Monthly Archives: March 2011

Ringing the alarm bells

2 Comments | Posted on March 30, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

By Zubeida Mustafa AT long last some in the government have belatedly woken up to, what they term, the education emergency in Pakistan. The emergency is not new. What is new is the realisation(?) in official quarters that we face … Continue reading →

2 Comments | Posted in Education |

The war of elephants

5 Comments | Posted on March 23, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

By Zubeida Mustafa THE Raymond Davis episode has proved, if nothing else, how impossible it is to fit people into neat categories. Although we love to brand people as leftist and rightist, liberal and conservative, Islamist and secular, radical and … Continue reading →

5 Comments | Posted in Health, Social Issues |

So grave and terrifying

8 Comments | Posted on March 16, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

By Zubeida Mustafa DR Tipu Sultan, president of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), has described the health situation in the country as ”grave, embarrassing and terrifying”. He is not exaggerating. A report titled Health of the Nation that the PMA … Continue reading →

8 Comments | Posted in Health |

One woman who changes lives

11 Comments | Posted on March 14, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

By Zubeida Mustafa Saira Zaidi does not fit into the gender image of Pakistan as it emerges from the recently-released UNDP’s Human Development Report 2010. This ranks the country as 112th out of the 119 states given a ranking. The … Continue reading →

11 Comments | Posted in Development and Poverty, Education, Women |

An acre for every woman

9 Comments | Posted on March 9, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

By Zubeida Mustafa According to Amartya Sen, people starve not because there is not enough food to feed them but because food is unaffordable. It is also important to note that starvation is not the extreme condition of going without … Continue reading →

9 Comments | Posted in Development and Poverty, Economy, Women |

Fahmida Riaz Ki Farhang-e-Nau

20 Comments | Posted on March 5, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

by Zubeida Mustafa Fahmida Riaz is an eminent Urdu poet, author, translator and activist. Currently, she is the Managing Director of the Urdu Dictionary Board, Pakistan. Her first poem was published in Funoon when she was only fifteen. Fahmida Riaz … Continue reading →

20 Comments | Posted in Language, Politics |

After Davis, what?

19 Comments | Posted on March 2, 2011 by Raza Jaffri

By Zubeida Mustafa One TV anchor asked rhetorically, “If our diplomat had killed two men in cold blood in Washington, would the Americans have allowed him to go home under cover of diplomatic immunity?” Obviously not, because the United States … Continue reading →

19 Comments | Posted in Defence and Disarmament, Economy, Foreign Policy of Pakistan, Media |