The word denoting ‘the masses’ is often used recklessly by political commentators and the media, leading to glib understandings that negate class.
Updated14 Apr, 202410:43am
Societies across the globe and across time have always attempted to build mythologised images of their aspirational "heroes".
Updated07 Apr, 202410:51am
PPP’s version of Sindhi nationalism has the ability to merge seamlessly with Pakistani federalism, and it can also dilute radical religious and political threats.
Updated24 Mar, 202411:07am
A blend of politics and entertainment, "politainment" might appear innocuous, but one of its consequences is the dumbing down of complex political issues.
Updated17 Mar, 202403:27pm
The JUI-F’s brand of conservative politics might have given the party a foothold in northern Sindh, but it is unlikely to challenge PPP’s supremacy in the province.
Updated10 Mar, 202410:57am
The rise of the middle class has resulted in an increased exhibition of religiosity, on both sides of the Indo-Pak border.
Published03 Mar, 202408:25am
‘Simulated subversion’ or ‘designer resistance’ may seem to be revolutionary but is largely staged and very much part of the mainstream ethos that it claims to be subverting.
Published25 Feb, 202407:25am
Unlike in 2018, the PTI’s success at the polls this time has been wholly powered by voters’ negative emotions, a response to the crackdown against the party.
Published18 Feb, 202407:20am
The long-standing intervention of Pakistan’s military establishment in politics can only be broken if the country’s politicians learn to play their cards right.
Published11 Feb, 202407:49am
Following the January 13 Supreme Court verdict against the PTI, the ‘puritans’ of democracy decided to paint CJP Isa as the new anti-democracy villain.
Updated28 Jan, 202411:24am
Contrary to popular belief, the average Pakistani voter is less interested in voting for political ideologies that appeal to one’s emotions.
Published21 Jan, 202407:21am
Occasionally the notion of ‘class solidarity’ kicks in within the middle class, despite the presence of intra-class tensions.
Updated14 Jan, 202411:07am
Electoral candidates, parties trying to feast on PTI’s deflated vote bank by presenting themselves as ‘guardians of democracy’.
Published07 Jan, 202407:14am
Most societies create ‘heroes’ as a source of inspiration and pit them against ‘villains’ that must be vanquished and demonised.
Published31 Dec, 202309:36am
While politics is a pragmatic, amoral and Machiavellian ‘science’, political romantics tend to poeticise politics and use it as an occasion to exercise emotions.
Published24 Dec, 202306:31am
Despite never formally recognising the state of Israel, Pakistan has had a far more intertwined relationship with the Zionist state than some might think.
Published17 Dec, 202305:43am
Concocted nationalist narratives that had been proliferated by the state for decades in India, Pakistan and Israel received a reality check in 1980s.
Published10 Dec, 202308:20am
Populist or illiberal forces that come to power through a democratic process are the result of a contradiction in democracy.
Published03 Dec, 202307:11am
