(By Ayesha Mahnoor) In the heart of what was once proudly hailed as the world’s largest secular democracy, a quiet but relentless transformation is underway. Nearly 200 million Indian Muslims—citizens whose families have lived on this soil for centuries, sometimes millennia—are being pushed to the margins of their own country. Streets that once echoed with…
(By Khalid Masood) I. Introduction The skies over Dubai turned from a canvas of aerial prowess to a scene of utter devastation on 21 November 2025, as the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) much-vaunted Tejas light combat aircraft erupted into a fireball during what should have been a routine demonstration at the Dubai Airshow. Wing Commander…
(By Ayesha Mahnoor) I. Introduction: The Four-Day War that Rewrote South Asian History From 7 to 10 May 2025, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan delivered a thunderous and unambiguous military victory over India in what has entered national lore as “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.” Triggered by India’s unprovoked air strikes—launched under the guise of retaliation for the…
(By Mohsin Tanveer) The two-day visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to Washington, culminating on 19 November 2025, will be recorded as one of the most consequential diplomatic events in the modern history of US–Gulf relations. Against the backdrop of a red-carpet welcome, fighter-jet flyover, and a black-tie dinner attended by global…
(By Ayesha Mahnoor) It is August 2025. A young woman in Lahore switches on the fan; nothing happens—another eight-hour load-shedding. In Karachi, sewage flows openly in the street outside a private school that charges Rs 90,000 a month. In Quetta, a bright Baloch engineering graduate boards a bus to the Iranian border—he has a Canadian…
(By Quratulain Khalid) The recent sentencing of Sheikh Hasina Wajed to death by a Dhaka tribunal on November 17, 2025, marks a poetic yet overdue reckoning. This verdict, handed down in absentia for her role in the brutal 2024 crackdown that claimed over 800 lives, exposes the fragility of her so-called “iron-clad” rule and the…
(By Khalid Masood) I. Introduction On the morning of November 14, 2025, Patna’s counting centers turned into theatres of disbelief. As the NDA’s tally surged past 200 seats, shell-shocked RJD workers gathered outside the strong rooms shouting “EVM chor hain!” In Muzaffarpur, an elderly woman—her calloused hands clutching a State Bank passbook—summed up the election…
(By Ayesha Mahnoor) The State of Pakistani Politics Today In Pakistan, a nation founded on the ideals of Islamic justice and self-determination, politics has become synonymous with betrayal, corruption, and self-enrichment. According to the common perception, the current phase of political activity is in the hands of people who are so self-serving and devoid of…
(By Quratulain Khalid) In Pakistan, where cultural emphasis on medicine and engineering has long defined “success,” a seismic shift is underway. Parents across the region, from bustling Karachi to the serene valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, still envision their children’s futures through the lens of white coats and hard hats. Yet, as the world hurtles toward…
(By Mohsin Tanveer) Introduction The integrity of a legislative body is paramount to a functioning democracy, yet in countries like Pakistan, the indirect election process for the upper house—the Senate—has been consistently plagued by allegations of vote-buying and “horse-trading.” This practice, where wealthy individuals allegedly purchase their seats by paying huge sums to electors (Members…
