By Rifaat Hamid Ghani
IMRAN Khan, our PM until the recent vote of no confidence unseated him, is demanding fresh elections without delay. Yet he is likely to obstruct – should he mislike – the electoral process whensoever it may commence or reject its results:
Continue reading Change or exchange?By Zubeida Mustafa
GIVEN the antics of the rulers who control our destiny, one wonders if change will ever come to this country. At one time, it was believed that change would come with democracy. Now conventional wisdom has it that people get the rulers they deserve. So who will change whom?
Continue reading Changing mindsBy Zubeida Mustafa
LAST week, I went to Lyari to attend the Food and Fun Festival. Organised by the Ilm-o-Hunar School, the event left a positive impression on me as the youth appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Dressed in their Sunday best, they exuded confidence. The performance was delightful but creativity had to substitute for professionalism. Did it really matter, though, if the stage props were improvised and a single microphone was passed around, from actor to actor? Or that the actors were all speaking in Urdu, which the audience fully understood?
Continue reading Happy childrenBy Zubeida Mustafa
ORANGI Pilot Project, the internationally acclaimed development model founded by iconic social scientist Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, is in trouble. Charges of corruption, misappropriation of funds and violations of its by-laws have been levelled against its current management. Some 36 employees, many of them trained by its founder, have been sacked. Most worrisome is the accusation that there is a deliberate attempt to obliterate Dr Sahib’s (as he was reverently called) name as founder and conceptualiser of the OPP. If true, this is no less than a moral crime amounting to the theft of intellectual property.
Continue reading Whither OPP?By Zubeida Mustafa
MARCH 8 was International Women’s Day and as is now customary the event allows social activists and feminists to focus on ‘gender equality’, the theme for this year. Given the candour of the youth, the discourse now allows for a true debate, which is the essence of democracy and crucial to the empowerment of women.
Continue reading Where are they?