From Cat's Cradle to Video Games

They reflect the social, economic, religious and artistic life of the culture from which they develop and have, themselves, become an intrinsic part of human existence.

Dubai Incorporated - Part 2

Compared to Dubai, everyone else seems dull and boring. Yet dull they are not (Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia).

Culture and Development: The Missing Policy Link

While culture is regarded as the means and instrument of development, the notion of development, following Amartya Sen, is based on substantive expansion of freedom. It is not only the growth of GNP, but the enhancement of freedom and well being of people

Stripping Away Beauty

There are more houses and wider roads but lesser pastures and more stinking water drains. The weather does not seem all that pleasant and the air is ridden with smoke and smog.

Pakistan's Universities - Problems and Solutions

300% jump in research publications, nine new engineering universities with European faculty, 3000 Pakistani students sent overseas for higher-degrees...self-serving lies, half-truths and deceit.

Foreign Factor in our Higher Education

Our whole system of education is working in such a way to produce good high-tech workforce for European and American markets. Irony is we do this at our own expense.

An Alternative Approach to International Development

Although many nations have promised 0.7% of GNI to relieve suffering and secure the enjoyment of basic human rights, no one is able to hold them accountable.

Fatima Jinnah Park – Metaphor for Pakistan's Problems and their Solution

Capital Development Authority (CDA) has carved out a large corner (6000 sq yards) of the Fatima Jinnah Park for McDonald's at a ridiculously low rental

Weapons of Mass Empowerment

The one point agenda for underdeveloped nations of the world to secure real freedom from the exploitation of the imperialist nations.

Science and the Islamic world --- The quest for rapprochement

With well over a billion Muslims and extensive material resources, why is the Islamic world disengaged from science and the process of creating new knowledge?

Electric Dreams?

A country in darkness - the escalating electricity problems of Pakistan

A City of Gardens

Any reference to Lahore as the City of Gardens has a rather hollow ring these days. That proud tradition of rippling fountains and tall arching trees is all but gone, as the city develops apace.

Poor People are Dogs or Even Worse!

He was full of energies and sympathies for the cause of human rights and children rights in particular ... He was the perfect personification of a romantic revolutionary that I thought Pakistan needed.

Project Mumbai Makeover: Casualties of Development

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra (India) was recently in the US, marketing and showcasing Maharashtra for possible investors.

A Case Against Kalabagh Dam

Its in order to call for dropping the Kalabagh Dam and other mega dams and looking for better alternatives?

Proud to be a Pakistani?

Our leaders sitting in their big houses, driving their big cars...do not seem to bother as to what the future holds for ambitious students like myself who are made to stand at the end of the line at every job opportunity around the world because of the kn

Tight-fisted Urban Development!

We are looking for ways to accelerate growth so that poverty can be reduced and living standards improved. We go borrowing and begging to do this! Yet not many of us question the myriads of opportunities for investment that careless regulation stifles.

Reviving Lahore

“Have you seen any tower cranes in Lahore? You know those things that they use to build high rise buildings!” I have asked many audiences this question and always received the same answer: “NO!”

Moving Beyond Talk: A Roadmap for Quality Education

This proposal provides a pragmatic mechanism aligned with the role of HEC (Higher Education Commission) as a supportive watchdog - providing reason, resources, and recognition for quality higher education in Pakistan.

Oh Myopia, Thy Name is Pakistan

Wisdom is the ability to achieve desired results in the long run; foolishness is the propensity to grab the immediate opportunity today and harm oneself tomorrow. Enlightened self-interest is not as dazzling as street-smart wizardry but it prevails in the

Terminate This

How ironic is it that Arnold Schwarzenegger was sent on a morale-boosting tour of US bases in Iraq.

President Pervez Musharaff’s Views

The present line of control, he asserted, is the issue over which the two countries have fought three wars. So how can that be a solution to the problem, he asked with all the emphasis he could invoke.

Many Questions, No Answers

Solutions do not rest in either Democracy or in the Shariah. The answers are in Education and Social Equality. Only this will invalidate the Bush Doctrine and Extremist Fatwas.

