Why democracy?
Is democracy worth holding on to? For those who want to hold on to democracy it is important to remember that democracy─ the real democracy which rarely exists─ is the rule of…
The long awaited vaccine
Making the covid-19 vaccine work will be a challenge Russia has started vaccinating using the Sputnik V vaccine, although it is still in the process of being mass-tested. The Pfizer vaccine has…
Say goodbye to 2020
God help us all get through 2020 to a better ‘21 Just as a virus changes or mutates─ and we’re more familiar with the idea now than before, language changes as well.…
Genie in the bottle
It can’t be put back To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize─Voltaire If today’s world had to be defined by a single word,…
An acute poverty of mind
Insensitivity is as much a tragedy as any other This newspaper recently published a report about how South Asia ranks highest in incidents of ‘child stunting,’ based on a study by Laura…
Separated at birth?
What makes the people and politics of the USA and Pakistan so similar? US politics these last few years and very much so the past few days has been all too familiar…
‘The strongest among you…’
In an age of political correctness, how do such things happen? …is the one who controls his anger.”─ The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) There are certain roads down which we are told it…
Compromising the dream
Is the M art of the problem or the solution? Jinnah’s dream of non-discrimination appears to have dissolved into a filthy slush composed of equal parts hypocrisy and ignorance. There are many…
The easy way out
How to sell dumb ideas The downside of democracy is that ‘the public’ is not prone to checking what it hears, and those elected to lead the public understand this only too…
The role models of a free society
Some alternative role models Howard Zinn, the historian, socialist and great thinker died ten years ago. He described himself as ‘a bit of an anarchist, something of a socialist, and perhaps a…
Diversionary tactics?
Why did Trump test positive now At the 2020 Presidential Debate on September29th in Cleveland the President of the USA said about his adversary Joe Biden: “I don’t wear a mask like…
She who must not be named?
Why can’t mothers be named? According to an Afghan Taliban spokesman in an interview with Reuters, “Mentioning the names of mothers, wives, sisters and daughters is not culturally tolerable in our society,”…
Is the death penalty a solution?
Capital punishment should not be an option in Pakistan A just society is one in which citizens fully comprehend the result of committing an offence; in which citizens know that if they…
Another day another 16,000 mouths to feed
Large populations do not allow prosperity A huge population is a threat to its components both individually and collectively, particularly if the size precedes prosperity; a poor country cannot feed or educate…
Getting what you foster
Do we need to encourage violence? Well, the inevitable has happened: Dirilis (Ertugrul), the Turkish play dubbed into Urdu, an enthusiastic project of the Prime Minister, has taken viewers by storm in…
The polio story
A disease overshadowed by covid-19 While Covid-19 takes its toll in Pakistan; polio, the disease that has been around much longer, has made a comeback. The WHO also extended its travel restrictions…