Life in a ‘posh’ area
In most ‘posh’ neighbourhoods in Pakistan – and in particular in Karachi – residents must often do things on their own and pay for them even while they pay taxes…
Clean-up needed
A POPULAR saying I have been hearing since childhood is: “Safaai nisf iman hai” (cleanliness is half the faith). Today, the ‘Queen of the East’, as Karachi was once dubbed…
Pakistan’s housing crisis needs innovation
Pakistan's explosive population growth over the past five decades presents a pressing non-traditional national security concern. With ripple effects on water, food, and energy security, this demographic surge threatens social…
Mourning a friend
THE legacy media seems to have learnt no lesson from its debacle in the US presidential election, as its coverage based on its preconceived notions about the events in Amsterdam…
American complicity in Gaza
“NO administration has helped Israel more than I have. None, none, none,” remarked US President Joe Biden recently as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza entered its second year, marking a…
Silencing Afghanistan’s women
THERE is no doubt that many have had a role in Afghanistan’s destruction, but the question of who exactly is to blame for the country’s current condition is a thorny…
Understanding change
THE changes that are taking place in the built environment of Karachi’s low- and middle-income neighbourhoods are hard to ignore by those vested in urban planning. The increase in population,…
Devastated by disaster
By the end of the day on Monday, the government of Turkiye had declared seven days of mourning. At that time, people were still being pulled from the rubble of…
Lahore’s forgotten villages
EARLY reports from the 2023 census suggest that Lahore’s population may have crossed the 12 million mark, ie, an addition of nearly a million more residents since 2017. In the…
Fill in the blanks
A REPRESSIVE regime organises a managed election. It is taken aback when the polling stations stay empty. Then, at exactly 4pm, voters pour out of their homes. Voting times are…
