Squid Game Wave
Have you watched Squid Game? This was the one question on everyone’s mind as the South Korean series topped the trending list in more than ninety-four countries. The show has…
Pehchaan
Urdu. The language of our dreams. The language of our jokes. The language that unites each one of us despite the cultural and traditional differences we come along with. The language…
The Pakistan-Taliban Talks
Who are the Taliban? Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, literally means Taliban Movement in Pakistan, is one of many Islamist militant groups originating along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, abbreviated as TTP, and…
Future of Afghanistan and Foreign Policy options for Pakistan
Afghanistan has been a war torn country where big powers of times have played their dirty and full interest games. Historically, the Great Britain, USSR, and United States have tried…
Introduction The two Asian leading powers China and India have been witnessing a complex course of bilateral relations right from the inception. The two neighboring countries established diplomatic relations in…
Pakistani and Russian Strategic Ties in the 21st Century
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, ignored the USSR government’s invitation and opted for visiting the US instead. Pakistan had…
Nishan-e-Haider: A tribute to the heroes of Pakistan
Nishan-e-Haider is Pakistan’s highest military gallantry award. The literal meaning of Nishan-e-Haider is “Mark of the Lion” or “Emblem of the Lion”. This supreme award is named, after the fourth…
Illiteracy – Root Cause of Many Problems in Pakistan
Literacy is the backbone of the development of any country. From playing a role in politics to social and economic issues, there is no area where literacy is not essential….
The Health Care System in Pakistan
A health care system is rated by considering the different aspects. While Pakistan’s system has improved during the years and proved to be relatively strong during the pandemic time, it…
A remote world of 23 deserts
Australia’s interior is dotted with deserts including the Great and Little Sandy deserts, Tanami, Simpson and Victoria deserts. In the 19th century, white settlers begun arriving in these areas. Before…
Olympics and Pakistan
Pakistan has been remarkably great in almost every aspect of the modern world- be it the CSS exams, scientific advancements or sports. Olympics has been the prime event of sportsman…
Israel and the Apartheid Analogy
Israel and the Apartheid Analogy is a denunciation of Israeli authorities that implies Israel has committed apartheid against Palestinians, especially during its annexation of the West Bank; apartheid in this…
Art on The Road
In our societies, art is generally regarded as an elitist activity but truck art is that indigenous form of cultural expression that came from the working class. So much is…
Environmental Impact of Tourism
Pakistan has a rich landscape to offer from mountainous regions to deserts. With these areas becoming accessible, the influx of tourists is progressively increasing and however great it may be…
COVID-19 SURGES ACROSS THE GLOBE
A new variant of the coronavirus was reported in December 2020, and since then, other variants have been identified and are under investigation. All viruses evolve over time and SARS-CoV-2…
Asia pacific and the power dynamics
Region is a geographic feature with pliable boundaries. Regions are not static but dynamic. Mariam Webster defined regions as “an administrative area, division, or district.”[i] Regions can be redefined keeping…
Why You Should Visit Pakistan At Least Once in Your Life
When you see Pakistan appear in the news, its rarely shown in a positive light. In fact, with the way the media shows this country is as if it were…
Pakistan’s Stance on The Wave Of Emerging Arab-Israel Relations
Right after Makkah and Medina, Jerusalem exists asa sanctimonious and holy place on Earth for Muslims all around the world as it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque; the first Qibla…
Cricket – A Battle for Pride
His face turned red, his tense body relaxed, but he wasn’t happy. What was happening to him? He lowered the volume of the news bulletin and eventually turned off…
SOPs abandoned again; Fourth Covid Wave imminent?
