Jailhouse rockers
IF 2024 will be known as the year of seismic general elections, it will also be remembered as the one of unforgettable weddings. In India, Mumbai is still aglitter in…
No joy in Dhaka
THERE is a sense of irony in watching tanks and armoured personnel carriers on the streets of Dhaka, defending a government that traces its lineage to the forces that resisted…
Power of the people
In a profound example of the power of youth activism, Bangladesh experienced a dramatic political upheaval last month when student-led demonstrations swept across the nation, leading to the downfall of…
Making sense of Bangladesh
In recent years, commentators in Pakistan have been citing Bangladesh as a model for progress. As a South Asian country that was described as a basket case at the time…
Bangladesh revolt
A giant statue is being shown on TV screens, with some angry people climbing and trying to knock it down with hammers. This statue belongs to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the…
The only way forward for the PTI
Some days ago, former president Arif Alvi had said that his party’s founder, former prime minister Imran Khan, would talk only to those who hold “real power” in this country.…
A wobbly coalition
The results of the 2024 election must have been the worst failure of political intelligence since the 1970 election in which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman bagged the majority of seats in…
Remembering Ahmad Saleem
Ahmad Saleem, a luminary in the realm of Urdu and Punjabi literature and poetry, left an indelible mark on Pakistan’s social and political landscape. He was a mentor to many…
A security threat
In 2007, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded in a study about Sudan that the conflict in Darfur was primarily driven by climate change and warned that any change in…
Tales from a labour activist
There are plenty of biographies written by civil and military bureaucrats. But they tend to focus on their achievements instead of failures and present a picture in which others are…
