Education mafia
ALTHOUGH the 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved the department of education to the provinces, the centre has an education ministry to monitor and look after educational institutions under the federal government.…
The land of the apologists
We are a land of apologists. Remember those days when being an apologist for terrorists was in vogue. For a nation under attack, with soldiers, police, civilians dying in the…
The rule of mafias
The legal fraternity has now begun indulging in self-cannibalism. Last week a few dozen lawyers showed up at the Lahore High Court in solidarity with a member of the Pakistan…
Land grabbers
Some business ventures need a special environment to prosper. Land-grabbing is one such undertaking for which our country’s land seems fertile. This venture has now acquired the status of a…
The lynch mafia
How does one understand the motivation and make-up of those among us who seek to justify vigilante acts of lynching, burning and killing fellow citizens in the name of resisting…
Land grab at QAU — again
On the campus of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) — Pakistan’s premier public university — stands a large, ornate palace with manicured lawns and parked SUVs, protected by menacing guards and dogs.…
Punjab’s land records
A relative of mine owns a piece of land in a Lahore suburb. In 2011, he had gone to the Patwari to get a fard (the document that shows details…
Tales from Lala-land
The royal mess in (men’s) cricket has deeply injured national sentiment. Visit any part of social media and an outpouring of anguish and anger confronts you. Read any column, editorial…
Italy struggles with mountain of seized mafia assets
Italy's battle against the mafia has provoked an unusual problem for the government - the headache of managing a staggering portfolio of assets and cash seized from mobsters. Officials control…
Minorities and land predators
When future historians look back at Pakistan as it was in the early 21st century they will observe that this period was unparalleled when it came to repression of minorities.…