After a steady decrease in new Covid-19 cases, Pakistanis have once again abandoned SOPs. It seems due to our lack of discipline we are destined to repeat the situation that…
KANUPP-2: A Future Outlook into Nuclear Energy in Pakistan
Nuclear Power: Nuclear Power has a long history with the first commercial nuclear power station starting operation in the 1950s. Till date there are about 440 power reactors providing about…
Animal rights and welfare in Pakistan
There has been a major improvement in animal welfare over the last decade. Conceptually, this revolution requires a massive overhaul of conventional methods of realizing our ethical duties to other…
The hidden truth of a silent cry
We often confuse the difference between a war and a crisis. What is a war? It is a state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a…
Suicide: A social stigma
‘Astagfirullah, gunah kardia phir ek aur bachi ne’, my grandfather said as he flipped over the newspaper. It was part of the ritual. Every day, someone from my family would…
The Emperor’s Dining Table: Feasts of the Indian Subcontinent
As the aroma of biryani, pulao, naan and a wealth of dishes hits you, their spices and flavors perfuming the air, you begin to wonder. How were these dishes invented?…
The unmistakable song of a Kulfi wala
The sweetness when the first hint of kulfi hits your mouth and its coolness relieves your body of the overbearing summer heat is an unmatched feeling that will remain imprinted…
Effect on Jammu and Kashmir’s economy due to the encroachment by the Indian Army
Effect on Jammu and Kashmir’s economy due to the encroachment by the Indian Army Kashmir has been the unwilling victim of the propaganda by India. Indian government had fully acknowledged…
Folktales and legends | Our favorite pastime
Picture this. It’s a hot July afternoon. You just came back home from playing pretend games with your neighbor’s kids. You are served lunch. As you are on your last…
Climate Change – A Threat to The World
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, and it is the world’s most vulnerable populations who are most immediately at risk. The actions of the wealthiest nations-those…
Lifting the Veil: Myths about Neurodiversity
Amid a plethora of heavy jargon that the internet throws at us at all times, one must have come across the words ‘neurotypical’ and ‘neurodivergent’. Everybody is talking about them…
The closure of Marghazar zoo at Islamabad
“The only creature on earth whose natural habitat is a zoo is the zookeeper.” – Robert Brault. Recently the world witnessed the hard-fought freedom of the world’s loneliest elephant –…
Street food in Pakistan
It is said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The way to stomach part? Spot on. But I don’t really think this applies to men…
Modi Declares new era in Indian Occupied Kashmir
Indian Occupied Kashmir witnessed the first-ever polls after the revocation of article 370 during the last quarter of 2020. District Development Council (DDC) elections were the first local elections after…
The dilemma of teenage limbo
“One moment we’re broken and then we’re fine. Lost in the puzzle of the teenage mind” – Tate McRae Teenage; a period of 7 years, 2555 days of memories, scars,…
Socialization: How does it benefit mental and physical health
The process through which individuals are taught to be experienced members of a society is known as socialization. It narrates the ways in which people come to recognize and accept…
Beggary – An organized crime in Pakistan
In Pakistan today, it is nearly impossible to go out in public and not being stopped by a beggar. Ragged clothes, muddy feet without any shoes, and a memorized “script”…
HAZARA KILLINGS IN PAKISTAN
Since 1890, the citizens of Hazaras have been in fear and terror. It has been almost 130 years. Many citizens of Hazaras were replaced after the genocide that was initiated…
A silent cry for help
What is a pandemic? A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges and spreads around the world, and…
Pakistan’s Response to Indian Cold Start Doctrine: Deployment of NASR
The Indian cold start doctrine is essentially an Indian war plan made to invade the sovereign territory of Pakistan. This plan includes multiple branches of the Indian military and was…
What article 370 meant to Kashmir
“Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, — (a) the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir; (b) the power of Parliament to…
EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON ENTREPRENEURS
Introduction A global pandemic has gripped the world and turned the world as we know it upside down. When staring in the terrifying face of COVID-19, no one is safe,…
When will Gender-biased violations in Turkey end?
