Realism

  We are all living in an era where human beings have been facing numerous health challenges. But, the monster of deteriorating mental health has downplayed the other ones.  Regularly, people are getting victims of this menace. Hundreds have been paralyzed while dozens have been surrendered their lives to this illness in the name of self-help.  Though the challenge is not a new one but its severity in current times is a major headache.  Here a question rises why humans are so anxious in the most sophisticated periods of their history.  The answer lies in the very core of this question. The fanciful world of today's time is due to nexus of capitalism, modernization and globalization.  On one hand, these three notions have given a charismatic look to life while they have also disrupted the very core foundations of a peaceful stint in the world on the other hand.  In a capitalist-dominated curriculum, a kid at school level learns that the essentials of le...

     The   boom of the tourism sector is the talk of the town and widely acknowledged as a symbol of prosperity, growth, cultural assimilation, interfaith harmony, and many other positive trends.      But, the most concerning thing is that the unchecked growth of tourism has turned it into overtourism and the perils of this uncontrolled phenomenon have been now outweighing its positive aspects.    The climate is bearing the maximum brunt. To carry thousands of tourists, a huge number of public-private transport services - engines running on fossil fuels- are in action every time which means that carbon emissions are reaching new heights.    Then, the initiation of massive infrastructure projects to accommodate tourists - by wiping out forest covers, disturbing natural habitats, and building large tourist resorts, resthouses, guesthouses, hotels, and restaurants-  has been aggravating the fragility of the climate.   Si...

  At the time of independence, Pakistan was a water-abundant country. But, the reality has changed in today's time. The country is the epicenter of the growing water crisis and it has fallen in the list of water stress countries.   The questions popping up in the minds are what are the factors that have been pushing Pakistan towards water scarcity? and is there any way forward?   To answer these questions, one has to delve deep into the different socio-economic and political dynamics of the country.  On the social side, from the time of independence to 2025, the population of Pakistan has soared from 35 million to more than 220 million. It means that the demand curve is on the rise at an exorbitant rate.  Then, the years of negligence, poor water governance and political turmoil have been aggravating the situation.  For a majority of Pakistanis, water is still a plentiful resource; therefore, if they are still cultivating highly water-intensive crops like r...

  Local government is a quiet buzzing word in Pakistan. A few are aware of its true viability. It is a system of devolution of power to the lowest level which has been working for the welfare of common people for centuries. The setup can change the despensation in Pakistan through multiple ways.  At the governance level, the devolution will empower a common citizen. He/she will do not have to visit MLA/MPA to highlight issues of sewerage, sanitation, and other local problems.   It means the issues will be resolved at the local level, the standard of life of people will improve and the society will get rid of many social problems. For instance, if the people get maximum facilities and opportunities of spending happy life at their village level, the rate of urbanization, migration, and street crimes will be lower.   Similarly, effective local governments will also narrow down the sense of otherness and alienation among marginalized sections of society. People will opt ...

    Political situation of Syria has great importance in current international geopolitical dynamics and the change in Damascus is going to send strong ripples all around the world .    In the Middle East, the rise of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) has made Iran the biggest loser. It has not only lost its close ally but also faced a serious blow to Axis of Resistance.    As the new rulers of Syria have shown firm commitment to squeeze Iranian influence in the country, the Revolutionary Guards have to take a deep and risky route to feed their proxies in the region, especially in Lebanon and Palestine.   Then, Iran has to be more wary of security threats posed by the growing influence of Israel in Syria and the chances of direct conflagration have increased manifold.    On the other hand, the new development is a great strategic boost for Israel. Now, Knesset has more freedom to fulfill its ambition of greater Israel by pressing Axis of Resistance ...

   Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood conducted by Hamas against Israel in October 2023, Benjamin's government has lost its sences. Though it has taken lives of more than 40 thousand innocent people in Gaza, attacked hospitals and refugees’ camps, breached sovereignties of Iran, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries and used inhuman tactics to bulldoze resistance yet the anger is still on a high node and the Zionists want to completely annihilate their opponents.    In this tumultuous situation, a question arises in people's mind whether Israel will become victorious?    The answer of this question is no. Yes, in current situation, it looks like that Israel is going to completely occupy Gaza and some other hotspots and the operation will end the story of Hamas, Hezbollah and other opposing forces once and for all. But, in long run, the picture will be quiet different.    First of all, Hamas highly coordinated and well-planned operation in the last...

