Category: Editorial
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Yes, Adil Raja needed to apologise
Every now and then we sit and wonder: why are women easy and soft targets for hate, abuse and criticism? What is it in our society that allows men to slander and defame women without any consequences? Recently, Youtuber Adil Raja claimed that some Pakistani actresses and models were working in cahoots with General (retd)…
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2023 will be the year of the Pakistani woman
Look, Pakistani men: you no longer have a choice. This year, Pakistani women are taking over. And don’t we deserve it. Looking back at 2022, we had to bear the burden of abuse, rape and gruesome murders. Pakistan faces a gender gap in ways and incidents unimaginable. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report…
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Why do educated girls scare the Afghan Taliban?
Afghanistan’s Taliban-run higher education ministry has said that female students would not be allowed access to the country’s universities until further notice, barring them from getting education, something that is their right and a basic necessity. Where the Afghan Taliban’s takeover poses threat to many, people questioned what will happen to the women? Will their…
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Don’t tell our women what needs to be done
Women political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy. It facilitates women’s direct engagement in public decision-making and is a means of ensuring better accountability to women. But here in Pakistan, women in politics are seen as a threat to the fragile egos of some male politicians. When we talk about…
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Why do you want to leave Pakistan?
The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) found that 62 per cent of the male population of Pakistan aged between 15 to 24 years wants to leave the country. The survey reveals that slightly more people in urban Pakistan (40 per cent) than in rural Pakistan (36 per cent) desire to leave the country. The…
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Award ceremonies, listen up – glorifying abuse is not acceptable
From glorifying abusers and then giving them awards, the Lux Style Awards (LSAs) became a sorry affair this year. The coveted LSAs rolled out nominations for its 21st edition. As soon as the names were dropped, viewers condemned what they felt was an injustice to other artists and women. Actor Feroze Khan, who recently came…
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Punjab: a joy-less land
Under pressure from conservatives, the federal government banned Saim Sadiq’s Joyland a few days before its countrywide release. After severe backlash on social media and mainstream media, the federal government finally reconsidered its decision and lifted the ban on Joyland. Less than 24 hours after the federal government decided to lift the ban, the Punjab…
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Pakistan’s ‘true warriors’
Khan called his winning ‘92 World Cup team, the ‘cornered tigers’. For Babar, the team that came so very close are the ‘true warriors’. And we couldn’t agree more. Pakistan lost the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup today to England after only scoring 137 runs, a low total but one that was not easily defended…
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Visuals of an elderly man in anguish left us all shaken, wondering: are any of us safe?
PTI Senator Azam Swati made some shocking revelations on Saturday when he broke down in front of the media while narrating how his wife was sent a private video of the couple by an unknown number. Swati said that his wife was not even able to tell him what had happened, and his daughter had…
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Pakistan has spoken: no space for men like Feroze Khan
Domestic violence can be described as power misused by one adult in a relationship to control another. It is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through violence and other forms of abuse. Domestic violence is not simply about an ‘argument’. It is a pattern of coercive control that one person exercises over…