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Caged justice and numbed brains

“Out of the huts of history’s shame, I rise./ Up from the past that’s rooted in pain, I rise./ I am a black ocean, leaping and wide,/ Welling and swelling…

Burial of reason

It is said: what’s in a number; after all, it is just a number. But did anyone ever think that it could be much more than that? It could actually…

All hail the SNC

I was on a road trip to the northern areas with friends. We were at a rest stop, our black off-road utility vehicle parked on the side of the road,…

And then there is delusion

It is mind-boggling to see how deeply infatuated the state and its institutions are with the task of rendering Imran Khan and PTI irrelevant. The longer it takes them to…

How to shore up the state

Pakistan is a serious nation-state; despite the fact that it may function in a ‘flailing’ way and may have other shortcomings and weaknesses in its structure. However, there have been…

Electoral autocracy

In recent years the world has started to see a reversal of the trend towards democratization. While the contrast between democracies and dictatorships has always been there and is fairly…

A letter to the Pakistan Army

Dear Sirs, it is with a rising sense of foreboding that I write to you regarding the ongoing predicament in Pakistan. I ask you this: why should I pay a…

The hybrid is a continuum

Hybrid regimes are defined by political scientists as ‘semi-democracies’ existing somewhere in the middle between complete democracies and dictatorships. To simplify, these are regimes that have some democratic openings with…

Punjab’s suffrage

The federal government of Pakistan has staunchly refused to accept the recent interpretation of the constitution by the Supreme Court regarding election dates in Punjab. (While a suo motu issued…

Imperial feminism

As the world celebrated International Women’s Day in March, it was also time to reflect on key wins and lessons. Just across the border since the fall of Kabul in…