Articles & Column

The Chaudhries of Gujrat have been prominent in politics for three generations. I have known all three of them. Their patriarch was Chaudhry Zahur Ellahi emerging onto the national scene from rural Gujrat during Ayub Khan’s regime. He was a close associate of Zulfiqar Ali […]

I have vivid memories of PTI’s founding event at Holiday Inn, Lahore in April 1996. My late friend Ahsan Rashid, Mehmood Awan, and I drove to the venue ahead of IK to get a feel and flavor of the attendees. The hall was abuzz with […]

There are many versions regarding the final words of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto before he was led to the gallows. There is one, favored by his supporters. It narrates that as the noose was tightened, Bhutto was in a defiant mood andtold the highly nervous executioner, […]

One of my favorite pastimes on our farm was to have “poona,” an indigenous variety of sugarcane, harvested and have it squeezed for fresh “roh”, sugarcane juice. After sunset in autumn evenings we would sit under a banyan tree near a “karaha” an oval wide […]

It was early days of PTI and Chairman Imran Khan gave me the responsibility of organizing the Party. Mairaj Mohammad Khan, a political icon, at one time designated successor of Bhutto, was PTI’s General Secretary. Since he was based in Karachi, he was unable to […]

Climate change is a significant issue for European countries, and many have implemented policies and initiatives to mitigate its impact. The European Union (EU) has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. To achieve this […]

Nearly a hundred years ago in 1920 USA amended their Constitution prohibiting production, imports, transportation and sale of Alcohol nationwide. It was a radical change that was in the making since the 19th century led by fundamentalist Protestants seeking to rid the society of itsmoral […]

Pakistan emerged due to the fatal flaws of majoritarian democracy in the Indian subcontinent. There were many social divisions in the Indian subcontinent based on identity during the British Raj in India. There were hard barriers based on caste and apparently soft barriers based on […]

I was in my library prepping for a long–distance call when the ground under feet started to move. It did not register right away; however as tremors continued I called my wife and staff to step outside; by then it was all over. The duration […]