Custodial deaths
THE death in police custody of 29-year-old Rizwan Asad Pandit in the early hours of March 19 in Srinagar has aroused strong condemnation by unionists, separatists and civil society alike.…
Education under attack
ON the sidelines of politics, it seems that political parties and their governments have much in common despite their constant snarling at one another. And I do not refer to…
Governor Tessori refuses assent to varsities bill, returns it to Sindh Assembly
The Sindh government’s move to enable bureaucrats to become vice chancellors of universities across the province suffered a major blow on Tuesday when the governor withheld the assent to the controversial Sindh…
Pardon the poultry
SURPRISINGLY, while we have cherry-picked parts of globalisation like Black Friday sales and Valentine’s Day celebrations, we have yet to get on to the Thanksgiving bandwagon. Before anyone accuses us…
Why the numbers matter
NO one knows the exact number of madressahs in Pakistan — not the government, not the madressah leadership, and not independent agencies. Each entity offers its estimates, claiming theirs to…
Divide and rule
THE project of weakening political parties in Pakistan seems to be on track, with tricks and interventions ensuring that no one political party wins a majority in parliament. The record…
The crisis of indecision
THE election in Punjab may not have caused many ripples earlier but on Sunday night it was watched rather closely. This was the south of Punjab, the land of the…
Monarchies, dynasties, institutions
It has become de rigueur these days for many commentators to speak alarmingly about the pitfalls of political dynasties. The ‘dynasties’ they particularly disapprove of are the Sharif and the…
Why we should care
PAKISTAN’S official position on the Palestinian struggle has been relatively consistent since 1948. Despite occasional recent murmurs about a softening towards Israel, no actual step was taken. Part of this…
Discontent below
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a Twitter space on local governments on a Sunday evening. As participation did not involve looking presentable or getting out of…