The Jihad of a Humanist

Eighteen years ago today, the Air India Kanishka plane flew from Toronto enroute to London with its full load of over three hundred passengers. It never made it to its destination. Kanishka was blown to bits in mid-air above the Atlantic Ocean off the coa

The Follies of the Natives

A circus called Pakistan

Saddam Hussein Lives!

The Future of America’s Occupation is Failure

Origins of the Modern World Capitalist Economy

The Great Game for Central Asian Oil

The Imperialist Ring from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan

Muslims in India: Communalism vs. Backwardness-Minority Syndrome

Today, it is imperative that the Muslim community fights the ogre of communalism

Eye Opening Facts: Steel Sector

Pakistan steel sector

Preventing Military Take Overs

Military Reforms

Dam it?

Protest against the extension of Mangla Dam continues despite the mainstream media's ignorance

Rightsizing of the Armed Forces

the huge Pak Army fulfils few strategic functions

The Urdu Press in New York

We never thought we would flee America

USA and Muslims

Muslim extremists generally dislike non-Muslims and they hate various people at local level

A Work In Progress

Jinnah put Pakistan in such a location that the future state would always be involved in the geo-politics of world

Creation of Hindu ’madrasas’

Is this the sort of education we Indians want in our school system?

Games Generals Play

the General deserves to be applauded for forcing a semblance of democracy to the working of political parties

Analysis of Stunning Gains by Religious Parties in Pakistan’s Elections

Pakistan’s Elections: An Unintended Consequence of US War against Terrorism?

Democracy is Like Virginity

Who is Responsible for Nepal’s Corruption, Poverty and Failed Development?

Story of a middle class family of Nepal

Organized Irrelevance

Are Muslims hopeless? With the OIC, they are...

Peace in South Asia

Arundhati Roy gave the Pakistanis a glimpse of what free-thinking is

Cry, the Beloved Country

There is much that the murdering mobs in Gujarat have robbed from me

Indian Diplomacy : Time To Recheck

The year saw a marked upswing in new Delhi’s relations with the US, Russia, Japan, Germany and France

A Reason For Change

What is really interesting about Marianne Pearl’s interview with CNN is not what she said

Coming Home to a Foreign Land

Kirtida Oza recently crossed the border from Ahmedabad for a three week trip to Pakistan

Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, SJ

An interview with a war hero ...

The Chicken Hawks Of Pakistan

The military should accept the fact that it is a dictatorship

Our Blind Nuclear Prophets

why did Indian and Pakistani defence budgets go up, rather than down, after the May 1998 tests?

Hands Across The Border

we all must plant our saplings of peace today

Eathquake Hits India And Pakistan

At least 15,000 people are feared dead

Democracy in Pakistan: The Missing Link?

Democracy has long been a buzzword in Pakistan

Elections, Pakistani Style

One moment we were leading, the next we fell behind

Should Pakistan Honor the Lahore Resolution?

why Pakistan failed to become a confederation in accordance with the spirit and content of the Lahore resolution?.

Would Devolution Empower “We the People”?

Musharraf’s devolution plan is likely to empower the people of Pakistan. But, how?

1971 in 2000

... this singular event is consigned to the dustbin of history.

Where Mountains Move

The Story of Chagai

Protest against Kalabagh Dam

Please urge Pakistani Government

A Third World Crow and a First World Wren

I will give you water if you raise my level!

Indians and Pakistanis Must Start Anew

The richest resource on the earth can only be human resources

Just another cry in the dark

In our 53 years of turbulent history the country has seen nothing but thieves and self righteous leaders

A Rumor Of Lies

Pakistan, as a nation, seems to have entered a political terra incognita from which it is unlikely to return

A Nation of Beggars

The irony is that the poverty myth has itself become a barrier to reducing poverty

ALIF - The Way Ahead?

to build the Kingdom of God out of scraps

Why Clinton should visit Pakistan

The Americans simply cannot sideline Pakistan...

Pakistan: A Failed State?

If Sethi’s diagnosis has some merit, Pakistan is a potentially failed state.

Twosome Troubles of Troublesome Two

The adolescent behavior of both the Indian and Pakistani elites and their awry management of bilateral relations has become a matter of international notoriety

The Millenium Manifesto or ’Ikeesween Sadi Dastoor’

Kashmir does not belong to Pakistan regardless of historical events during partition...

