Paying for Pakistan
Here’s the great secret about Pakistan: we aren’t as poor as we like to think. Over the years I’ve travelled a fair bit around our country. I’ve ridden on the…
Darkness engulfs the City of Lights
The politicians can’t figure out Karachi, the generals can’t figure out relations with the US — sometimes it really does feel like if this place is ever to be saved,…
‘Crackdown’ no solution
With the Supreme Court interested in hearing all points of view on the Karachi situation, it is worthwhile to know certain incontrovertible facts about the city and why it has…
No education, no democracy
THE event organised in Karachi on Jan 9 by the family of Dr Sarwar to commemorate the legacy of the 1950s’ student movement proved to be inspiring. It was after…
Some basics — and how they affect the weather
Who will take note of the targeted killings in Karachi? Not, for obvious reasons, the dominant political group there, with its unique talent for looking at things through doctored eyes.…
Strategic surrender
Every time there is a political crisis, civil society activists in Karachi become conflicted over ‘strategy’. Which political force best represents their liberal, progressive cause? The regrouping of progressives, to…
Fond farewell, and more
Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, the outgoing Sindh home minister, says that extortion and targeted killings will end in Karachi after he leaves, as these were “orchestrated” for his removal from the…
What about police security?
A relative peace prevails in Karachi these days, with sporadic (rather than incessant) incidents of targeted killings peppering the headlines. But those familiar with the city’s dynamics know that the…
Retrospective tariff hikes
Last week, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) authorised Karachi Electric Supply Corp (KESC) to increase its power tariffs retrospectively, the first part of that tariff rise being back-dated to…
Few lessons learnt
IF televised coverage of last week’s assault on Karachi’s PNS Mehran airbase is anything to go by, it would seem that the industry still has lessons to learn in terms…
