Category: Columns

As the world marks Genocide Prevention Day on 9 December and Human Rights Day on 10 December, we are reminded that remembrance must lead to responsibility, and responsibility must lead to justice for every community, without exception. Dr. Rakhshinda Perveen shares her reflections for IBC. Preamble: These are some of my reflections on a subject...

In the public eye, politics often appears as a game — of power, privilege, and corruption. Yet behind that glitter lies a dark web of pressure, fear, and compulsion that entraps nearly every politician. The truth is that those who seem powerful are often the most helpless. In our political system, the politician stands like...

Structurally restrained, socially vibrant yet politically invisible, emotionally drained and culturally undervalued – this defines Pakistan’s youth today. Youth in Pakistan are glorified as tomorrow’s leaders but denied a voice in today’s decisions. They fill classroom, energize streets through protests and rallies, organize cultural and community events and amplify collective voices through digital activism. However,...

The contradiction, full reservoirs and yet shortages, reveals Pakistan’s real water crisis After years of drought, the 2025 monsoon brought abundance. Pakistan’s reservoirs were full. Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma were filled close to capacity at the beginning of Kharif. Yet the Indus River System Authority announced an 8% shortage for the Rabi season. The contradiction,...

After nearly 15 years of nonfunded singular advocacy for creating empathy for the “stranded, shunned, and stigmatized” patriots whom I also call the Abandoned Pakistanis—I decided to take another intellectual risk. This time, the risk involved inviting thinkers and empaths in the twin cities into a reflective and meaningful conversation inspired by my most recent...

On 2 December 2025, Pakistan’s Parliament—meeting in a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the Senate—approved the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025. The bill, introduced by Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, seeks to establish a permanent national body dedicated to safeguarding the rights of non-Muslim citizens. The legislation secured 160 votes in...

The story of Pakistan’s creation is often narrated as a straightforward struggle of a united Muslim community under a visionary leadership. Yet when we examine the historical landscape more critically, the movement appears far more complex, shaped less by internal political preparations and more by the shifting global realities that weakened the British Empire. A...

We live in a time where information travels faster than ever. With one click, we can see news, opinions, and videos from all over the world. But even with this progress, our moral values seem to be getting weaker. We make quick judgments, react without thinking, and speak without understanding. This is the real moral...

There are countless kinds of people in this world countless colors countless voices. But among them are some whom we look at, yet never really see People to whom we give a place under the open sky but inside the roofs of our hearts we never spare even a single corner for them. My society...

Despite the river’s volatility, our politics remain trapped in the comfort of familiar fights. Climate change is reshaping the Indus Basin far faster than Pakistan’s institutions can respond. The 2025 monsoon made this brutally clear. According to assessments by the United Nations, Government of Pakistan, and multiple international reporting agencies, the floods inundated roughly 5.4...