Op-Ed

Every evening in Pakistan, just when families sit down for tea and try to relax after a long day of surviving inflation, load-shedding and traffic, the real drama begins. Not in parliament. Not in the streets. But in brightly lit TV studios…

After years of working with federal and provincial governments across multiple administrations, I have learned something uncomfortable about reform in Pakistan. Failure here is rarely accidental. It is usually defended. Good ideas do not…

I don't know much first hand about the medical state of Imran Khan and the degree to which his right eye vision is impaired. I had the privilege to spend almost 2 hours sitting cross - legged on the floor next to him in Swat, where he…

Recently, I was back in my hometown Takht Bhai, sitting in my friend’s hujra — that sacred Pashtun institution where tea is strong, opinions are stronger, and facts are optional. We were armed with a kettle of black tea and thirty years of…

A new and deeply troubling chapter in Pakistan’s long struggle with militancy is unfolding quietly over the rooftops of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This time, the threat does not arrive on motorcycles or in explosives-laden vehicles. It descends…

I joined journalism more than two decades ago, young, idealistic, and full of borrowed theories about how societies change. On my very first beat, my mentor—an old-school reporter who had seen governments rise and fall—said something that…

Pakistan’s 15–35 Generation at the Point of No Return Why the next 10–15 years will decide whether Pakistan rises or fractures further A Voice at the Crossroads February 2026 A country running out of time Pakistan is young.…

In recent months, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen a troubling resurgence of militant violence, with law enforcement increasingly bearing the brunt of these assaults. Across the province — especially in the southern and western districts —…

If nations were destroyed by paperwork, Pakistan would have collapsed decades ago—under the sheer weight of files marked “Seen”, “Put up”, and “Submitted for kind perusal.” At the heart of this slow-motion tragedy stands Pakistan’s…

Pakistan stands at the most consequential crossroads of its modern history. This isn’t rhetoric. It’s basic arithmetic. The numbers from 2022 to today tell a story of drift of crisis management on repeat, of borrowing to survive rather…