Solution to rural poverty
In her article titled ‘Land Rights and Democracy’, (Dawn, Feb 4,) Zeenia Shaukat has referred to my earlier letter in Dawn and has posed two pertinent questions which deserve to…
The parting kick?
In an editorial about the "long march" on Islamabad, and the approaching (really?) general elections, The Economist said the "transition would be historic: never in Pakistan's violent and unstable history…
Corruption as empowerment?
If India’s maverick psychologist and social critic Ashis Nandy had planned to ignite a potentially ugly controversy at the Jaipur Literary Festival, he couldn’t have done better than by insinuating…
Emerging economies
Since long, Pakistan is locked up in a situation of economic volatility, infrastructural deficit, financial disaster in public sector entities and growing poverty. Reformatory policies undertaken by different sectors of…
Comment: report””s footnotes tell the real story
The footnotes published by the State Bank of Pakistan in its Annual Report 2011-2012, tell the real story of country''''s economy and not the heavily vetted analysis that was issued…
The saviour delusion
In terms of our national consciousness three trends seem to be ascendant: we have lost faith in the ability of individuals to possess integrity or be guided by principles, firm…
The orphan economy
There are at least six different parties and groups giving their own views about the state of the economy and the required direction of policies, and their viewpoints differ drastically…
Purple bamboo
The early morning mist hangs heavy. Seemingly light and ephemeral, it smothers the ground and hangs heavy on the soul too. No one knows when it will lift its burden.…
The Congress and the ‘middle class’
Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as the Congress Party’s vice-president was an organisational non-event. He was already functioning as its Number Two, and dynastically destined to succeed his mother. The appointment’s significance…
The new kingmaker
Since the return to Pakistan last month of the Tehreek-e-Minhaj-ul-Quran (TMQ) chief, Tahirul Qadri, strange things have happened in unexpected ways. A political analyst, thinking loudly, quoted William Cowper’s 1773…
