Empower the local
Pakistan has seldom enjoyed a fully functional local government system. In most cases, military dictators were more interested in installing a local-bodies mechanism that could serve their own nefarious designs…
The dissolution debate
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in its recent ruling in the PTI ‘prohibited funding case’ said that the PTI had received prohibited funding from foreigners. Thereafter, the federal government…
Seventy-five years of education: Part – II
The first half of the 1970s brought both good and bad news for education in Pakistan. The good news was that the Bhutto government had a plan to offer free…
Remembering 1977
The year 2022 marks 45 years since the fateful days of 1977. As the nation prepared to celebrate 30 years of its independence, the country that had already lost its…
Deepening the Zia dictatorship
In my last article, ‘Remembering 1977’ (Aug 29), I highlighted how the year 1977 became a turning point in Pakistan’s history. Within 40 days after his military coup on July…
Ninety years of a full life [Part – II]
In Lahore, the 1960s began with devastating news for all progressive and left-wing activists. Hassan Nasir, a young communist leader, was arrested and tortured to death by the goons of…
Distrust in politics
Former US President Donald Trump bitterly questioned the fairness of presidential election having lost to Joe Biden. It is the second presidential election in recent times that would go in…
Whose bus is it anyway?
THIS was a week the PML-N was so indignant about not being given izzat (respect) for kaam (work), it forgot to raise slogans for the izzat of its vote. But…
Sialkot no surprise
IT’S a hallmark of the times we live in that we must document everything we do; from vacations to functions and events — down to our breakfasts, lunches and dinners…
Changing priorities
It is quite clear that America’s priorities have changed in the South Asian region. The Pak-US alliance, which started from airbases near Peshawar and went all the way to SEATO,…
