By Ziauddin Ali Shah As Pakistan commemorates the 75th Independence Day, it is important to reflect upon the achievements, failures, developments and issues in Gilgit-Baltistan from different perspectives and see how, as a nation, we have reached this adversity. The region, administered by Pakistan, is home to the three largest mountain ranges and massif of snow-clad lofty peaks, scenic pastures, …

Imran Khan’s politics is a turbo-charged neoliberalism... a shallow ideological cocktail of religion, patriotism, and praetorianism.

By Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar It is all so predictable. The raids on homes of opposition leaders and workers. Heavy-handed baton charges and tear-gas shelling. The same opposition workers who decried state repression then engaged in wanton destruction of public property — and burning trees for good measure! We have been here many times before. A few months ago, it …

Like Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan also has a swelling state debt and took on billions worth of loans over the last decade from China’s Export-Import Bank for a series of infrastructure plans under the Belt and Road Initiative.

We were told that the generosity of the rich would make up for cuts to government services. But those at the top are increasingly using dubious “charitable” ventures as vehicles for profit and influence. Institute for Policy Studies' report Gilded Giving 2022: How Wealth Inequality Distorts Philanthropy and Imperils Democracy, charitable giving is more dominated than ever by those at the top of the income and wealth pyramid.

The best-selling author is a gifted storyteller and popular speaker. But he sacrifices science for sensationalism, and his work is riddled with errors.

By Rozina Parveen When the horrors of life outway the terrors of death a man commits suicide — Albert Camus Suicide cases are on the rise in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. According to media reports in Pakistan 20 people, mostly female, aged between 15 and 35 years, take their lives every day. According to studies and survey reports, there has been …

Pakistani neoliberalism hasn’t rolled back state intervention in the economy. Building on a predatory tradition that dates back to British colonial rule, it has used state power to enforce the ruthless exploitation of Pakistan’s workers and natural resources.

We are faced with an intolerant generation that is self-righteous, hates dissent and wants everyone to think one way – which is their way. In short, we are reaping the fruits of the seeds we had sown ourselves in our classrooms and society at large. Today it is the misogynist, fascist Imran Khan, tomorrow it can be a right-wing extremist force which will use the same herd to its own advantage and ruin the already religiously intolerant and anti-women society.

Pakistan’s media has been grappling with an existential crisis in recent years, with critical areas going from bad to worse. This includes a staggering two-fifths of media jobs — 8,000 out of 20,000 — being wiped out, partly because of lifeline public sector advertising having shrunk by over half, and a squeezed media economy that is drying up even private sector advertising.

By Aziz Ali Dad Human being is not just a name given to a biological being with a body. In fact, humans are different from other species. They are endowed with the faculty of producing ideas and leading lives in the light of those ideas. During the course of intellectual history, the definition of ideas kept changing. For Plato, the …

By KOSAR BANO & CHIMI SELDON The Shisper Glacier surge blocking the proglacial Machuhar River, resulting in the formation of an ice-dammed lake Photo: PMD, GBDMA/ICIMOD/HAH Mountain communities are living with the risks and impacts of steady glacial surges, vagaries of weather patterns and increased incidences of cryosphere-related hazards. The impacts of these hazards are not just limited to the destruction of …

Regional powers are seeking to fill the vacuum left by the abrupt departure of the US and its Western allies.

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar Christmas is hardly a big occasion in Pakistan. More than two million Pakistani Christians celebrate it guardedly, with few from the Muslim majority joining them. Government officials issue cut-and-paste statements and put up a Christmas tree or two in public places, and then return to the business of lending legitimacy to majoritarianism. Indeed, Christians in this country …

By Rizwan Qalandar The people of Gilgit-Baltistan, especially youth are lately seemed to be engaged in discussions on social media around the recent elections for Gilgit-Baltistan Council. Some are concerned with the transparency aspect of the electoral processes such as partisan-based lobbying, seat adjustment and even allegations of horse-trading (allegedly involving money) whereas others are outrightly disappointed with the voting …