When sonia (not her real name), a 22-year-old transgender woman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, learned that she was living with HIV, she did not immediately seek treatment. It was not simply a question of whether medicines or healthcare services were available. She was afraid of what might happen if people around her discovered her HIV status....
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August 28, 2026August 28, 2026Columns
The PIMS Tragedy: A Trial of the State’s Moral Obligation Within the House of Healing
There are calamities which refuse to remain mere calamities. They become, rather, revelatory moments in which the concealed anatomy of an entire system is suddenly exposed, as though an unseen hand had torn away the veil from its countenance. The conflagration that erupted within the Mother and Child Health Block of the Pakistan Institute of...
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August 27, 2026August 27, 2026Columns
The Inner Reflection: Prophetic Compassion in an Era of Bitterness
When one contemplates the grand sweep of human history, an overwhelming stillness and suffocating despair often emerge. The earth has endured epochs wherein the intrinsic worth of human existence was utterly negated, the frail breath of the vulnerable hung upon the fleeting whims of the powerful, and infant daughters were silently interred beneath the soil...
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August 27, 2026August 27, 2026Columns
Victims of Violence: Who Is Responsible?
Pakistan is once again confronting a painful question: How many innocent women and girls must suffer before society stops treating violence against them as an isolated crime? In recent weeks, a series of deeply disturbing cases has shaken the country. The alleged sexual assault and subsequent death of 18-month-old Aizal in Karachi, the disappearance and...
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August 26, 2026August 26, 2026Columns
The Prophetic Political Ethos: A Message for the Contemporary Age
Throughout the vast theatre of history, innumerable thrones have risen, countless crowns have glittered, and empires intoxicated by the magnificence of their own power have cast their shadows across successive ages; yet the inexorable dust of time has effaced the traces of them all. There arose, however, one polity whose authority rested less upon the...
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August 19, 2026August 19, 2026Columns
Winds of change to where?
THERE is much talk of the ‘winds of change’, but where are they blowing from? Well-briefed sections of the media and well-connected cabinet ministers tell us that some form of administrative restructuring to create new provinces is inevitable, and that it may come sooner rather than later. We are told it is ‘the will of...
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August 18, 2026August 18, 2026Columns
The Stalwart of Urdu Who Transformed a Language into an Institution
Let us summon before the mind’s eye that Karachi evening of 16 August 1961, when an aged scholar, having traversed the final confines of his mortal existence, departed upon the irreversible journey towards eternity. The city, indifferent to the magnitude of the moment, continued its accustomed rhythm: traffic coursed along its thoroughfares, markets remained animated,...
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August 18, 2026August 18, 2026Columns
Independence Day: A Renewal of Our National Pledge
August 14 is far more than a date on the calendar. It is a defining chapter in Pakistan’s national story a story written in the blood, tears, sacrifices, migrations, courage and unwavering faith of millions. It was on this historic day that a nation broke the chains of colonial rule and emerged on the world...
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August 17, 2026August 17, 2026Columns
Night Cream & Empty Chairs
I often imagine lying in my parents’ bed, spooned against Amma, her one arm and one leg draped over me, I can still smell her night cream. The softness of her clothes, the quiet warmth of her body, the familiar scent that has always meant safety. I play with her bangles until sleep pulls me...
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August 13, 2026August 22, 2026Columns
August 14: From Celebration to a Journey of Reflection
Every year as the month of August dawns, the air fills with an inexplicable surge of enthusiasm and emotional fervor. Green and white crescent flags fluttering in the streets, small paper flags held tightly in children’s hands, and buildings glowing under night lights proclaim that a nation is celebrating the birthday of its homeland. August...