سنڑل سپئیریر سروسز (سی-ایس-ایس) پاکستان میں سب سے بڑا مقابلے کا امتحان ہے جس کے ذریعے پاکستان میں وفاقی سطح پر چوٹی کی آسامیوں کے  لئے بھرتیاں کی جاتی ہیں۔  ہر سال ہزاروں  امیدواران اس امتحان کا حصہ بنتے ہیں لیکن معمہ یہ ہے کہ محض دو سے اڑھائی فیصد امیدواران ہی اس امتحان کو پاس کر پاتے ہیں۔  یہاں سوال یہ پیدا ہوتا ہے کہ آخر وہ کون سی ایسی وجوہات ہیں جو اس امتحان میں بڑی تعداد میں ناکامی کا باعث بنتی ہیں۔  سب سے پہلے اگر ہم پاکستان کے تعلیمی نظام پر غور  کرتے ہیں تو جو پہلی حقیقت آشکار ہوتی ہے۔    وہ یھ ہے کہ فرسودہ  تعلیمی نظام ہی دراصل سی۔ایس۔ایس جیسے مقابلے کے امتحان میں بڑے پیمانے پر ناکامی کی اصل  وجہ ہے۔  اس اامتحان  میں کامیابی کا بڑا    انحصار ایک امیدوار کی انگلش  کے  مضمون پر  گرفت  ہوتا   ہے جبکہ مقابلے کا  حصہ بننے والوں کی انگلش مضمون کی تعلیم میں ہی  بھت  بڑا فرق ہوتا  ہے ایک  طرف  کچھ امیدواران اے لیول ، او لیول اور ٹاپ یونیورسٹیوں سے تعلیم حاصل...

   Pakistan has been in very poor economic situation for years. Challenges faced by the sector are well-known but way forward to come out of the misery is still a puzzle.   However, the country can get out of these stressful conditions by reframing its choices and policies. Firstly, the top brass has to redefine the core idea of national security. Instead of merely focusing on becoming a military might, the top tier has to give due importance to economic security.  Meanwhile, at individual level, masses of the whole country have to ask a question from themselves whether the country's economy can bear the burden of rapidly rising population with scarce food, water and other natural resources?  Then, at government level, the stakeholders have to understand that the economic growth is highly dependent on the development of human capital ;therefore, the economy cannot prosper with such a low share of spendings on education, healthcare and technological advancements....

  Currently, Pakistan is facing one of the worst economic crises of its history. High inflation, trade deficits, soaring debts, declining exports and rising unemployment are the talks of the town.         Though the causes of this economic strangulation are many but it is politics of the country which is lying at the heart of the issue.     Extractive and hostile politics and unstable political environment have been hurting the economy in multiple ways. First of all, human capital is the baseline on which an economy starts flourishing. But, due to extractive nature of the politics of Pakistan, very few leaders are truly willing to educate masses and eqip them with the moderdays' skills to exel in their lives. They know that development of human capital will be disastrous for them. Consequently, the economic sector is paying high cost of the dearth of the capital.     Furthermore, variegated policies of different government...

      Power supply is considered as the engine of growth. It leads to industrialization, advancement, agriculture boom, healthy lifestyle and transforms fate of nations.   However, its scarcity halts the journey of states towards prosperity and progress. And, Pakistan is the prominent example of the fact.   Right from its independence, power shortages and long hours of loadshedding have been the matters of daily routine and hampering the progress.   It does not mean that the country has paucity of energy resources. Rather, there are certain other reasons of this chronic illnesses which demand immediate attention of the stakeholders.   Primarily, irrational use of subsidies in the energy sector is the leading cause of the shortage of energy. The government spends almost 80 per cent of the total subsidies on this sector to compensate the losses due to electricity theft, line losses ,and poor governance. In other words, the subsidies hide incompetenc...

      Today, Pakistan is facing number of unconventional security dilemmas. Global warming, climate change, natural catastrophes and water and food insecurities have been wrecking havoc in the country and the entire community is clueless in front of these challenges.    The leadership and people are only whining in front of the world that they are innocent and victim of injustices. Their contributions in emissions of greenhouse gases are minimum but the repercussions of the  toxic are unbearable. While Indian belligerence towards water sharing is one of the major reasons of the growing water and food insecurity.     But, as a matter of fact, this victimhood mentality is an easy exit from taking the responsibilities. Technically, the state is equally blameable for these challenges. According to the capabilities, the residents are committing every wrong to aggravate the situation.    From the perspective of climate change and global w...

      Pakistan is home to more than 220 million people. According to different survey reports, ages of almost 60pc of the people are lying in the working age group. When one looks at the statistics, he calls the staggering numbers an asset for Pakistan.    However, the actual situation is very different. The youth of the country is in highlights all over the world but for wrong reasons.    A few of them have been dying at the shores of Europe in the quest of reaching developed countries of the world while others have been felling prey to depression and anxiety. According data of Bureau of Immigration of 2022, those who have skills and finance to become part of developed societies have been leaving the country in massive numbers.    Here, a simple question pops up in the minds of people why youth is feeling insecure in its homeland? What sort of factors are making it anxious and depressed?    One can get answer of these question...

      Women, as marginalized section of the society, have been victim of patriarchy for centuries. But, since the advent of technology and sanity, a group - known as feminists- has been very vocal about their rights. It has been fighting for the cause at multiple fronts to make the environment conducive for women .    However, despite witnessing the three major waves of femininism, reading dozens of the writings and watching hundreds of the documentaries, feminism is still very much a conundrum for a layman due to several controversies.    Till date, feminists have no consensus on the very core idea of gender. For the essentionalists, gender is a biological reality based on differences of genitals. While the constructionits believe that gender is a social construction created by language and culture  to keep women in confinement of the male.   Hypocrisy of the pioneers of the slogans further magnifies the complexities. The west is leading the...

