Category: Columns

Reproducing Dr Rakhshinda Perveen’s think piece originally Published in Daily Times, December 4th 2017. “Thousands of families of ill-fated Muslims, many of them refugees from Bihar, who chose Pakistan at the time of the partition riots in 1947, were mercilessly wiped out. Women were raped, or had their breasts torn out with specially-fashioned knives. Children...

In the grand theater of international relations, the curtain is falling on the Atlantic era. For decades, the geopolitical identity of the “West” was predicated on a singular, unshakable axis: the convergence of American military might and European diplomatic morality. It was a partnership assumed to be eternal, codified in the G7 and enshrined in...

On an early March afternoon near the tail of a distributary in Lower Chenab, the rotation chart on the patwari’s wall still shows that water is due. The wheat crop requires its final irrigation before harvest. On the ground, there is only a thin brown trickle that dies in the channel before reaching the final...

Liberty without any framework of order always moves toward anarchy. History teaches that every society, when given complete freedom without any boundaries, sooner or later collapses under its own weight. That is why every liberty must carry certain limits. No state in the world—whether it claims to be democratic, socialist, or authoritarian ever allows a...

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...