An Effort to get the Cutting Edge to Deliver: Shivpuri Vikas Express

It doesn’t take much to get government moving in a way that makes a real difference to the average citizen

Hegemony of the Ruling Elite in Pakistan

We have a chequered past in our experiments with democracy

In Defence of Benevolent Dictators

More democracy ? More of the same ? No thanks

Pakistan: Rapprochement with India ‘unstoppable’

One thing is clear: people want peace with India

Pak-Millennium Conference 1999

Setting the stage for the new millenium.

ADB Cancels Sewerage Loan

An article welcoming the cancellation of a $70 million Asian Development Bank loan for the Korangi-Landhi area.

Connected to: Harsh Kapoor

SPIDER talks to Cyber Warrior Harsh Kapoor about his stance on the recent blocking of the Dawn Internet Edition in India

Kargil: A view from Pakistan

What gives in the mountains?

The Decline and Fall of Pakistan

Pakistan on the crossroads of a dilemma

Make ’Nobody’ Indian Prime Minister

Keep away from politics and electricity, cautions an Ethiopian proverb

Why The War On Ghosts Was Lost

The scourge will be eradicated from its roots, thundered Mr. Shahbaz Sharif

Getting Ready for ‘Bus Diplomacy’

Vajpayee and Sharif get creative. First bombs then bus rides.

A Forgotten Incident

India and Pakistan go to war!

A Nobel for Development Studies

Amartya Sen wins Nobel prize in economics

What Is Your Caste?

Caste is South Asia’s apartheid

Dow and NASDAQ set new records

A bull market that bears watching.

Nuclear Bomb for Sale

the demand for nuclear bombs outstripped that of mangoes, movies, health services, designer labels, paan, clean water,

Damming Kalabagh

Is the state acting wisely in its insistence upon building Kalabagh Dam?

Getting to Yes

Not to test was to permanently accept Indian domination.

The Hard Choice

A Pakistani physicist’s view on the eve of the Pakistani N-tests

So, We Are Nuclear Too!!

Scenes from a nuclear world

Patriot Games

Pass out the barfis. It could be a hockey match. A Tendulkar century. A riot or a nuclear blast.

Cash for Vote

An Expatriate Bill.

Pre-Eid Fireworks in Pakistan

On Monday April 06, Pakistan successfully tested a surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying nuclear payload over a range of 1100 km.

Art Festival to Explore Web Communities

This year’s Art/Culture Festival in Toronto, Canada holds special appeal for South Asian Web Citizens.

Imperatives For Economic Development Of Pakistan

So how can we hammer out a consensus around the proposition that we have to rapidly raise the standard of living of the people in Pakistan?

Economic Development Conference at MIT

Integrating Pakistan Into the New Global Economy conference to be held at MIT Sloan on March 07: the event to be covered live at the Chowk Chatroom.

UN Sanctions Against Iraq: 10 Myths

Economic sanctions against industrialized countries, which include a ban on foreign trade, can be more lethal than limited military attacks.

The Exploding Cities of the Developing World

With ever-increasing global integration, problems that arise in one city can quickly spread throughout its region and even worldwide.

Phool Na Loon to Kiya Karoon?

This article or rather bunch of ideas was inspired by the debate on capitalism and inequitable distribution of wealth raging on Chowk...

Poet Sheikh Ayaz

He was incarcerated many times for his seditious writings and was also sentenced to death, but escaped gallows due to the sudden change of government.

Bebee Phool Nahin Lo

Can this poor, raped, ravaged, depleted, sick earth take the burden of industrializing China, India, Pakistan and other third world countries?

Gender and Literacy in Pakistan

By looking at agendas and practices of some organizations involved with women’s literacy in Pakistan this paper attempts to clarify ideas related to gender, assumed or consciously advocated in their various approaches.

Chowkwalas Interview Pak. Law Minister

Chowk readers conduct a cyber interview with Law Minister Khalid Anwer

The Harsh Truth

The first topic of conversation is always Pakistan. Karachi mein kya ho raha hay? The discourse begins ...