Media consumption?
The theory of media consumption stands vindicated in Pakistan! The story goes thus: On June 29 the Federal Defense Minister, Ahmed Mukhtar, who had been
September 7, 2016
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Here are two books and a movie to understand the nature of fascism and the unravelling of IK fascism in Pakistan. 1. Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes, by Andrzej Lobaczewski 2. The Mass Psychology of Fascism, by Wilhelm Reich 3. Movie: A Special Day, by Ettore Scola […]
The US Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on September 11, 2024, was qualitatively a bit better than the previous debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Donald Trump behaved and was less harsh and emotional. He was composed and calculated. Kamala Harris appeared acting, overreacting, and playing more to the gallery. She […]
Playing with or using or spending other people’s money engenders reckless behavior. That’s one of the arguments that call for a limited government. Not only for a limited government, but in principle no government intervention in the market, but very rarely, like the case of the CCP (Competition Commission) in Pakistan. And most of all, […]
Could there be any disaster greater than the debacle of 1971? It’s a power struggle between those who follow nothing, no constitution, no laws, no values, no principles, no traditions, no norms, but only when they all or any thing benefit them. And they all include in this no-holds-barred fight: politicians, military, judges, intellectuals, NGO-minds, […]
[This piece I wrote like in a fit.] Finally, I found what may be termed the penultimate explanation. Since this IK (Imran Khan) phenomenon emerged on the political scene in Pakistan (end of 2011), I have been writing and speaking about it, trying to explain it. Although, of course, there could never be a single […]
The issue of devolution of powers to the level of local governments has become an intellectual, political, and economic fad in Pakistan. When something becomes a fad, it means it is accepted without giving it any thought or putting forward any arguments. It acquires the status of something taken for granted. And it is presented […]
This discourse with Saeed Afridi took place in a WhatsApp group and has been compiled with his permission. On May 7, 2024, out of desperation, I made a comment in a WhatsApp group, of which most of the prominent intellectuals are members. And thus, a discourse was set in motion. The discourse is copied below, […]
Since I don’t see colonialism as an all-encompassing, overriding excuse and don’t hide myself behind that, my analysis focuses on the evolution of the institution of the state in the subcontinent and how that institution of the state was co-opted by the (Muslim) Ashrafiya and how the Ashrafiya took hold of a constitutional state after […]
The toppling of the Hasina Wajid government in Bangladesh as a consequence of massive and violent protests helped me arrive at a clear-cut view regarding what has been happening in Pakistan. Earlier, my inclination was the same as the presently held firm view: When to try to topple a government? My answer is: Never! In […]
Indian society is passing through the throes of social, cultural, and sexual upheaval. Ours is immersed in the nectar of hypocrisy. While the state in both countries is playing the role of a leg-puller with a degree of difference, it’s because in India, the size of the middle class is much larger than Pakistan’s.
If one doesn’t think in terms of values, first and foremost in terms of moral values, one would never be able to understand and resolve whatever conflicts one has to deal with. Most probably, one would contribute towards sharpening the existing conflicts and thus would help give rise to new conflicts. Violence is one such […]
All the economic matrices exclude the economic status of a taxpayer, and that’s why we have such misleading categories as a tax-to-GDP ratio and tax expenditures as a percentage of GDP. Why don’t we have such matrices that measure how much tax burden was put on taxpayers and how that burden made their standard of […]
No business would ever plead with its customers to use less of their product(s). Be it electricity or anything else. The electricity business for the government of Pakistan is like a luxury and limited edition product… That is the outcome of 76 years of business practices by the government of Pakistan.
There is no ownership of the state of Pakistan in Pakistan! No political party owns it. No constitutional institution owns it. Neither the parliament nor the PAs. To all of them, it’s a gold mine to extract as much gold as possible, and that’s what all the fighting, including the politics, is all about.
