SAMANTHA LUNDIN WRITES – 2010 and now 2022… Pakistan is devastated by floods once again. Millions of lives are affected, with over a thousand dead, including pregnant women and children. These monsoon rains and floods came after the deadly heatwave that may have exacerbated the conditions for the flooding. Satellite…
Category: Pakistan
SINO-INDO RELATIONS: PAKISTAN’S COMPLICATED INVOLVEMENT
LIAM ROGERS WRITES — On June 30, 2020, the 14th corps. commander Lt-General Harinder Singh (of India) and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Lui Lin (of China) launched a third round of de-escalation meetings while The Indian Times reported that India will, among other things, be pushing for…
PAKISTAN: Malala Yousafzai Comes Back to Pakistan Six Years Later After Attack
MURAD BASRAWI WRITES—Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for women’s education and the youngest person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan this past month, six years after she was shot by the Taliban for advocating for women’s education. Security was tight when Yousafzai and her family arrived…
PAKISTAN: WHAT COLOSSAL WASTE IN AN OTHERWISE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
MURAD BASRAWI WRITES – Pakistan faces a growing problem with people disposing garbage, toxic household waste, and chemicals in public areas. In response, some areas in Pakistan are urgently passing laws banning the dumping of garbage in public places, reports Dawn, the widely respected newspaper published in Islamabad. The province…
PAKISTAN: MORE CIVILIAN KILLINGS, MORE CONDEMNATIONS – WILL IT NEVER END?
MURAD BASRAWI WRITES – Pakistan has condemned Indian soldiers for the brutal killing of three innocent civilians, and the injury of several others, in the Ganowpora Village of Shopian—a district in India-Occupied Kashmir this past month. Pakistan’s Foreign Office in Islamabad delivered an angry statement to the media claiming that…
PAKISTAN: AFGHAN BORDER WALL CONTROVERSY REMINISCENT OF TRUMP’S GREAT WALL
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES- Good fences, it’s said, make for good neighbors. But what about walls? After a recent spate of terrorist attacks across Pakistan, the country’s army said it believes building a wall along the Afghan border could be good for both nations’ security. On March 31, at least 22…
PAKISTAN: PANAMA LEAKS RULING KEEPS CORRUPTION ACCUSATIONS ALIVE
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been in headlines more than usual lately. He can thank the so-called ‘Panama Papers’ and a ruling last month by the country’s supreme court that there’s too little evidence to oust him from office. The Panama Papers is shorthand for a…
PAKISTAN: THE BITTER TRUTH ON MARRIAGES
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – When people attend a Pakistani wedding, they’re mesmerized by the colors, tradition and culture woven into the event: the gorgeous bride and groom, the laughter of family members, music and dancing going on for days and days. Imagine that the bride and groom are both from…
PAKISTAN: HIGH RISK AMONGST HIGHER EDUCATION
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – Being a student in Pakistan is a high-risk occupation. In December, Taliban militants attacked Army Public School in Peshawar, killing 141 people. Though bloodier than most, the attack was by no means the first on institutes of learning. Taliban militants have shot up campuses, set schools ablaze,…
PAKISTAN: Is Trump Unnerving 453,000 Pakistani Immigrants in the U.S.?
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and proposed changes to the country’s immigration and visa policies. While millions of his supporters have cheered the proposal, most Democrats and even many top Republican figures have opposed…
PAKISTAN: General High Regard for Himself
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – Raheel sharif, the army chief of Pakistan, is more famous on social media than Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain. The huge billboards in Karachi with his picture – and being on front page of newspapers everyday – has made it very hard for…
INDIA: Social Media’s answer to Shiv Sena
ADRIAN NARAYAN WRITES– Can online declarations of love defeat real-world violence and intolerance? A few thousand Indian and Pakistani social media users are trying to find out. Connected by a mutual concern about the current state of Indian-Pakistani relations, internet users have been posting photos of themselves and short statements of peace…
PAKISTAN – A “Chance Meeting” Between Prime Minister Sharif and Modi
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – It was the tweet heard across the subcontinent: India and Pakistan’s leaders play nice at a conference designed to save the world. Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Vikas Swarup tweeted, “On a chilly November morning, PM @narendramodi is welcomed warmly by President @fhollande…
PAKISTAN: When a Profession Costs You Your Life
LAMIYA SHABBIR WRITES – At least four media reporters were shot in less than 24 hours, leaving two dead and two injured. M Ilyas Khan, a reporter for BBC in Islamabad, reports, “Police said the motives behind the shootings were not immediately clear.” On September 9th, Aftab Alam, a former…
PAKISTAN: Is Defense the Best Offence?
HAIG TER-GHEVONDIAN WRITES – Here in the United States, someone can say or write a controversial opinion and be protected from government intervention or the public. Some abuse it and some take it for granted, but having a right like freedom of speech implemented and enforced in Pakistan would be a…
PAKISTAN: Big Brother Strikes Again?
HAIG TER-GHEVONDIAN WRITES – Since the controversial imam Abdul Aziz’s refusal to openly denounce the murder of 134 children in the Peshawar Army School in Pakistan by the Taliban, the Pakistani Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has begun cracking down on terrorist propaganda on social media. A new cyber-crime bill introduced to…