Minorities and land predators
When future historians look back at Pakistan as it was in the early 21st century they will observe that this period was unparalleled when it came to repression of minorities.…
New York, New York
The United Nations located on the southern tip of Manhattan Island is a pastiche. The real UN is crowded in the rest of New York. Step into the street and…
Sectarian monster
A Recent report from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reiterates what we already know: sectarian violence in Pakistan has risen to unacceptable levels. The HRCP counts 687 killings in…
Quiet flows the Ganga
Not completely unperturbed by the poisonous politics and man-made pollution it carries on its meandering journey — and yet staying stubbornly unrelenting in its stoic composure — the Ganga has…
A reign of fear
An environment of deepening fear across the country is not only making it hard for the people, especially the more vulnerable among them, to defend their rights, it is also…
Swiss building provides refuge for the hypersensitive
No smoking, no perfume, no mobile phone use - the list of rules at a newly opened apartment building on the outskirts of Zurich is long. For a reason: the…
Policing urban violence
While political, ethnic, religious and socio-economic tensions contribute to conflicts, escalating urban violence is largely a product of poor governance, inappropriate security policies and neglected police reforms. This is the…
Franco-German thinkers offer Euro-treaty alternative
Do intellectuals matter in politics? To judge by the short-term crisis management and late-night bailouts by governments in the euro zone turmoil of the last four years, it is tempting…
How the world sees us and why
The other day I was looking for a good visual to go with an article about media perceptions and stereotyping of Muslims. Finally, failing to find what I was looking…
The politics of the dead
Several human rights activists in Pakistan have observed the ‘double jeopardy’ that enables the systematic mass murders of the Hazara community in Balochistan. Their ethnic facial features make them identifiable…
