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Tuesday April 23, 2024
Ammar Ali Jan
Ammar Ali Jan

The writer is an assistant professor at Punjab University, Lahore and member of the People’s Solidarity Forum.

  • November 19, 2022

    What is the One Percent Republic?

    Last week, Dr Miftah Ismail initiated an important debate by terming Pakistan a “One percent Republic” – a society that works for the few and...

  • December 04, 2020

    Rule of fear and symbols of hope

    The writer is an historian and a member of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement.Events of the past few weeks have once again demonstrated the anxiety and...

  • November 27, 2020

    Students on the march

    It has been a year since Pakistan was shaken by an unprecedented upheaval of university students across the country. Organized under the banner of...

  • September 26, 2020

    Contesting the ironic regime

    Recent political developments remind us that locating the power centre is often harder than holding it accountable. The bravado shown by the...

  • March 18, 2020

    Politics in times of emergencies

    We are living through an era where emergencies appear more regularly than the norm. The ‘war on terror’ from 2001, the financial crisis of 2008,...

  • January 29, 2020

    Beyond the constitution

    The world today is witnessing a fascinating rebirth of popular republicanism. The central feature of this phenomenon is the mass public...

  • January 12, 2020

    The political worker: in the winter of despair

    Historically, the struggle for civilian supremacy, and upholding of constitutional principles, has provided our political theatre with a sense of...

  • December 12, 2019

    The return of ideology

    The past two weeks have witnessed the emergence of a debate in Pakistan long deemed dead by pundits across the political spectrum. The debate...

  • November 22, 2019

    The students are rising

    A palpable sense of despondency and disorientation characterizes Pakistan’s political landscape. Part of the reason is the abysmal performance of...

  • October 03, 2019

    Who’s afraid of the youth?

    I recently met a student of mine who is from Fata. He was awarded a scholarship by the HEC that was abruptly discontinued this semester due to...

  • September 19, 2019

    Capitalism and climate change

    One of the largest forests in Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan has caught fire due to unknown reasons. pic via Baig Zada The week from September...

  • September 02, 2019

    The power of ideas

    The unraveling of civil liberties under Modi’s government has shocked many international observers who viewed India as a model of liberal...

  • August 20, 2019

    A year of reversals

    Reviewing Khan’s first year in office provides important clues to understanding the character of Naya Pakistan and its future trajectory.

  • August 10, 2019

    The meaning of Kashmir

    Modi’s decision to revoke Article 35-A and Article 370 of the Indian constitution has fulfilled one of the cornerstones of Hindutva ideology –...

  • July 24, 2019

    End of democracy?

    The writer is an historian and a member of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement.We live in an exceptional environment where dissent is no longer viewed as a...

  • June 21, 2019

    Republic of fear

    The writer is an historian and a member of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Movement.Recent events have once again raised the spectre of force and violence in our...

  • June 11, 2019

    The violence of the economy

    The debate on the current economic crisis facing Pakistan is shrouded in technical jargon that veils the conflicts inherent in economic...

  • April 22, 2019

    A state in crisis

    Asad Umar’s abrupt departure from the federal cabinet has surprised many and led to speculation that the contradictions within the ruling party...

  • February 14, 2019

    The need for a new social contract

    Ammar Ali Jan explains the circumstances when he was arrested from his home and what happened during his detention at the police station.

  • November 01, 2018

    The PTI’s encounter with reality

    Francis Fukuyama, the Asian-American philosopher known for formulating the ‘End of History’ thesis, was recently in the headlines for proposing...

  • October 10, 2018

    A ticking time bomb

    On Monday, September 25, hundreds of students at the University of Sargodha blocked the Canal Road to protest non-issuance of their degrees. While...

  • August 28, 2018

    Our culture of cruelty

    The recent mob-led attack on an Ahmadi place of worship, in which at least half a dozen individuals were injured, once again shows how spectacular...

  • August 07, 2018

    The brewing crisis at Punjab University

    Last week, Punjab University announced a major decision that went almost unnoticed due to the election fervour. The university administration...

  • July 31, 2018

    Moving beyond the impasse

    The third general elections since Pakistan’s return to democracy should have been hailed as proof of the resilience of the emerging democratic...

