The idea of Pakistan has been made real for a while now. Yet it remains as unfulfilled as ever.
Published 25 Dec, 2023 10:38am
“Jinnah was able to see through the designs of the existing and emerging imperial powers of his time”
Published 25 Dec, 2023 10:27am
“International politics in the early half of the twentieth century began to transform the political landscape of South Asia.
Published 25 Dec, 2023 10:21am
“This 235-million-odd nation must remind itself of the high value placed by their Quaid-i-Azam on personal integrity in the...
Published 25 Dec, 2023 10:11am
Studying Jinnah's leadership in the early 1920s would enhance Pakistan's leadership capacity in 2023-24.
Updated 25 Dec, 2023 11:12am
Inner-dependence is distinct from the more external, material aspects of Independence, as also of Inter-dependence.
Updated 14 Aug, 2023 10:23am
Congress was largely responsible for wrecking the Cabinet Mission Plan
Published 14 Aug, 2023 08:05am
Several decades after independence, the quest for freedom continues.
Updated 14 Aug, 2023 11:04pm
If we learn lessons from history, particularly from the period right after independence, a way out can be found from the...
Published 14 Aug, 2023 08:00am
To be in Lahore in March evoked ruminations about the related commonalities and contrasts between 1940 and 2023. For instance:
Published 27 Mar, 2023 09:24am
The British made their first connection with India through the East India Company (EIC), which had been established...
Published 27 Mar, 2023 09:24am
If we can provide adequate representation to the marginalised, strengthen the political process, enhance and safeguard civil...
Published 27 Mar, 2023 09:24am
Being both the nation’s founder and a people’s man, the Quaid-i-Azam was greatly concerned for the man on the street
Published 27 Mar, 2023 09:23am
The very genesis of Pakistan was rooted in a constitutional promise: if there is a minar that stands in Iqbal Park today, it as...
Published 27 Mar, 2023 09:20am
FOR a leader who overcame formidable opposition to the creation of Pakistan from several adversaries — the Indian...
Updated 16 Feb, 2023 01:32pm
WILLIAM Shakespeare wrote in Richard II that the “purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that...
Updated 16 Feb, 2023 01:33pm
SHOULD people be changed to suit the system, or should the system be reformed to suit the people? The debate in...
Updated 16 Feb, 2023 01:33pm
MANY believe that the politics of public service practised by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah is perhaps impossible...
Updated 16 Feb, 2023 01:34pm
A new optimism is apparent at the shrine of Chanan Pir, located approximately 50 kilometres outside Bahawalpur. The mood at the
Published 14 Aug, 2022 09:32am
Shuja Nawaz asserts that repeated crises have led to a derailing of our constitutional order. Yet, a transformation driven by the
Updated 14 Aug, 2022 11:34am
Jinnah’s expansive humanism is in stark contrast with the disregard for freedom of religious conscience in the country he created.
Updated 25 Dec, 2022 08:57am
Pakistan’s ideological journey has reshaped the great poet philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal into a patron of its hardening...
Updated 09 Nov, 2022 09:24am
Liaquat Ali Khan, one of the heroes of the Pakistan Movement, was the builder of the nation in its nascent years. ...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 09:04am
The post-1947 dilemmas present in the minds of India’s Muslims today and ironically wonders as to what Jinnah, Gandhi and Nehru...
Updated 14 Aug, 2022 11:20am
Pakistan’s failure to formulate a vision or allocate resources to the writing of history since 1947 will have catastrophic...
Updated 15 Aug, 2022 12:12pm
The state has progressively given way to right-wing obscurantists in a desperate bid to retain control. Makhdoom Ali Khan stresses
Published 14 Aug, 2022 08:53am
Although Jinnah declared that Pakistan would not be a theocracy, but subsequent govts failed to develop a national narrative.
