Opinion

hen the intensity of the heat climbed, I’d sit with my feet in a tub of water and a soaked towel upon my head

Gwadar is being constructed as a commercial port but in the future it could be developed it into a naval facility

The budget ought to be judged by the allocations for education, health and local governance

Terms such as “national interest” and “public interest” are emblematic excuses used by govt for not revealing info

From sports to politics to religion to business, we like to create immortals out of mortals

Before 2018, PPP must rid itself of a man called ‘godfather’ by commentators as different as Steve Coll and Tariq Ali

If we can become better human beings, Muslims for 30 days, there’s no reason to behave like moron for rest of the year

Before she gets near ladder of upwards mobility, there is a sticky staircase out of stultifying clutches of her family

It’s a matter of time before the Pakistani suit gets worn as much as its Indian counterpart.

Despite commitments to the contrary made under the CRPD, in Pakistan PWDs are largely excluded from the voting process

Save the Children, other NGOs should operate transparently but so should the formula for their accountability by state

It is unclear as to what ultimately discourages the Chinese to fund the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project

Islamabad is one of the few capitals in the developing world where there is no voice & no representation for citizens

Pakistan can still win the war against terrorism and religious extremism if everybody goes back to the rule of law.

There are no bold measures in the ‘shadow’ budget of the PTI that seem capable of kick-starting the economy

CPEC is being perceived as a strategic encirclement of India by China in collusion with Pakistan

Innovation, somehow, begins with programming a computer and ends with a smartphone

Indians are happy to invest in their own countries, but our movers & shakers want to park their money elsewhere

Coercive diplomacy only succeeds when there is multilateral back-up and that too for good reasons

The Billary soap opera may not be as obnoxiously evil as House Bush, but it won’t be pleasant either

The large investment planned by China in Pakistan also serves to maintain country’s faltering rate of economic growth

Since effort to find a scientific basis for morality has failed, it is necessary to re-think the university curriculum

Expecting US to fix Iraq is akin to expecting a teenager who crashes family car to be able to piece it back together

Arts are not considered to be ‘high-earning’ subjects & are often neglected in mainstream education models in Pakistan

If the government decides to go after NGOs alone, this attempt is expected to fail the way the madrassa reforms waned

I wish someone would stand up in NA, thump the table and say most of what is discussed is a lot of twaddle

Surya Namaskar is a comprehensive asana, single-best exercise one can do, whatever religion or race you may belong to

Why do we treat outsiders with so much respect and yet mistreat the people who live in our homes and take care of us?

Sexism begins when, as a society, people believe women are inferior or inadequate in some way, are treated differently

For any military operation to succeed in Balochistan, it’s not boots on ground that will matter but mastery of skies

Legal requirements such as EIAs should be seen as a means to a greater good rather than an end unto themselves

Humans are supposed to have been created in God’s image, shouldn’t we therefore respect all of them in the same way?

Mr Dar listed Imran Khan’s dharna in August-December among the adverse influences on his performance

I won’t ask you to consider Modi the Hitler of our time but will surely request you to stay awake, keep eyes on him

In choosing infrastructure, communication, energy, govt has chosen its 3 planks of reviving the economy

Its essential that curricula being taught focuses not only on markets outside, but also successful Pakistani cases

Given inequalities associated with uneven land holdings in rural areas, majority of rural poor are still oppressed

Provisions of the Constitution need to be exercised in order to safeguard the welfare of children working as labourers

Zarb-e-Azb is, as of this moment, accomplishing what it set out to do: making Pakistan a safer place

Saddest part of Islamabad is that it has no indigenous, local leadership, representative governance or accountability

Pointing fingers to the east deflects reflection on reality that msot of our problems with militancy are found within

There will be versions and counter-versions galore. I don’t think we have the full story

Vigilant and efficient strategies are required to scale up measles vaccine delivery

Space technology is the best area where investment can be fully appreciated and utilised by the expertise available

I fail to understand why more flexibility is being shown to individuals who played a role in using bullets to silence

Reasoning with killings or ‘unreasoning’ with them, however, is an exercise we should have given up on long ago

You got to these high positions because of the people. They deserve a better economic, security deal, long-term peace

The austerity formula has proved, in the long run, to be a stagnation trap for countries that went to the Fund

Every state institution is looking through their narrow prism and seem convinced it is the way forward

The role of a modern Pakistani university cannot just be limited to teaching those who enter through its gates