Femicide continues to rise since turkey’s government withdraws from an agreement that was meant for gender-based violence. Banners and protests were raised against this agreement. In 2019 alone, 474 women…
Karachi’s Transformation Plan: A View Into The Orphan City’s Future
Karachi has long been plagued by municipal and infrastructural problems due to political instability and corruption by the provincial and local parties. Despite being the largest city in terms of…
COMMUNISM VS. CAPITALISM IN TIMES OF CORONA
Pandemics are not something new. They have been there throughout human history. With the advancement in science, technology, medicine, and bioengineering the adverse effects of infectious diseases are more likely…
What Biden’s success looks like at home and abroad?
President-elect Biden will be the head of the government and he would rather govern by consensus than an executive order. Therefore most large-scale bills will need to pass Congress before…
Kaavan – World’s loneliest elephant
After waiting for more than 35 years, Kaavan is no longer world’s loneliest elephant. The animal was kept in the Marghuzar Zoo in Islamabad. Although the zoo was built just…
Environment in Pakistan: Overview and Analysis
Karachi rainfalls, Lahore’s smog, and melting Himalayas are just some of the examples of climate change in Pakistan. Pakistan has a minute contribution to total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission,…
The handicrafts of Sillanwali
While Pakistan may be a fairly young country, its art, culture, and architecture have gone through centuries of weaving, knitting, painting, and carvings to stand on the level they are…
Hindutva and the Kashmir Crisis
Hindutva and the Kashmir Crisis Since the revoking of Kashmir’s autonomy, the Muslim Majority Kashmir state has been in a state of non-existence. The internet was shut down, landlines were…
Medical Malpractice in Pakistan
There is perhaps, no greater paradox than the healthcare system of Pakistan. Very few professions garner the amount of adoration and blind trust as those in Pakistan’s hospitals while also…
Pakistani Cinema and How it Evolved
If someday, while sitting in your cozy lounge with your parents, you ask them about Syed Noor, Sangeeta, Mustafa Qureshi, or Zeba, you might hear praises and lauds about the…
Biden vs. Trump: US elections 2020
No other democracy in the world elects its President as the United States does. You do not need a majority vote or ‘the popular vote’ to win as seen in…
Julie’s case – The increase in discrimination against the Transgender Community.
Imagine being disowned by your own family. Imagine being forced to live with strangers. Imagine being forced to beg on the streets for the rest of your life. Imagine being…
The demise of democracy predicted in Kashmir
What seemed like a democracy back in the 1970s has now resulted in a small-scale civil war by the end of the 1980s. Since then, there are numerous assassinations, abductions,…
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR PREVALENT IN TEENAGERS
Antisocial personality disorder; A war with yourself Antisocial behavior simply put is a disruptive behavior where alarm and distress is caused. Disregard for others as well as one’s own self….
The reality of despair
Trigger warning: Suicide If you’re reading this and feel helpless, I want you to remember that reaching out is always better than not feeling worthy enough to live. You are…
Modern-Day Slavery: A Reality not yet Realized
Slavery may have been abolished a century and a half back, an achievement for the abolitionist movement indeed, the greatest trophy and an unparalleled step forward for human rights. However,…
Human Rights Abuses in Kashmir – In Light of the International Bill of Rights Kashmir
The land where screams are muffled behind fallen rubble, where the souls of children are sent to earth with destinies marked in blood, where men wail in horror every day,…
Misogyny and depictions of domestic abuse in television
Take any Pakistani television show from the past few years, and you’ll see one underlying element present in all of them. There are no thrillers, murder mysteries, courtroom dramas and…
Lok Virsa: An insight into Pakistan’s culture and traditions
Cladded in mud made from varying ratios of clay, loam, and silt, this hut uses dried straw as a roof. Two tiny windows adjacent to each other exercise the purpose…
Diamer-Bhasha Dam: A Water Scarce and Electric Hungry Country’s New Hope
Pakistan is a country that has long been plagued with electricity problems with power outages due to faulty technical support and load shedding due to the low production of electricity….