Updated 14 Aug, 2022 05:22pm
Yaqoob Khan Bhangash narrates the stories behind the accession, in the months following Independence, of the major Princely States
Updated 16 Aug, 2022 12:12pm
The centralisation of power and the denial of provincial autonomy resulted in the secession of the eastern wing. Despite the...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 08:19am
Judicial overreach is no less dangerous than executive control of the judiciary. Courts achieve little when they try to do much.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 08:16am
Maleeha Lodhi calls for governance that goes well beyond power politics. Perhaps the emergence of new power structures and an...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 08:09am
To move towards a functioning democracy, Pakistan’s power elites will have to acknowledge the primacy of Parliament and respect
Published 14 Aug, 2022 08:05am
Dynastic politics and factionalism reflect a worsening dynamic within Pakistani political parties but Dr Shuja Mahesar believes...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 08:02am
How Pakistani leaders arise from the crucible of economic change. They may not command an electoral majority but every one of them
Updated 14 Aug, 2022 05:47pm
Pakistan’s history has been marked by cycles of dictatorship followed by limited democracy. The people have indicated time...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:52am
Jinnah stressed the need for civilian supremacy and instructed the military to stay true to the constitution and the government.
Updated 08 Sep, 2022 10:34am
It is to be hoped that there will never be a repeat of such operations as Gibraltar, Chengiz Khan, Fair Play and others.
Updated 09 Sep, 2022 10:59am
Shuja Nawaz traces the events and the missteps that led to the breakup of United Pakistan. Could the loss of Pakistan’s eastern wing have been foretold?
Updated 17 Dec, 2023 12:21pm
Five decades on, Javed Jabbar highlights reasons why the loss of East Pakistan in 1971 is still a subject of considerable debate.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:24am
Just how did Pakistan, a country with so few resources and a dysfunctional state apparatus, manage to bypass Western intelligence
Updated 28 May, 2023 09:56pm
Pakistan’s trade unions remain relevant to our future, especially as times get tougher. But their failure to unite reflects poorly
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
The All-India Muslim League, while electioneering in Muslim-majority areas, promised that religion would play a central role in
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
While concerted attempts are being made to render Pakistani society homogenous, the threads that bind us together are fraying...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Despite a rapid increase in the number of universities, the quality of Pakistan’s intellectual output has largely remained dismal
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
A once thriving industrial sector was thrown off track by Bhutto’s nationalisation policies. Dr Ishrat Hussain asserts that only
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
After the denial of rights in the eastern wing of Pakistan, it was the turn of women and minorities during Ziaul Haq’s military...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Dr Navaid Hamid argues that although Pakistan’s urban population has spiralled, governments have failed to address the civic...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Civil society organisations have raised their voices in favour of minorities, women, workers, and the protection of community...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Transforming an antiquated and complacent bureaucracy into a force capable of excellence in service delivery will not be an easy
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
The struggle for equality in the battle for women’s rights persists today against entrenched mindsets. From the violent street...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Will the economy grow in the absence of adequate allocations for health and education? Should we allow the ruling elite to indulge
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
National media, including print, electronic and digital, is a divided house beset with all kinds of challenges.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
After witnessing one of history’s largest migrations, Pakistan’s population grew from 30m in 1951 to 220m in 2022. A lack of...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Our political parties love to champion free speech as long as they are in the opposition. When in power, however, each of the...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
The benefits of Pakistan’s economic growth have accrued mainly to powerful elites patronised by the state, preventing any broad
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
There is little appreciation in Pakistan for the centrality of science in every modern economic pursuit.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
The overall decline in sport in Pakistan has been as rapid and spectacular as success had once been, laments former national...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Over the years, Pakistani Urdu literature has developed differently from its Indian counterpart and reflects ideological battles
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
A proliferation of genres has overtaken Pakistan’s English-language literature. ANUM SHAHARYAR explores its progress and concludes
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Censorship, bans and limited support continue to rob filmmakers of the opportunity to truly realise their potential.
