A new beginning?
For Pakistan, what New Year resolutions would you prescribe? In our personal lives, we do tend to look before and after at the threshold of a new year. And, as…
Who is Urdu-speaking?
Will someone help me find the origin of the term ‘Urdu-speaking’ – not in academic terms for people living across South Asia or elsewhere but its use in Pakistan’s social…
Camel caravan
The news photo of a mule trying to beat the winter chill with a sweater borrowed from its master. The chimpanzee in the Lahore zoo partaking of evolution with sips…
How lazy nations respond
Once upon a time, not very long ago, speaking openly about Pakistan’s problems was considered impolite. Then suddenly, Gen Musharraf one day decided to fire a judge of rather ordinary…
Identity debates
Historically, different cultural groups of what is now Pakistan followed diverse origins, but the creation of Pakistan brought heterogeneous cultural identities under the identity of a single state. Being a…
Playing on the wrong pitch
Two noteworthy recent launching events have captured many of the frailties and complexities of the Pakistani discourse. If we can learn the valuable lessons available to us from them, both…
To liberate our youth
When you imagine the Pakistan that exists across the flaming headlines and the frothy talk shows on our news channels, the picture that emerges in your mind is likely to…
Policemen to the rescue
Even those who are perturbed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s infrequent visits to Pakistan will find it hard to fully understand the pains Punjab is undergoing these days. Islamabad is…
Definition of a shaheed
The word `shaheed` has assumed a common place in thelingua franca of the subcontinent, particularly of Pakistan, often used as part of the name of the deceased who has been…
Walt Whitman’s Pakistan
In the 1990s a brave new political culture emerged from the bowels of the Bill Clinton political machine. Stan Greenberg, James Carville and Dick Morris helped shape this new culture.…