Tech innovation race between US and China
The spread of U.S.-China rivalry into the technology sector has threatened the way innovation operates. The U.S.-China hybrid cold war is spreading immensely. There has been a consistent movement of…
A NEW DAWN OF TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
The word ‘Transgender” has always had a great stigma surrounding it. However, this was not always the case. For centuries Transgenders kept a position of great power in the courts…
The history living on Pakistan’s streets
Family time with our grandparents almost always means to hear ancient stories that sound just as mesmerising as fairy tales. We all have heard about merchants coming around, wearing huge…
KARACHI: ITS HIGHS, LOWS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN
Standing in a crowded market square in Clifton (amidst a pandemic, with people seemingly indifferent to all government-mandated SOPs) in the blistering July heat, if asked, one probably would have…
The Culture and History of Poetry in the Subcontinent
Laazim hai ke hum bhi dekhen ge, Woh din ke jis ka waada hai Jo lauh-e-azal pe likha hai Hum dekhenge We have no choice but to witness it, The…
Tariq Aziz – The end of an era
“Lagta hai waqt tham gaya hai. Rawan dawan zindagi ruk gai hai. Kayi dinon se bistar per laitay laitay soch raha hun ke azaadana harkat bhi Maalik ki kitni bari…
Mental Health, Policies and Inclusion of Neurodivergent People
Of all the crises our world is currently facing, the increasing ratio of mental health disorders combined with attached stigmas, lack of resources, and lack of treatment is a significant…
Pakistan’s economic overview amidst COVID-19
Aside from various transnational and domestic issues that have prevailed in Pakistan, COVID-19 has posed a new challenge for the country’s developing economy. The outbreak of corona virus can be…
Literacy and Economic Growth
Literacy is the potential to read. Whereas, the sum of literate individuals in a given age classification, demonstrated as a percentage of the entire population in that age group is…
Drug Abuse: The warm feeling leaving you cold inside
Fourteen, A raw yet so fearless age she was fourteen when she first came across the feeling of being numb, the feeling of complete and utter serenity. She still remembers…
Sexual Violence in Indian occupied Kashmir
“These soldiers grabbed me, tore my pheran, my shirt – I don’t even know what happened after that. There were five of them. I still remember their faces.” This was…
The Reality of Child Labour in Pakistan
In preindustrial economies, child labour was an intrinsic part of the society primarily because the welfare and the productivity of the community was dependent on it. At the time the…
The dreadful Year for Kashmir
One year has passed since the life of 12.5 million Kashmiris changed tremendously. On August 5, 2019, Article 370 was revoked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which stripped off…
The silence of Muslim countries on the Yemen crisis
We are captives of a pandemic affecting all of us globally. The entire world is aware of the struggle humanity is facing to beat COVID-19. However, the world has closed…
The faulted crux of our animalistic evolution
Since the start of civilization, there has been a deep-rooted relationship between humankind and animals. If we were to trace our steps back in history, the relation has always been…
Kashmir; The Land Stricken By Terror
Kashmir, the home of 12.55 million Kashmiris has been the center of oppression even before 1947. The region has a Muslim majority, 61% of the population (2019); but despite the…
A World Without Water
2020 has been a challenging year for everybody so far as it brought changes to the world that none of us had ever imagined. Life is changing daily and these…
Why is Yemen at war?
