Since July, the courts have handed down more than 5,000 verdicts with heavy sentences against members of a Shiite Ismaili ethnic group. About 100 detainees, including seven journalists, are awaiting trial. Authorities in Tajikistan have forced the closure of two religious bodies in the capital Dushanbe within a succession of a week, according to media reports. The institutions are the …

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 …

Akbar Ahmad and Noam Chomsky examine examine issues of race in America which engender different forms of violence and terrorism. While race is on the surface of society, understanding how it related to society’s deeper structures can help make sense of it. It is the failure to tackle race issues that is partly responsible for the turbulence in contemporary American society.

By Naazir Mahmood The National Institute of Pakistan Studies (NIPS) at the Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad is a rare centre of debate and discussion where one can speak freely. When Prof Saeed Rid and Dr Manzoor Veesrio invited me to speak there about the crisis of democracy in Pakistan, I was a bit reluctant. The hesitation evaporated when they assured me …

The book covers one manifestation of authoritarianism as defined by the author and follows a set structure. There is a historical overview — in some instances beginning from the colonial era — consisting of key events which illustrate the issue.

By Paris Marx Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has bought Twitter. Musk says he’s trying to safeguard democracy and promote free speech — but what does a mega-billionaire with a history of silencing critics and retaliating against workers know about democracy? On April 4, Elon Musk disclosed his 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter. That news set off a …

By Paris Marx Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter in the name of free speech is the latest example of his hubris. It’s not just that Elon Musk shouldn’t own Twitter — billionaires shouldn’t even exist. On Thursday, ten days after revealing his 9.2 percent stake in Twitter to the public, Elon Musk delivered an ultimatum: either the board accept …

Tooba Syed dismantles the myths surrounding the former cricketer’s supposedly anti-imperialist tenure in Pakistan by Tooba Syed Despite his best attempts and amid unproven allegations of foreign interference, Imran Khan was removed from power by a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly of Pakistan on 11 April. Earlier that same week, Khan had attempted to block the vote …

This lecture was delivered by Arundhati Roy, author of the recently published book Azadi: Fascism, Fiction, and Freedom in the Time of the Virus, at the University of Texas at Austin on April 19. News Desk Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to deliver the Sissy Farenthold lecture. Before I begin, I would like to say a few …

By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar Qazi Faez Isa is a principled judge. The FIA is harassing us and raiding our homes. The media is blacking us out. Such refrains emanated from opposition circles on an almost daily basis for many years. In a stunning reversal, the boot is now on the PTI’s foot. This is not a victory for democracy. The …

By Ayyaz Mallick Imran Khan’s anti-American rhetoric is not anti-imperialism. It is part of Imran and, preceding him, the Pakistani ruling bloc as a whole’s resort to a militarised, security-centric narrative in order to paper over an incoherent social and economic project. Ideological bluster in this case is compensation for the lack of a deep and sustainable hegemony, subjective idealism …

By Naazir Mahmood It feels good when the apex court of your country delivers a verdict that fulfills the aspirations of its people. Before the verdict, there were apprehensions and fluctuating hopes. Keeping in view not all enviable judgments of the past at least 70 years, the court could have tilted either way. Now, with a unanimous decision, the Supreme …

By Zahid Hussain Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has been floundering, but the speed at which it unraveled in the face of the opposition’s no confidence move on Sunday surprised even the most seasoned analysts. Not only have coalition partners of Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined the opposition camp, but Khan’s own party has imploded. Facing the …

Prominent academics, citizens and opinion makers of the country have called upon the Chief Justices of Pakistan to burry the ”law of necessity” and reverse the “illegal and unconstitutional actions” of the outgoing Pakistan Tehreek Insaf government. The letter read that: ”Dear Justice Umar Ata Bandial,  We are a group of senior academics, civil society representatives, and concerned citizens. We …