  • May 25, 2018

    The logic of pain

    All over the world, elections are supposed to be about manifestoes, parties and candidates. It is rather a bizarre situation that elections in our...

  • March 06, 2018

    Democracy on the march

    Over the last few months, we have witnessed a plethora of long marches and square occupations in the country. The TLYR-led long march, which...

  • February 03, 2018

    The most revolutionary weapon of all

    Last week, Punjab University came to a standstill due to violent clashes between rival student groups. Students from the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba and...

  • December 24, 2017

    Political prisoners, not missing persons

    The news of the missing bloggers at the beginning of 2017 sent shockwaves through activist circles. No one was sure why sections of the state would...

  • November 29, 2017

    Seven theses on the rise of fascism in Pakistan

    The surrender by state authorities to violent protesters sent a wave of shock and despondency throughout those sections of Pakistani society that...

  • October 25, 2017

    Our collective shame

    The last few days, the Quaid-e-Azam University campus has witnessed some ugly scenes. Hundreds of students were protesting for a number of days...

  • October 04, 2017

    Where does power lie?

    The Rangers’ refusal to allow Ahsan Iqbal entry into the NAB court premises was a comical situation par excellence. The interior minister and...

  • September 20, 2017

    Our universities are radically unjust

    There is growing concern in academic, policy and political circles on the radicalisation in educational campuses. A serious debate is taking place...

  • August 31, 2017

    The end of Bhuttoism

    From Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s judicial murder to Yousuf Raza Gilani’s dismissal through the courts, the Pakistan People’s Party has...

  • August 24, 2017

    The emperor has no clothes

    The latest outburst by Trump, threatening serious consequences for Pakistan for providing “safe havens” for terrorists, has stirred a...

  • August 16, 2017

    The Pakistan experiment

    We recently witnessed the country celebrating its 70th anniversary of independence. Until a day before, there was fury at the corruption of the...

  • July 21, 2017

    The imagined threat of the ‘modern’ woman

    Last week marked the first death anniversary of Qandeel Baloch, murdered by her own family members. While it led to an outpouring of sympathy for...

  • July 12, 2017

    The history of accountability

    Public spectacles of humiliation for rulers have always had an appeal in the popular imagination. It is a moment in which the world seems to have...

  • June 21, 2017

    Campuses and the fear of freedom

    The recent expulsion of three students from the University of Agriculture at Faisalabad highlights the paranoid manner in which campuses are being...

  • June 14, 2017

    Corbyn and the rebirth of hope

    If you are a progressive and follow global news, then it is fair to say that the last year has not been a pleasant one. The shock victory of the...

  • May 24, 2017

    The global debtocracy

    The 205 percent increase in Pakistan’s current account deficit over the fiscal year has raised much debate about the alleged ‘economic...

  • May 17, 2017

    The state’s punitive interventions

    The increase in penalty for eating or drinking publicly during the month of Ramazan, from Rs500 to Rs25,000 , brought considerable attention to the...

  • May 09, 2017

    Pakistan’s cyclical consciousness

    The recent ‘rejection’ of the government’s notification on Dawnleaks by the army was interpreted by analysts as a sign of...

  • May 02, 2017

    The power of the ordinary

    This year’s May Day celebrations are taking place at a moment of unprecedented uncertainty. The rise of ultra-nationalism threatens the very...

  • April 25, 2017

    We are running out of time

    One of the most important advances in academic work in recent years has been the focus on ecology as a social, economic and political category....

  • April 18, 2017

    Politics of suspicion

    Mashal Khan’s murder shook many of us to the core. And how could it not? A young man of just 23 years was brutally beaten to death in a...

  • April 04, 2017

    Who’s afraid of Dr Riaz?

    Over the weekend, news reports came in that an ‘MQM-London member’ had been arrested by law-enforcement agencies in Karachi. The...

  • March 29, 2017

    Fear, culture and violence

    The writer is a doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge and a lecturer at the Government College University, Lahore. Since the 1980s, the...

  • March 21, 2017

    Bhagat Singh: his times and ours

    The 23rd of March will be the 86th death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, one of the most revered figures of the anti-colonial movement. In India, his...