Manipulating Pakistani minds
IS it legal for a Pakistani state institution to maintain secret funds for influencing attitudes and opinions regarding individuals, groups, and political parties? Is there not a constitutional obligation to […]
Ramanujan and Salam — what inspired them?
SRINIVISAN Ramanujan (1887-1920) and Muhammad Abdus Salam (1926-1996), two intellectual giants of the 20th century, were born in the same corner of the world. Of humble origin and educated in […]
Missile worship not warranted
EVERY time Pakistan test-launches a Shaheen or India an Agni, subcontinental testosterone levels shoot sky high. The fiery plumes carry aloft a nuclear-capable missile that can lay a city to […]
A university self-destructs
MUCH has been said about the corruption of Pakistan’s politicians, generals, and judges. But large numbers of PhD professors (and the ranks below) are now out to give them stiff […]
What India owes to Nehru
PANDIT Jawaharlal Nehru would never have won a popularity contest in Pakistan quite simply because he did his best to oppose our country’s creation. But nowhere is he reviled more […]
The ‘Salam Centre’ brouhaha
IN another country naming or renaming a university’s physics centre or department would be considered utterly unremarkable. But here in Pakistan — if the name is that of Abdus Salam […]
Cyber intimidation: a bad idea
LAST week an unsigned email from Netra[email protected] landed in my inbox. It accused me of stirring “hate against the state and the institutions in the garb of being sane and […]
July elections: the certainties
IT is rare for elections to leave democracy weaker, not stronger. But this is what will happen after July 25. Whether the PML-N, headed by Shahbaz Sharif wins or, instead, […]
A Pakistani Hawking?
WHEN the legendary physicist Stephen Hawking died earlier this year, it was headline news across the world. Soon thereafter universities and colleges in Lahore and Islamabad asked me to speak upon […]
Religious bias okayed
IT’S always been easy for power-seeking Pakistani clerics and politicians to set our simple-minded religious masses on fire. But, as Prime Minister Imran Khan just discovered, jumping on to a […]