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Illusion of power

THREE words said it all. “Judiciary’s wings clipped.” This was the banner headline in an English newspaper after adoption of the controversial 26th Constitutional Amendment. While the PML-N-led government and…

Milk the public

PERHAPS the inspiration came from milking the buffalo his father-in-law gave him. Or the hardships he endured during his training for the Olympics 2024, in which he won the gold…

Unpacking the amendment

SUCCESSIVE governments and parliaments in Pakistan have appeared obsessed with constitutional amendments related to the judiciary, especially the superior judiciary. Our parliament has so far passed 23 constitutional amendments. Formally…

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…

In defamation’s name

LAST week, the Punjab Assembly hastily passed a defamation bill, despite grave concerns raised by journalist unions and rights bodies, as well as opposition legislators. The bill, which now only requires the governor’s assent before coming into…

Budgets to empower women

HOW much do governments in Pakistan spend to empower women? What are the trends in allocating and expending budgets for facilities and institutions that help women and girls get equal…

Home-grown economic plans

THE government recently formed a committee of eminent international and Pakistani economists to draft a home-grown economic programme. This article shows that there is little need for such a committee. There is…

How Lanka got her groove back

DESPITE the sweltering heat, there is tremendous energy all around the Galle Face Green, the famous sea front park, close to the presidential secretariat in Colombo. Young people are swarming…

Governance test

THE Shehbaz Sharif government faces multiple challenges — from the opposition, its political allies and from growing public discontent with a dire economic situation as people struggle with a cost-of-living…

Right to reproductive health

AS women, many of us have traversed through the uncomfortable changes brought on by puberty with an incomplete understanding of their meaning and consequences; we often braved, sometimes challenging, pregnancies…