I only watch movies on airplanes. A few years ago, despite not being a George Clooney fan, at 35,000 feet it seemed only appropriate to watch one...
The Islamists in Pakistan are not impressed by sympathetic scholars’ defence of their politics over the last decade. These religious groups...
It feels like it’s 1999 again. Gen Musharraf did it then and like Brittany Spears, he’s done it again. The former usurper of democracy...
There are two broad-brush conventional opinions about knowledge and philosophy in Pakistan. One estimates that the majority of Pakistanis are...
One can be cynical of the chauvinism that comes with patriotism and nationalism and yet admit a joyous moment of pride when Pakistani women receive...
In his original article on these pages , Feisal Naqvi invited us to consider the benefits of the Federal Shariat Court operating as a silo for...
The calculated massacre of schoolchildren by the Taliban in Peshawar began as a hostage situation. B
Politicians commonly attack their opponents because at the end of the day, they have to compete agai
In 2006, a triangular debate over democracy in Pakistan was published in these oped pages. S Akbar Z
Surely, the conscience of this nation lies with our moral angels, the TV anchors and hosts of talk-s
As the Israeli war machine targets and systematically mows down Palestinian children, global observe
In both the Shakti Mills gang-rape cases, the Mumbai police and crime branch were committed to what
Part - IAny effort at a comparative analysis between postcolonial and post-Partition progress in
The spectacular protests around the current World Cup in Rio offer an important lesson for the IOC,
Part - IIIt is worth asking what distinguishes west-based Pakistani academic-activists from the
Part - INot beyond military rule: Gen Musharraf’s greatest contribution to Pakistan has not been
This is not an article about Imran Khan or the PTI (So, Insafians are requested to disarm all social
Even after the remand and continuing trial of Gen Musharraf, few believed that the days of military
The offended Moeen Cheema takes exception to my criticism of the scholarship produced by him and his
It’s really quite unfair. The Council of Islamic Ideology is facing considerable criticism for
Several human rights activists in Pakistan have observed the ‘double jeopardy’ that enables the syst
The images of Imran Khan and other PTI men administering polio drops to children in Khyber Pakhtunkh
2013 had been predicted to be a year of change, transition and even closure in Pakistan. Apart from
The decade-old debate of whether the conflict in Waziristan is ‘ours’ or ‘theirs’ has intensified si
One would agree with those who argue that it is completely irrelevant whether the ISPR funded the re
Some years ago, I found myself as the only woman on a planeload of PML-N men travelling from Quetta
In the wake of the mass murder of Christian worshippers in Peshawar, there will follow the predictab
Criminal designs, collusion and mistrust: The sisters of Ibrahim and Shoaib, the murdered activists
A material and symbolic battle: The graffiti along the entrance walls of the Hingorabad goth of Lyar
Politically speaking, Malala’s gravest error was to survive the attack by the Taliban gunmen who sho
Surely Nawaz Sharif is empathising with fallen President Morsi of Egypt to some extent. Some aspects
Those who care for historical comparison may note that in 1988, General Zia’s children of dictatorsh
This article has not been sponsored by any infidel government or agencies such as Mossad, the CIA or
The writer is a sociologist based in Karachi, with a background in women’s studies and has authored
Of all the claims made by various political leaders, from the avengers of democracy to the forecaste
A dinner-table conversation on political liberalism seems to have caught the imagination of neophyte
Condemning the assassination attempt on Malala’s life but not naming the perpetrators - Taliban - is
Over the last five years, as Pakistan faced its most critical challenges in the realm of foreign rel
There was a time when PTI founder Imran Khan used to harbour doubts over the compatibility of democr
According to many Pakistani analysts, the answer to our fiscal and political problems is to emulate
The dead body of ‘dancing girl’ Shabana, mocked with currency notes strewn across it at Khooni Chowk
In Karachi, any reference to the ‘other side of the bridge’ is usually a euphemistic allusion to soc
A few months ago, the National Commission on the Status of Women , chaired by the seasoned wom
If Gen Musharraf should be tried and punished for anything, it should be for the crime of co-opting
In his article ‘Dealing with non-linear reason’, Mosharraf Zaidi grapples with how democratic states
The lack of academic debate over the role and place of religion, Islamist politics and secularism in
The PM recently made statements to encourage what he called, ‘cultural revival as a means to counter
One of the most forceful influences of globalisation has been the free-flow of information. This in
It is quite understandable that the Jamaat-e-Islami, Imran Khan and the likes consider the acquittal
Every time there is a political crisis, civil society activists in Karachi become conflicted over ‘s
