All posts by Zubeida Mustafa

May 12th 2007-17

General, Guest Contributor, History, Human Rights, Justice, Politics, Social Issues

By Rifaat Hamid Ghani

May 12th   2017 is as good as come and gone. As I recall 2007—the year of CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry, for his persona was at once the catalyst and dynamic—that May 12th anniversary marker’s mood-content would be anachronistic today. Its villains and martyrs have squirmed and shifted, and are no longer held firmly within the mould of that year’s context.

Which also indicates its characters are operative: vital and politically relevant, not merely historical.   Continue reading May 12th 2007-17 →

Physician let a colleague treat you

Health

By Zeba Hisam

TODAY I am writing this while waiting for my turn for physiotherapy for my right hand carpal tunnel syndrome. I had been having severe pain that became worst on twisting movements and pulling or bearing weight on this hand. First I took a painkiller regularly without any benefit then kept on complaining about pain and was scolded by my mother and elder sister to consult a doctor and not to treat myself. I got all my lab investigations done which came out to be normal ( CP, ESR, CRP, uric acid, RA factor and T3, T4, TSH and the x-ray of my wrist). I was convinced that it was carpal tunnel syndrome as I previously got a persistent parasthesia on my right hand so I got an appointment with my teacher, Professor of neurology, Dr. Abdullah, who endorsed my diagnosis and sent me to this amazing physiotherapy Center named “Neurology & Falij care Center”! He advised me to get my physiotherapy done by the specific lady physiotherapist. So it’s my third session today and I do the exercises advised by her regularly at home multiple times. I hope and pray that improvement will come soon. Continue reading Physician let a colleague treat you →

Losers All

Justice, Law & Order, Politics

 

By Rifaat Hamid Ghani

TO whom would you give the Monumental Stupidity Award? The Sharif camp for offering — if it indeed did offer — the incorruptible Imran Khan a bribe to shut up about PanamaLeaks; or Imran Khan for “disclosing” what can only remain yet another allegation?

It is hard to take up “facts” when they keep varying, but an aspect of the disclosure that intrigues me is that the emissary/go-between is said to be an individual long turned sadiq and ameen— maybe of the kind that turns kundun after having done much personally to feed the fiery flame? Of course such probity implies they can be trusted not to divert the lucre; but what of the moral philosophy that the bribed and the briber are equally heinous? Are middlemen blameless as mere facilitators or do they get it

Continue reading Losers All →

Right vs wrong

Children and Youth, Culture and the Arts, Education, Environment, Health, Human Rights, SIUT, Social Issues
By Zubeida Mustafa

IN a society as morally perverse and corrupt as ours, does a centre of ethics have any relevance? A cynic’s answer would be a resounding ‘none whatsoever’. The idealist/reformer would say, ‘all the more’. That is a dilemma that faces all activists in this country seeking to light the spark of change.

In this context, the SIUT’s Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Culture (CBEC) faces a daunting challenge. It has been struggling for the last 13 years to introduce an ethical perspective not just in healthcare but also in the non-medical sector. Its endeavours became meaningful and received international recognition when last week WHO declared the CBEC a Collaborating Centre for Bioethics — one of the eight to receive that prestigious status worldwide. Continue reading Right vs wrong →

Inspiring change

Children and Youth, Culture and the Arts, Development and Poverty, Education, Human Rights

By Zubeida Mustafa

EDUCATION in Pakistan has not proved to be the catalyst for change that a dynamic and enlightened knowledge sector has been in many societies. The socio-cultural stagnation has been made worse by the lack of motivation in the teachers.

They can be the change-makers — many are playing that role at an individual level — that we so badly need today. But collectively, they are not. Continue reading Inspiring change →