The situation in Pakistan is becoming more chaotic with every passing day. Who is doing what, is a guessing game. One thing is for sure that no one is doing its job. The institutions though rudimentary in nature never hesitate to interfere in other’s jurisdiction. The house has lost its sovereign identity. The situation is so clouded that the country ...

In the last weeks, Islamabad witnessed an outpouring of extreme anger and fury from Pakistan’s Pashtun dominated areas. Thousands of protestors including University students, rights activists, and political workers converged at the National Press Club to condemn extrajudicial killings, disappearances of Pashtuns youth, loss of lives in landmines, forces’ arrogance on security check-posts, curfews and harassment of tribesmen on the ...

On Jan 31, 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, for ‘appeasing’ Muslims and for the suffering of Partition. Much has been written about Gandhi’s life and death, but what of the Gandhi in our midst? I have an image of the gentle, towering figure of Bacha Khan assisting a frail Gandhi cross ...

Rajiv Dogra’s book, Durand’s Curse: A Line across the Pashtun Heart, is a perceptive analysis of the adventurism that created the Afghan problem. It is a must read for scholars of South Asia Barring perhaps tiny Sri Lanka, the British Empire amputated every non-Christian land that fell under its heel, causing wounds that time could not heal. As meticulously documented by ...

A historical overview of the country where religious groups of one hue or the other have played their role in collusion with the state to turn it into the hybrid-theocracy of today. The recent agreement enforced upon the political government is nothing but a small reminder that Pakistan has turned into a hybrid-theocracy where sharia law is gradually being applied ...

The news about unannounced military operation in the Masood area of South Waziristan came in bits and pieces in second week of November as the government was secretive about it. But the news could not be kept secret as 1100 plus families of Shabi Khel sub tribe of Masood from Shaktoi, Small and Bobarh villages of Ladha subdivision were asked ...

The people of the tribal areas got what they had signed up for and their constitutional status is but a quid pro quo for retaining their ‘autonomy’. And so goes the argument: the constitutional arrangement for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reflects the written agreements that were concluded with the state on their behalf. Why would the tribes accept ...

Dr. Ruth is no more with us. The social media is paying tributes to the noble soul. However, some of the people started to post about her faith and showed concern for her afterlife. It sparked an unwarranted debate whether she would go to paradise or hell. As if we are gods to decide about the jannat and jahanum of ...

By Noman Wazir: Du bois was an African-American. He coined the term double consciousness. His parents lived their lives in slavery; however, he was born just after the enforcement of the emancipation of slaves. Therefore, he was able to get the education and became the first Ph.D in the Afro-American society. He extensively researched the causes of the backwardness of ...

Book Review: “The Real Pashtun Question: How To Control Religious Extremism, Misogyny And Pedophilia”?  By: Dr. Farhat Taj 2017 Published By: Kautilya Books, New Delhi. Contents: Acknowledgements, Preface, Seven Chapters, Endnotes, Annexes, Abbreviations, Glossary, References, Map. pp.216. Reviewed by Angelina Merisi. Considering the enormous body of literature and scholarly works available concerning the Taliban movements and Pashtun socio-cultural and political ...