Nadeem F. Paracha is a researcher and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com. He is also the author of ten books on the social and political history of Pakistan.
While it is wise to question everything in the information age, questioning the obvious is not an exercise in critical thinking.
Updated30 Nov, 202510:47am
As political disagreements turn into social suspicion and emotional hostility, a new form of division is taking root around the world.
Published23 Nov, 202505:53am
Across the world, romanticised expectations of democracy have collided with social realities, resulting in a pragmatic turn where stability outranks ideals.
Updated16 Nov, 202509:57am
Karachi’s maritime soul — once buried under waves of migration from landlocked regions — is now re-emerging and redefining.
Published09 Nov, 202507:03am
The phrase "Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires" is perpetuated by the Taliban as a way to mythologise the image of the 'invincible' Afghan.
Updated26 Oct, 202510:05am
Sectarian outfits in Pakistan, such as the TLP, remain outsiders to the ideological lineage of the Palestinian struggle they claim to defend.
Updated19 Oct, 202510:33am
From activists to politicians — societies routinely construct, romanticise and discard their chosen symbols of virtue and rebellion.
Updated12 Oct, 202512:12pm
Constant interchangeable usage of the terms "Islamic" and "Muslim" in public discourse has resulted in an inability amongst most to understand the difference between the two.
Updated05 Oct, 202510:28am
Secular ideas, when imbued with sacred meaning, turn politics into a "moral mission" and reshape democracy’s character in the process.
Published28 Sep, 202504:21am
Cricket, whether one likes it or not, is inescapably linked to the turbulent waters that Pak-India relations tread and to suggest "keeping politics out of sport" is to ignore this reality.
Updated21 Sep, 202511:57am
Letters, lectures and public spats among senior judges now expose how judicial activism risks becoming politicisation and self-aggrandisement.
Updated14 Sep, 202510:34am
In truth, populist uprisings are clashes between rival elites, each cloaking its power struggle in the language of mass resistance.
Updated24 Aug, 202509:45am
The PPP’s hold over Sindh, despite what some may argue, isn’t because of weak opposition — it is the result of electoral functionality.
Updated10 Aug, 202510:57am
History offers examples of separatist movements succeeding with foreign help — but most often, they become pawns in geo-political rivalries. Is the insurgency in Balochistan, which may reportedly see the involvement of Israel, destined to remain trapped in this vicious cycle?
Updated03 Aug, 202511:08am
Pakistan’s ideological evolution from Muslim nationalism to Islamic nationalism has often been misunderstood. Now, the state is quietly reforming its ideological identity — distinct from both secularism and Islamism.
Updated27 Jul, 202510:31am
Countries such as China and Pakistan are stepping into new roles following the rise of multi-polar realism and the crumbling of the illusions of Western democracy.
Updated20 Jul, 202510:03am
