Under the veil: What’s behind Kabul’s incremental approach to stricter laws
Mainstream and social media platforms were flooded with criticism earlier this month after an Afghan envoy sparked controversy by remaining seated when Pakistan’s national anthem was played at a...
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Fall in Hunza — where nature paints with gold
To escape the monotonous routine of city life, I packed my rucksack one October afternoon and headed for the mountains to satisfy my wanderlust. This has become a routine over time; every year, I plan...
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Beyond borders: What my interactions with Indian journalists taught me about...
“You’ll see, these Indians will form their own groups and won’t mingle with us with an open heart,” a Pakistani colleague remarked on our first day of the Chevening South Asia Journalism Program (SAJP)...
View Article25th time the charm? How Pakistan can bid adieu to the IMF once and for all
Pakistan finds itself back in the arms of the IMF — for the 25th time. The much-anticipated $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), stretched over 37 months, offers temporary relief to a shaky market....
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Burying the lede in Gaza for 75 years
“You cannot continue to victimise someone else just because you yourself were a victim once — there has to be a limit.” Edward Said wrote this nearly 50 years ago, but the limits he wrote about have...
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Mining for thunder: Can coal be the reason behind Thar’s lightning crisis?
Gulab Bheel, 44, was working on his land in the village of Ukraro, Tharparkar when heavy clouds started gathering towards the east. Loud claps of thunder accompanied by flashes of lightning dominated...
View ArticleDear politicians, our house is on fire
For the past several weeks, Islamabad has been on edge. Not that it’s been all peace and love for much of Pakistan’s existence. The past few weeks, however, have been particularly manic — characterised...
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Special report: Why are Pakistan’s weather forecasts so cloudy?
Raise your hand if you have recently cancelled plans due to unexpected rain or intense heat. Do you check the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s (PMD) weather forecast before stepping out of the...
View ArticleFourth Schedule: Combating terrorism or silencing dissent?
Muhammad Farooq Mehsud, a veteran journalist who has been covering militancy and political affairs in Pakistan’s volatile tribal areas since 2011, was not prepared for the shock when he first heard the...
View ArticlePakistan’s climate victory: A seat at the table, but is the funding enough?
The announcement of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt was a significant diplomatic victory for Pakistan, as was its formalisation at COP28 last...
View ArticleCircular debt — the hidden force behind rising electricity costs
The real crisis in the power sector is not about power generation; rather about debt. Surplus power generation capacity isn’t a bad thing — it’s an opportunity to drive industrial growth and stimulate...
View ArticleJudicial capture: Lawyers react to ‘diluted’ 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill
Following weeks of upheaval, the coalition government on Sunday finally passed the controversial 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Senate, hours after it was approved by the federal cabinet....
View ArticleCaught in the web: Surveillance, data protection and AI in Pakistan
Some weeks ago, a LinkedIn user shared a video about a man in Lahore whose CNIC had been used to post bail for different people in separate cases. The man told a Vlogger that he had gone to a xerox...
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A year after SC annulled military courts, civilians await justice
On October 23, 2023, the Supreme Court struck down the section of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952, which allowed the court martial of civilians. The majority judgements were authored by Justices Munib...
View ArticleThe tech dream: Pakistan urgently needs a strategic roadmap for the IT sector
Pakistan’s IT sector came into the spotlight recently amid internet slowdowns and disruption in cellular services. While the usual rhetoric from official quarters has sought to pacify concerns, it’s...
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The year of Qazi: maverick in freefall
Ever since they brought out that word, we stood warned. “Reputed judicial maverick sworn in as new chief justice,” said Stratfor. “Pakistan’s maverick chief justice aims to restore court’s...
View ArticleWhat would a Trump or Harris presidency mean for Pakistan?
The US presidential election is just days away, and many within Pakistan are keeping a close eye on the race for obvious reasons. The elections have also led to an increased debate, both within...
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In America’s gripping political chess game, what is really at stake?
Said Lord Byron famously, “While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls — the world.” As America’s high-octane presidential race makes...
View ArticleThe Donald supremacy
It wasn’t even close. But also, it was never going to be. As the 2024 polls conclude, the global hegemon may be entering its own late Soviet Union phase: ancient leaders, vomiting soldiers, and the...
View ArticleAs the world melts around them, climate refugees in Hunza pin hopes on COP29
In the remote highlands of northern Pakistan, the Ismail family once lived in harmony with the towering glaciers that crowned their village. They had deep ties to the land —an enduring connection...
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Lahore’s dangerous smog: where disease and death stalk
“It’s been horrible; I’ve been sick on and off for the last 10 days,” said 29-year-old Natasha Sohail, who teaches A-Level students at three private schools in Lahore. She is asthmatic, and last week,...
View ArticleGreen precedents: Pakistan’s judiciary on the frontline in the battle against...
A country under siege, not by war or strife, but by nature itself. Pakistan, ranked as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, stands on the frontline of climate catastrophe: glaciers are...
View ArticleCan Lahore learn from London’s Great Smog of 1952?
The factories of Manchester and New York were the proud symbols of industrialisation, ushering in an era of progress and prosperity in the 18th century. But beneath the chimneys that fuelled this...
View ArticleThis Movember, it’s time to ‘man up’ and talk about it
Why can men debate a referee’s decision for hours while watching football, yet barely utter a word when asked, “How are you feeling?” According to a Cleveland Clinic study, nearly 60 per cent of men...
View ArticleWhat does the Council of Islamic Ideology have to do with VPNs anyway?
With a gilded halo of virtue, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) declared the use of VPNs as “un-Islamic” earlier this month. Before the ink had dried on public reaction, the council’s chairman,...
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Lahore’s smog: the sun may be out but a sustainable solution remains out of...
Atif Manzoor, 45, the owner of a blue pottery business in Multan, had every reason to feel cheerful last week when the sun finally came out. For a good three weeks, the city of Sufi shrines had been...
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Dawn Investigations: Building sandcastles in Karachi’s waters
The sea trees are best seen from space — for only the satellite’s eye can do justice to their fields of emerald (viridian) green florets. At eye level, that is, from an earthly vantage point, however,...
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Renegotiation of IPP contracts: bad medicine or just what the doctor ordered?
In a bid to save the country’s foreign exchange and conserve scarce economic resources, Pakistan recently terminated the power purchase agreements (PPAs) of five independent power producers (IPPs),...
View ArticleWhat makes Bushra Bibi such a polarising figure in Pakistani politics?
Few figures in Pakistan’s political landscape pique as much interest or controversy as Bushra Bibi — the third wife of former prime minister Imran Khan. Over the last few years, her prominence in...
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