Time and time again, it has been demonstrated that the custodian of the constitution, that is, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, is enemy number 1 of the Constitution of Pakistan. Of all the violators of the constitution, it’s the judiciary that tops the list. Then comes the military. The last on the list are the […]
Certain politicians, judges, and generals are fit to be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution. But who will leash the cats? How to leash the cats? Nobody holds up the constitution now. It’s an orphan constitution now. Abandon it so that the brutal conflict finds a new, no holds barred shape. Or have a […]
The theory of media consumption stands vindicated in Pakistan! The story goes thus: On June 29 the Federal Defense Minister, Ahmed Mukhtar, who had been
When creative spirit of a nation is arrested from within, it is as vulnerable to external insinuations as is to internal machinations, and can never
When creative spirit of a nation is arrested from within, it is as vulnerable to external insinuations as is to internal machinations, and can never
When creative spirit of a nation is arrested from within, it is as vulnerable to external insinuations as is to internal machinations, and can never
The middleman tends to be eliminated . . . He can only be safely eliminated by natural processes. Sometimes he is of real use and
How to Privatize Successfully – Part I If privatisation needs to be done, it has to be done because it is the decisive step in
Changing the economic system is not an easy task. And, of course, it is more complex when carried out half-heartedly. As privatisation is only a
He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.[George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950] People are difficult to govern because
[Here is the part 4 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”] The Theory of Lesser Evil (TLE) is a manifestation of cynicism. As cynicism finds
You can bring the rich to the level of the poor overnight but it takes a lifetime to lift the poor to the level of
O the Ashraaf Rulers! Develop new cities and have your dreams fulfilled; have Metro Buses and Metro Trains there and whatever you want! Why do
لاہور کی میت ہے ذرا دھوم سے نکلے [نئے شہر بساؤ اوراپنے شوق پورے کرو؛ ہمارے شہر کیوں ملیامیٹ کر رہے ہو!] روتی ہوئی حسرت
[Here is the part 3 of the article: “Cynicism and Pakistan.”] The discussion of the political cynicism here focuses only on the sections of society
The credit for any reduction in poverty in the country goes to privatisation, de-regulation and liberalisation, not to the so called pro-poor expenditures. Over a
Here is the 1st part of this article: Cynicism in Pakistan Cynicism and the politics in Pakistan Among other things, political cynicism destroys whatever little
It’s always been argued that there is no clergy among the Muslims. Is it so? Not the least! In fact, there is all the ‘required’
پاکستن کے سیاست دانوں نے، خواہ وہ جمہوریت کا لبادہ اوڑھے ہوئے ہیں یا مذہب کا، قریباً ستر برس سے یہاں کے شہریوں کو ٹرک
A Story of Complicity: Statistical Relationship between a Newspaper and a Politician * The writer supports freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of
Note: The day Benazir Bhutto was murdered, December 27, 2007, it was the day when all the semblance of government evaporated in Pakistan; there was
This article was written last year in the wake of December 16 APS Tragedy to expose the Politicians’ inaction. It’s still relevant today on December
“I am a politician; I cannot commit any crime; I am perfectly innocent!” That is how, as we know at least in Pakistan, politicians argue.
The two noblest professions are teaching and politics. [Aristotle] Back in 2002 when the 35th Annual Session of Pakistan Philosophical Congress held in the Bukhari
Here is the first part of this article: A depoliticized Pakistan on the rampage The 2nd and the final part: Depoliticization and its causes What’s a depoliticized
Note: I sent this piece of writing to all the newspapers one by one; none bothered to see it or use it, that I am
Note: This article was completed on December 31st, 2014, and was originally posted on this Blog in January 2015. Presently there is happening quite a
Note: I completed this article on December 9, 2014, and wrote: “(Government) ought not to be afraid of martial law the prospects of which are
Patron Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Shahid Rasheed Button says State Aristocracy is being promoted in Pakistan. Here is the story published in Pakistan Observer
Pakistan is a criminally horrible state. Read the whole story, published in The Express Tribune on September 15, 2015: Minister directs hospitals to remove political
So to say, in about 70 years, the political gains Pakistan’s polity has been able to make are dismal! Pessimistically, it’s NOTHING! Optimistically, it’s merely
It seems the present dispensation of PML-N believes in no principles of taxation. It’s just there to extort whatever amount of taxes the Federal Board
Note: This article was completed on August 4, 2014. Since then little has changed; this piece is still relevant on this 68th Independence Day. Stray
A person who is murdered, has he any rights? That question may seem strange. Let me add another dimension to it: What’s the spirit of
The pivot of politics is always seeking power, so that a political party is able, so to say, to implement its program on the basis
Countries may be likened to individuals who are resourceless and in order to grow and progress need help from their near ones, dear ones or
The Government of India Act 1935 declared “Pakistan” only as an independent dominion. Then in the constitution of 1956, the state was named as the
The title of this piece appears to be problematic. One can argue how cynicism may be confined to geographical specifications such as one of Pakistani
History is replete with stories of off-springs used in order to seize and wield power. One such story has been narrated by Abdul Haleem Sharar
کل 17 اپریل کو میں ریاض صاحب سے ملنے گیا۔ ریاظ ، مصورہیں اور بیشترعلمی و ادبی کتابوں کے سرورق کھینچتے ہیں۔ وہ کہنے لگے،
The case of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Malala Yousafzai, which she shares with an Indian Kailash Satyarthi, who has devoted himself to the
It does not need any political acumen to see the reality behind the results of those surveys which declare the governance in the province of
Better to start with two clarifications: First, this piece does not raise the question of Pakistani state’s viability in the sense Pakistan’s Leftists and liberals
In the matters of running the state of Pakistan, penetration of politics, politicians and political considerations have marred the capability of the state to think
Nothing can be understood in isolation. So is the case with three recent press releases of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), which acts as
Years back, when the very well-know Pak Tea House was closed down, a small portion of the Hall III, Al-Hamra, The Mall, Lahore, was made
As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek launched this August 14 their “Azadi March” and “Inqilab March” respectively, and then undertook the Sit-Ins (Dharnas)
Everything has an aesthetic aspect. Politics is one of them. The political aesthetics appears, among other things, in two forms: Mannerism; and, Language. The others
The blood of “Minorities” and the flag of Pakistan! Note: This comment and the picture was originally posted on August 14, 2014.
In Pakistan, everything stands politicized. So is religion. Those who are clever enough make hay while the sun shines. Tahir-ul-Qadri is one of them and
The place is not far from Islamabad. A three hour drive and one is far away from almost everything Pakistani. Not only is the weather