Rejected curricula advice
THE reaction to the one-member Shoaib Suddle Commission report, which recommended that content on Islamic teachings and history be only carried in Islamic Studies textbooks was not unexpected. The report…
What students think
PAKISTANI universities are not contributing enough in the areas of research and development or to the knowledge-based economy. The reasons are not difficult to comprehend. For one, the environment of…
Supreme Court at a crossroads
“Some of our greatest national problems will be relieved if only we realize the momentousness of what has transpired in this country since 2007.” – Justice Jawwad S Khawaja The…
Student unions
UNIVERSITIES in 53 cities all over Pakistan participated in a student march on Nov 19, 2019, and demanded the restoration of student unions and reforms in the higher education sector.…
American atrocities
“TIN soldiers and Nixon coming/ We’re finally on our own/ This summer I hear the drumming/ Four dead in Ohio…” Fifty years after the Neil Young song, four deaths in…
Negotiating with the weak
MOVING into the new year, two incidents have once again highlighted the state’s chronic inability to protect its marginalised and vulnerable people. The vandalisation of a Hindu Samadhi in Karak…
The rise and rise of Khadim Rizvi
By most accounts, the gathering of mourners at Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s funeral was one of the biggest in Lahore’s history. The liberal commentariat was aghast that the historic venue of…
Sources of militancy
WHEN he launched this year’s Human Development Report, UNDP’s resident representative in Pakistan, Ignacio Artaza, said that terrorism is often a reflection of inequality. Those who favour such socioeconomic explanations…
Descent into fanaticism
VERY recently, we witnessed the occurrence of two terrifying incidents of vigilante justice, and although they were separated by many miles, whatever they lacked in geographical proximity, they made up…
Attaining soft power in Pakistan: The road ahead
Pakistan possesses requisite hard power with sizeable territory, large population, fielding sixth largest army in the world and being the seventh nuclear power. Moreover, it also possesses sizeable paramilitary forces…
