos casserole
Today, in a journalistic coup that would make Woodward and Bernstein weep with envy, we bring you the coveted recipe that has kept a nation of 220 million perpetually teetering…
Price of elite capture
PAKISTAN’S bane has long been a narrow, oligarchic power elite that has dominated its politics and controlled its economy at the cost of people’s welfare and the country’s progress and…
Publishing Pakistani fiction
IF you happen to be a Pakistani writer, particularly a writer of fiction, you are out of luck. As a recent discussion I had on the topic with several other…
Elite colonizers of Pakistan
In Pakistan, a powerful few are pulling the strings of the economy, using their control to advance their own interests rather than benefiting the public. As the nation has till…
Ordinary Pakistanis are not citizens
It has been an eventful week, with more than its just share of tragedies. While the genocidal Israeli war on the Palestinians continues with ferocious horror, the news of Iranian…
Pakistan’s elite and the art of deception
“The ends justify the means,” Machiavelli’s famous adage, permitting rulers to forsake moral high grounds in favour of maintaining power and control, is something that rings in my mind every…
Why are Pakistanis leaving?
Emigration has occupied perhaps more than its usual share of space in the public discourse in the past year. Op-eds that popped up in the media have included pure opinions…
