Compete and contain
ON the eve of the 20th Chinese Communist Party congress, which later confirmed a historic third term for President Xi Jinping, the US announced its National Security Strategy, reiterating its overwhelming priority is…
The environmental journey
PAKISTAN’s policy since inception has been to fast-track economic growth, even if it entails deterioration of the natural environment. Our policymakers seem to have internalised a myth: the country has…
A win for mental health
ACCORDING to the World Health Organisation, last year approximately 20,000 Pakistanis died by suicide, with over 120,000 people attempting it. Suicide is a complication of mental illness which can only…
Maintaining vigilance
LAST week’s heinous attack on a passenger bus traversing the Karakoram Highway in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chilas area is a reminder of the escalating terrorist threat that casts a long shadow over…
Contaminated Lahore
PAKISTANI cities are highly mismanaged. Their governing structures are opaque, centralised, and rigidly bureaucratic. As a result, they do not cater to the needs of large swathes of their residents.…
Mental health services
LAST December, the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) received a complaint that 35-year-old Rukhsana (not her real name), who was working for an MNC, was being illegally detained at…
Electoral fantasy
WILL the dissolution of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies be accompanied by the announcement of an election date? There has been considerable speculation of late around the controversial new…
Physical health of mentally ill
“Our bodies are gardens to the which our wills are gardeners.” — William Shakespeare READERS might find it surprising to know that people with mental illness live less long than…
Accountability rush
ASSETS have become a four-letter word in Pakistani politics. Let talk begin of the ‘assets’ of anyone well known, especially in politics, and chances are it will not end well…
Power and accountability
RECENT political developments have made one thing very clear: Pakistani citizens lack the knowledge of how various government institutions function. Hence, they are prone to believing the disinformation peddled by…
