A war of choice
A discerning disaggregation of the phenomenon of militancy among the groups that have, over decades, taken root in central and southern Punjab makes for an important study. This is especially…
Of distant dreams and false myths
The goodwill Indians and Pakistanis manifest for each other can vanish in a jiffy when the hate-mongers on both sides get going. The ensuing slanging match usually takes the form…
The battle within
Saturday's bombing in Quetta targeting the Hazara community is the latest in a long, sad, and intensifying series of incidents of sectarian violence. Death tolls within Pakistan were greater in…
Wrapping up the war
Corporate profits have rocketed to all-time highs – but for more than a decade, wages and incomes have hardly budged. — Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, 2013 Barack…
What really killed them
Bhuladia’ is not the name of a factory. It is a sickness of the ruling class. Somewhat different from Alzheimer’s disease, it is more selective in choosing what must be…
Shoe-throwing histrionics
It all began about a week ago as the hot plains of Punjab boiled under the flame of endless hours of loadshedding. Discussions about money generate their own heat, and…
A sombre spring
The sun is shining, the weather is warmer and the flowers are beginning to bloom. It’s finally spring in Europe. We have had the traditional boisterous carnivals, people have shed…
A colonial view of rape
There was another rape in Delhi this week after which the 23-year-old victim, a paramedic apprentice from Uttar Pradesh, was mutilated with an iron rod. Her condition is described as…
A decade of damage
That prison Guantánamo with its hoods and orange boiler suits,cages and razor wire stockades,soon came to symbolise arbitrary detention,rendition,torture and other abuse,and the overall failure of US authorities to respect…
Creatures of the world of nightmares
Pakistan’s face seems to be contorting. Hideous lumps and boils mar the surface, and the condition seems to be worsening by the day as new and terrifying events come to…
