Plugging off farmers, celebrities and sundry
Farmers’ protest is unplugged. So how will India unplug something that is already unplugged. Traditionally, the Modi government has a simple “shut-up “formula – shoot the messenger. However, by shutting…
Radical hope
In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with economic and ecological crises only intensifying, it is easy to understand why so many people feel hopeless for the future. All…
Negotiating with banned entities
Recently, the government of Pakistan made a lot of waves in both the national and international media over its two recent announcements – the revocation of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan's (TLP)…
The madressah riddle
THE state has yet to fully realise the sociocultural and political-economic inferences of religious education institutions or madressahs. Despite having long attempted to pursue the reform of this sector, successive…
Naked ambition
India's newly enunciated "Joint Armed Forces Doctrine" envisaging force projection beyond its borders mandates that the three services, Army, Navy and Air Force will fight as an integrated force. Calling…
Iran attacks expose security gaps, fuel regional tension
When Islamic State called on members of Iran's Sunni Muslim minority in March to wage a religious war on their Shi'ite rulers, few people took the threat seriously. And yet…
Trade unions losing steam
A workers’ union is an integral part of an industrial or commercial unit’s working environment. The workers have a fundamental right to form an association to project, promote and protect…
Oil majors vow energy transition – at their own pace
Oil majors are under growing pressure to stop drilling for crude to help curb climate change, but companies say they will wean themselves off fossil fuels at their own pace.…
Pandora economy?
This week’s exposure of Pakistan’s rich harbouring massive wealth in offshore tax havens is neither surprising nor ultimately groundbreaking. Similar exposures, notably the ‘Panama papers’ which eventually cost former prime…
The Khorasan chapter threat
WITH the Afghan Taliban takeover of Kabul, the militant Islamic State group’s Khorasan chapter (IS-K) has also come under the global radar after its horrific recent bombing in the Afghan capital. Many…