Unlawful detentions, forceful disappearances, and torturing detainees continue in Yemen for the fifth year as well. Yemen, one of the poorest countries of the Arab world is facing a civil…
COVID-19 : A realization of how destructive biological warfare could be
Countries are running out of testing kits, there is a shortage of ventilators and fewer ICU beds, Coronavirus (COVID-19), a global pandemic has taken over the world by storm. Over…
What’s next in the Afghan Peace Process
A US military plane crashed in the Taliban controlled area in Afghanistan killing two US troops followed by the killing of two US service members in a road side explosion…
The CoronaVirus – An Alternate Perspective
The CoronaVirus outbreak in China has been popularly attributed to the consumption of bat meat, however uncertainty regarding the epidemic’s exact origins has culminated suspicion and certain conspiracies exist as…
Coronavirus – A Global Challenge And The Way Forward
December 2019 – The month in which China’s worst nightmare came to light – The emergence of yet another virus (coronavirus) like the one that circulated in China back in…
The US Iran Tensions through the Lenses of International Law
Never has the Spector of a full-blown war between the United States of America and Iran seemed so imminent then it did on the 3rd of January, 2020 following the…
China To Re-Write Religious Scriptures In Accordance With The “Advancement of Times”
Lately, the world has had its eyes focused on China, foreseeing its courses of action against the Uyghurs. The agonizing strategies caused by China on its Uyghur Muslim minority have…
The Aftermath of the death of the “Shadow Commander”
The Drone strike by the United States which resulted in the killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite Quds Force made the headlines of every news channel…
Getting Rid Of The Upercieved Hazard – The Plastic Bag Ban
On 14th August 2019, Pakistan finally entered the ever-growing club of countries that are taking the threat of plastic pollution seriously and likewise became 128th country to ban the…
Kartarpur Corridor and BJP’s Sunny Deol – A second chance at self discovery
The Kartarpur corridor has seen many positive responses by the Indian population, even from some of the most radical members of the Baharatiya Janta Party (BJP). The radical, Anti-Pakistan Prime…
The Kartarpur Corridor a historic milestone amid regional tensions
With regional tensions at an all-time high, be it the crisis in Kashmir dragging on its 96th day with a complete lock down or the decision of the Indian Supreme…
No GDP growth and still in debt but there’s hope
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that Pakistan real GDP growth stands at 2.4 percent and Inflation at 13 percent. Moreover, another report states that Pakistan’s public debt may surge…
An oasis of brotherhood in Hindustan
In this day and age, people get discriminated every day for their choice of religion, values, morals, culture and ethnicity. This has been eminent in different societies for decades, but…
Afghanistan, US and the future
What lies between the US putting an end to the peace talks and Taliban finding a new ally in Russia? American President Donald Trump cancelled Afghan Talks on 8th September….
A GLOBAL RESPONSE TO THE ABOLISHMENT OF ARTICLE 370 AND 35A
The abolition of article 370 and 35A, the lockdown by the Indian armed forces and human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir has left every human in the world enraged….
Kashmir – A Strategic Location
The area of Jammu and Kashmir has been disputed between India and Pakistan since they gained independence from the British in 1947. Since then, several wars have been fought between…
Why it’s high time for the world to act?
14 days have passed since the Indian government abolished article 370 and 35A, depriving the people of Jammu and Kashmir of their autonomous status. Subsequently, there has been a massive…
The United Nations and the Valley Drenched in Blood
For a case as destructive and long-running as the Kashmir conflict, the United Nations inevitably comes into play as the authoritative entity responsible for the peace process that India and…
Go Marry “Gori Kashmiri Girls” Modi’s Tyrannical Regime Takes On A Misogynist Face
Not even 24 hours had passed after revoking of Kashmir’s special status and a BJP leader exclaimed “those, who are bachelors, can get married with Kashmiri girls… our Muslim workers…
Heaven Under Siege
Harbouring a lifelong ambition to recreate a greater Hindustan that surpasses current borders and rules with might and will as a global power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bid…
What Next?
In the wake of Narendra Modi’s Landslide Victory to secure a second term as Indian Premier, what can Pakistan expect as it once again signals for peace in the region?…
The Afghan Peace Process – What’s Next for the Graveyard of Empires?
After more than eighteen years of war and turmoil Pakistan has kick-started the much awaited and anticipated Afghan peace process. It has been named “Lahore Process” in Pakistan. Similar negotiations…