The undeniable abhorrence of all sexual predators was an opinion I once considered to be widely held; I carried no other preconceived notions about social perceptions. I had hoped to identify recurring patterns and characters to better understand the values and standards of acceptable female behavior. This assumption was immediately dismantled in a profoundly disturbing…
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All over the world, it is the academia that generates public discourse, engages the youth into problems that concern society at large and undertakes research work in attempts to find answers for questions no one yet has. It has only been a little more than a decade since the High Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan…
There is much talk and chatter around town about a ‘Presidential system’ of government. Actor turned news anchor/political analyst Mr. Hamza Ali Abbasi is one of the many public figures advocating for a ‘Presidential form of government’ on all public forums. While the Pakistan government has categorically rejected the truth value of such rumors, many…
In 2017, Spain was on the brink of divide. Today, while it remains one country, the Catalan independence movement still remains an important political issue.
Spain’s biggest political crisis in almost 40 years came in 2017 when tensions flared between the capital (Madrid) and a semi-autonomous region in the country’s north-east called Catalonia.
On 27 October 2017,…
A thriving center of art and film, only second to Bombay, where everyone came from all parts of India and later Pakistan to make it big in the Industry; Lahore was once the heart of Pakistani Cinema , but no more. People would come to Lahore, hoping to catch a glimpse of stars like Madame…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu right-wing party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were voted into power for a second time in what can be described a landslide victory.
Months before the elections in India, tensions flared between them and neighbour Pakistan after a suicide attack in Kashmir valley killed 40 Indian security…
“Their new house looks so gaudy with the pillars and everything,” drawled Shazia*, scornfully surveying the drawing room over the rim of her delicate teacup. “New money, you know. Itnay paindu hein (They are so tacky). You can’t buy class.” I remained silent, which, of course, is a part of the problem; but it is…
In the seemingly endless abyss of economic, social, and political problems that the country is grappling with, it has fallen into the trap of ignoring other, equally important and pressing, but largely ignored and subsumed concerns. Unsurprisingly, given how pandering to votes defines virtually every node of mainstream electoral contestation, while party manifestos almost always…
On the 23rd of June 2016 the people of the United Kingdom (UK) comprising of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted in a referendum to end UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) -this is now referred to as ‘Brexit’ in popular and official discourse. The European Union started off as a customs union…
2019 marks the 22nd time that Pakistan has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a capital loan, and thus the 22nd time that Pakistan has been asked to radically restructure its economic priorities in favor of the IMF’s neoliberal agenda. The country has, by and large, adopted most components of the IMF’s notorious Structural…