Updated 14 Aug, 2022 06:18pm
Pakistan’s foreign policy has been underpinned by security concerns rooted in its own traumas. It is largely independent...
Updated 18 Aug, 2022 09:37am
The characters and drama serials broadcast on PTV are now part of our national lore.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Pakistan and India have had a toxic relationship since Partition. Is there hope for a rapprochement between the two bitter rivals
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
ARSHAD MAHMOOD relates the story of how a rousing piece of music became an exquisite musical gem.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Pak-Afghan ties were frosty in 1947, hostile during the pendency of the Afghan-sponsored Pashtunistan project, and complicated
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
ARSHAD MAHMOOD discusses the evolution of Pakistani music over seven decades and how, following the migration of classical...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Born on the battlefields of Afghanistan during the Soviet jihad, Zahid Hussain explains how the modern Pakistani militant, once...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
An assortment of cultural interventions by the state, the flag-bearers of religion, and modernist forces have enabled Pakistani...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Dr Hafeez Pasha believes that Pakistan witnessed strong economic growth earlier but failed to address the larger question of...
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Pakistan’s built spaces have transformed over the years to better reflect the aspirations of its upwardly-mobile social classes.
Published 14 Aug, 2022 07:12am
Cataclysmic events as well as multiple and diverse factors on a global scale shaped the world in which the struggle for Pakistan.
Published 23 Mar, 2022 10:43pm
Even those who opposed the idea of attaining independence later became its biggest supporters which underlines...
Updated 26 Mar, 2022 11:02am
Those who have wielded power in the country over the years have often overlooked the requirements of an Islamic state.
Published 23 Mar, 2022 10:43pm
Fertile imagination has prevailed on both sides of the divide when it comes to dealing with matters related to partition.
Published 23 Mar, 2022 10:42pm
The outline that the Lahore Resolution had drawn in the shape of geographical zones and majority areas got a concrete shape later
Updated 26 Mar, 2022 11:04am
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had a progressive, visionary streak of extremism rooted in non-violence, civility and respect...
Published 26 Dec, 2021 04:26am
Luckily for the Muslims of the subcontinent, the Indian National Congress did not have a Jinnah in its ranks. As has been famously
Published 26 Dec, 2021 04:20am
Jinnah’s appeal is so universal that everyone claims to own him, and, on the basis of this ‘ownership’, insists on interpreting...
Published 26 Dec, 2021 03:58am
In dealing with his political adversaries, Jinnah used one of his major weapons with precision — logic.
Published 26 Dec, 2021 03:54am
Those striving to make it big in the corporate sector would do well to at least try to follow the success template that the...
Published 26 Dec, 2021 03:49am
Instead of focussing disproportionately on the bad, there is a need to use Independence Day as illumination for the good
Published 15 Aug, 2021 02:16am
The Independence Day is an occasion for introspection, and to look back with the intention of charting a better course for the
Published 15 Aug, 2021 02:14am
The demands of statecraft mean nation-states, including the superpowers, generally enjoy only relative independence; not absolute.
Published 15 Aug, 2021 02:13am
Counted among the youngest countries in the world, Pakistan produces diversified talent catering to the global demand of
Published 15 Aug, 2021 02:13am
Pakistan started its journey when the British Empire was already on a slide and India was able to flex its economic muscles freely
Published 15 Aug, 2021 02:07am
IN just two sentences, the Quaid-i-Azam defined the role of the armed forces and determined the texture of civil-military
Published 15 Aug, 2021 01:52am
In practical terms, reality comes before theory, for a theory seeks to ‘explain’ what already exists. Like gravity which existed
Published 26 Mar, 2021 12:28pm
The federating units of might have raised a voice if they knew that the principles cited in the Pakistan Resolution were not
Published 26 Mar, 2021 12:24pm
The fact that the League’s Central Working Committee in April 1946 amended the Pakistan Resolution and replaced the word ‘states’
Published 26 Mar, 2021 12:22pm
Having suffered at the hands of the Hindu majority, politics in Pakistan has a constant majority-versus-minority streak.
