For years, a spectral fog has crept over Pakistan, slipping silently through cities, towns, and villages. Once a passing morning mist, it is now an unyielding, toxic smog, hanging thick over the country, robbing its people of health, safety, and basic human dignity. This choking haze, fueled by unchecked pollution and ignored by those with the power to act, has …
Seventy years, a span that should be marked by progress, by strength, by the realization of a dream. Instead, it has seen the collapse of hopes, the decay of promises, and the corrosion of a vision that has turned brittle, worn down by betrayal and failure. Not one democratic government in Pakistan has lasted long enough to fulfill its term, …
In a recent address, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff exalted our independence, lauded the might of our armed forces, and proclaimed our nuclear capabilities as bastions of strength. He invoked the struggles of other Muslim nations,Kashmir, Iraq, Syria, and Libya, casting them as stark reminders of our supposed fortune. Yet, this perspective, while cloaked in a semblance of pride, compels …
In Pakistan, a land laden with history, culture, and raw potential, a haunting pattern emerges: a tragedy, blood spilled, lives uprooted, and instead of reflection, a chorus rises, bellowing, “It’s a foreign conspiracy.” India, the United States, and Israel, these perennial scapegoats are invoked with ritualistic fervor, transforming external foes into shields against the agonizing truth festering within. We are …
In the far-flung recesses of memory, when the hum of the present dims and the mind drifts into sepia-toned reverie, I find myself back in the streets of Nowshera Cantt, a city woven from the threads of my first twenty-two summers. Yet, what draws me back is not the bustling bazaars, nor the timeless alleys, nor the sense of youth …