Time we got it right
The latest offering from the land of ironies: in a country where, in the not too distant past, much political commentary revolved around the question of constitutional immunity from prosecution…
Manifestos and women
Women once again dominate the election scene not by virtue of their presence being a determining factor in the outcome of the coming contest. It is the “women’s issue” that…
The story of a coup
Musharraf’s coup in 1999 was an aberration. The months leading to it were undoubtedly tense but in no way betrayed a trigger-happy general’s inclination to launch an offensive against his…
Not out of the woods
For some it’s the new El Dorado. Foreign investors are lining up to do business in Myanmar, a once-pariah nation which only a couple of years ago was almost as…
Pakistan’s economy – I
Alongsides is the first part of a three-part series by an economist who has reflected on his more than half a century involvement with the country's economy. Pakistan has had…
Factory inspectors
By and large, the practice in most developed countries has been to recruit engineers as Inspectors of Factories. It should be accepted that Factory Inspection is a live profession which…
Human rights and the future
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s annual report was released last week. Unsurprisingly, it is a compendium of the country’s failures over the past year. From freedom of thought and…
Should we be complacent?
The report prepared by Zeenat Hisam and Yasmin Qureshi on Religious minorities in Pakistan for the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and launched last Tuesday at the…
Stifling Jinnah’s Pakistan
We should be thankful to the returning officer who disqualified former lawmaker and one of the country’s leading columnists Mr Ayaz Amir from the 2013 elections for his alleged ‘thought-crime’…
A transformational leader, unfortunately
Looking back, it now seems strange that during her first couple of years as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher was widely viewed as something of an aberration. In 1981, with unemployment…