Published 26 Mar, 2021 12:19pm
Our own history stands testimony to the fact that economic independence is what matters above every other aspect of sovereignty.
Published 26 Mar, 2021 12:17pm
The core of Jinnah’s personality needs to be retrieved and protected in the face of multiple threats emerging from the diverse
Published 27 Dec, 2020 09:51am
The Quaid’s relevance in Pakistan has remained intact, but we have failed to follow his principles, ideals and vision which he set
Published 27 Dec, 2020 09:51am
THE Quaid-i-Azam was an ardent supporter of a Palestinian state. When Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben...
Published 27 Dec, 2020 09:44am
SOME 16 months before Pakistan came into being, the Time magazine ran a cover story on India — more specifically ...
Published 27 Dec, 2020 09:43am
Any discussion about Jinnah generally revolves around his role as a politician. The fact is that there was much in his personality
Published 27 Dec, 2020 09:41am
HOPE constitutes a vital factor in mobilising people for a cause. It becomes all the more relevant when there is...
Published 27 Dec, 2020 09:38am
There is enough evidence in history to believe that Pakistan will continue to move forward.
Published 12 Sep, 2020 03:56pm
Pakistan is not alone as a country drifting away from the vision of its founding fathers.
Published 12 Sep, 2020 03:52pm
Political parties demand democracy but do not practise it themselves.
Published 12 Sep, 2020 03:42pm
Like the losers adopt the traits of the victors, society at large seems to have adopted the attitude of the landed gentry.
Published 12 Sep, 2020 03:39pm
While Pakistan terms Kashmir its lifeline, India considers it an in integral part. The struggle continues.
Published 12 Sep, 2020 03:36pm
From being the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity to the founder of an independent state, Jinnah remained an outstanding leader
Published 12 Sep, 2020 03:33pm
“…The Mussalmans of India are a Nation…the problem in India is not of an inter-communal character, but...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
THE coupling of the Quaid’s name with a malevolent noun is done deliberately – to jar the senses like a mild...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
ACCORDING to Hector Bolitho, one of Jinnah’s biographers, scrupulousness and uprightness were few of the several...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
IN the overall context of Indian independence movement, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s successful espousal of...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
“Remember we are building up a state which is going to play its full part in the destinies of the whole Islamic...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
RECORD of the past few decades shows that with the change of the government, the situation in the Islamic Republic...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
MOHAMMAD Ali Jinnah was the first political leader to protest against the Salt Tax, calling it “iniquitous, ...
Published 26 Jan, 2020 07:46am
Significant policy interventions and investments may strengthen the technological ecosystem and help it move forward.
Updated 18 Aug, 2019 03:43pm
IF the mass acceptance of Imran Khan was ever in doubt, the issue should have been settled on the evening of July ...
Updated 17 Aug, 2019 10:47pm
While democracy is an integral component of statecraft, it is nowhere to be found within political parties.
Updated 14 Aug, 2019 02:48pm
AT the time of partition of the Indian sub-continent in August 1947, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Mahatama...
Published 14 Aug, 2019 07:05am
THE election 2018 slogan of creating a ‘Naya’ (new) Pakistan was clearly a sincerely meant theme to express ...
Published 14 Aug, 2019 07:05am
THERE are three days that the Pakistani nation celebrates every year as national holidays — Independence Day on...
Updated 19 Aug, 2019 02:05am
The challenge of national integration in Pakistan is as old as the history of this country.
Updated 14 Aug, 2019 12:52am
INDIAN military misadventures in February 2019 and after created a premise for Pakistani polity.
Updated 14 Aug, 2019 12:31am
The territory of Pakistan exudes subtle as well as explicit diversity.
Updated 23 Mar, 2019 04:14pm