Last year, Newsweek Pakistan published an impressive list of 100 women who shake Pakistan. This was an inspirational list of strong Pakistani women like Asma Jahangir, Mukhtar Mai, Sherry Rehman, and Aamna Taseer. The women who made Newsweek Pakistan’s list represented a cross section of religion, class, politics, and ideology, but they all shared one [...]
In a recent opinion piece for The News, former operations advisor at the World Bank Abid Hasan argues that Pakistan needs a new aid strategy, one that prioritises grant aid over loans and gives more attention to the effectiveness of aid programs. Whether you agree with some, all, or none of Hasan Saheb’s points, he [...]
The issue of dual nationals is making headlines again. As I noted last December, the ECP decision to bar dual nationals from contesting elections while allowing dual nationals living overseas to vote in elections back home created the bizarre outcome that people who don’t live in Pakistan and have no intention of ever living here [...]
It’s hard to believe that it has already been a year since we met the future of Pakistan in Mr Zohair Toru. That means it was a year ago that I criticised what I saw as the politics of privilege – the attitude that wants a national saviour to fix everything without any effort or [...]
In America, political and policy leaders are asking whether the American education system, one of the top of the world, is falling behind and whether this lack of attention to education is a threat to their economy and national security. “The dominant power of the 21st century will depend on human capital,” the report said. [...]
As the memogate saga continues to drag on long after its expiration date, it occurred to me that Memogate is about much more than the accusations underlying the case. How else could one man with quickly sinking credibility manage to so completely capture the attention of the nation? What I’m proposing, though, is not that [...]
Parliament is about to begin debating new terms for cooperation with America in the war on terrorism, but this is issue is anything but new. Actually, it seems like everyone has an opinion on whether and how we should engage with the Americans – from the Difa-e-Pakistan chants of “Go America Go” to the reasoned [...]
The military is often referred to as the only competent institution in Pakistan. Leaving aside debate about whether this is a fair assessment, there is a reason that people look up to the military other than what we’re taught by Pakistan Studies and ISPR. People look up to the military because, for whatever its faults, [...]
While backwards-looking groups like Difa-e-Pakistan are demanding that Pakistan limit trade with India, Bangladesh is taking a reasoned economic view of their relations and reaping the benefits – benefits to the tune of $1 billion. For the first time in history, Bangladesh’s exports to India will cross the $1 billion mark in a 12-month period next [...]
At some point I can’t help but feel sorry for PTI supporters. Many of them are well intentioned, but hopelessly confused. Take as an example statements by President PTI Punjab Women chapter Saloni Bokhari and others calling for implementation of legislation regarding women’s protection. Certainly this is an important issue, but they seem confused about [...]