Education & manifestos
It is heartening to note that the election manifestos of three of the main political parties — the PPP, the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf — not only mention education…
On tax amnesty
Amnesty is a one-time sovereign pardon of punitive legal proceedings offered to a specific class of lawbreakers. Unlike punishment, which is often retributive-cum-reformative, amnesty is reformative in nature, establishing the…
Tax the rich
The Human Development Report 2013 just released by the United Nations Development Programme highlights the rise of the Global South, comprising 130 developing countries, as the main drivers of the…
New leaders, old problems
The world is watching closely as China`s 12th National People`s Congress prepares to confirm the appointment of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang as the country`s president and premier respectively. China`s…
Missing women
“The average North Carolina housewife had to walk 148 miles per year while carrying 3.5 tons of water. There is no more important event that liberated women than the invention…
Our founders and guardians
A fellow-columnist has asked why “if we had to go through this (the mess that Pakistan has become today) did we go through the trouble of Partition?” (February 22). Let’s…
The fundamentalist mind
Fundamentalism is a controversial term, ascribed first to 19thcentury American Protestant groups which preached strict adherence to basic biblical tenets. It is now applied loosely to all groups exhibiting broadly…
Land rights and democracy
Some months ago, Dr Muzaffar A. Issani, writing to this paper, had taken a critical view of how land rights are understood. While his take on feudalism might have been…
Pakistan`s triple front
Pakistan is at another inflexion point in its eventful history. It confronts strategic challenges simultaneously on three fronts: internal, western and eastern. The internal challenge is most palpable: economic stagnation;…
Education and mobility
When I was in college, our undergraduate classes were allocated on the basis of student roll numbers. We were thus forced to interact with students who did not belong to…