    International political system is in a transition phase. Era of uni-polarity has ended and multipolarity is the new order. Emerging powers like China, Russia, India and Japan have been trying to enhance their prowess in the world.   In the changing dynamics, rivals are busy in making alliances and counter-alliances to maintain balance of power.In this context, formulation of  Quad and AUKUS, parallel strategies of China and India in the form of Pearl of Strings and Dimond Necklace Policy, extension of Nato in the east, and initiation of projects like Build Back Better World of G-8 countries and Belt  and Road Initiative of China are the leading acts.   At regional level, middle powers are the central figures. Among them,  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) , Iran, Turkey, Egypt, India, Brazil and  Japan are the major ones. Recent diplomatic efforts of KSA to end crisis in Sudan, reinvigorate Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council and active parti...

    Animosity, brinkmanship and hostility are the dominant traits of Pakistan's politics. Merely, in the first ten years of its independence, seven prime ministers ascented to the thorne. The country had to lose its eastern wing because of the petty politics.   Even, after 75 years of its independence, history books cannot able to register a single name of  the elected prime minister who has completed five year tenure in the office.   Masses believe that foreign powers and the establishment  are solely responsible for the chaos. Due to their interference in the politics, puppets have been running the show and real representatives of Pakistan are at the bay.   But, to a greater extent, the assumption is wrong and a lame excuse. Rather, political parties, politicians and ordinary people themselves are responsible for the instability.   Let's discuss their roles one by one. When it comes to the part played by the populace, it does not respect de...

  Pakistan is one of those countries where political environment remains highly charged. In almost ever five to ten years, someone arrives at the central stage, chants slogans of revolution and starts threatening the existing setup.   In different eras, the country has witnessed different waves of uncertainty and turbulence in politics. In one of the major movements, a crismatic leader having leftists' ideology was leading the cause while in the majority of others, rightists were the central figures. But, no one could able to transform the culture.  For the most recent decade, Pakistan-Tareek-Insaf (having mixed ideology: semi-liberal and semi-religious) has been trying to get traction of the masses in the name of revolution. Its main stance is to end corruption and challenge dynasties and dictatorship. In the recent event, it's supporters showed strong resistance against the establishment and government when their leader was detained by the anti-corruption watchdog, on...

    Currently, Pakistan is facing the worst economic crisis of its history. There are numerous reasons of this grim situation. And, experts have been writing dozens of papers, articles and blogs to highlight the reasons of the issue.   However, there is one aspect which has been failed to grab attention of the pundits. The area is unplanned growing literacy rate of women in Pakistan which has been denting the economy.   The revelation is very bizarre but true. When education was less common among women in 50s,60s, and even upto to late 90s , they were playing pivotal role in the economy. In rural areas, they used to work in farmlands and cultivate crops and vegetables, at least for their domestic use. Due to the role,  the country was self sufficient in meeting demands of food to a greater extent.   Similarly,  there were domestic animals - cow, buffalo and goat- in almost every house. Housewives used to get dairy products from them. There was no deart...

    Pakistan is one of the poor countries of the world and weak economic condition is always a concern. Its stakeholders have to rely on loans, aids and concesstions for fulfilling financial needs of the country. Dozens of seminars have been conducted by its think-tanks and hundreds of papers have been published by its policymakers to fix the bleeding economy but signs of sustainable economic growth are still very bleak.   Though there are numerous reasons of crippling economy of the country, hostile political culture of the country is a major stumbling block in the way of sustainable economic growth. And, one can justify the claim with ease. First of all, economy only thrives in stable political environment. Unfortunately, the leverage is alien in Pakistan. More often, political environment remains charged. Right from days of independence, opposition and some other non-political actors always try to keep the government under their influence. On one hand, it is almos...

    For more than a decade, successive democratic governments have been ruling Pakistan. Three consecutive elections have been held in it and three different parties have made their governments at the center through these elections. Meanwhile, government of Pakistan Tareek Insaf (PTI) had to leave the office in March 2022 due to a no confidence move which was also a democratic action.  Despite all these positive developments in the recent past, future of democracy is very bleak in the country. And, there are numerous factors which are responsible for fledgling democratic setup in Pakistan.  Firstly, almost all major political parties of Pakistan are non-democratic in nature. There is no proper framework of fair democratic intra-party elections because top slots of these parties  are only for members of few influential families, feudal lords, tribal leaders and business tycoons. A common worker has no chance of social mobility in the setup.   Meanwhile,...

   South Asia (SA) is home of eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,Pakistan,Maldives,Nepal and Sirilanka.  SA  is a diverse region and people of different religions and ethnicities are living in it. Meanwhile, the area is also home of two nuclear powers:India and Pakistan. The region is lying at the edge of Indian Ocean. Therefore, it has great importance from geographical and geo-startegic point of view. The states have also a regional organization known as South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to harness the fruits of its typical geography.    Despite all these positive aspects, SA is one of the backward regions of the world. There are plethora of challenges and issues which are haunting the progress of the area.    First of all, hostile ties among countries of the area are major stumbling block in the way of properity and development. India and Pakistan are two giants of the region. They have very tense relations. ...