We need domestic violence legislation…now
Pakistan is considered to be the third most dangerous place for women to live in, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation poll 2011. Despite the fact that the majority population in Pakistan is female, it is still a strictly patriarchal society where women are sometimes killed for something as personal as choosing a husband. In the West, women liberation now means fighting for tax payer funded abortion; in Pakistan, we are still advocating the treatment of women as equal beings who deserve the basic rights to life, family, freedom from torture and inhuman treatment. While there is some progress on the ...
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Living with multiple sclerosis
I suffer from multiple sclerosis. I also suffer from a cocktail of other ailments that such abbreviations bring. However you never know what or which. You spend endless hours every week with new symptoms that could fit into other definitions. There is a concoction of medications and an assortment of supplements that promise good health, but is there ever hope? Never. Hope is about knowing that the disease will go away. Hope is for the foolish. Here, there is fighting; there is preparedness; and there is perseverance. I must live as the capacitor that can store every iota of strength for my ...
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Let’s make Pakistan polio free
With all this talk of anti-polio vaccination drives, I feel it is important to educate people about this disease. What is polio? Polio is a viral disease which can affect the spinal cord, causing muscle weakness and paralysis. The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person. This virus is more common in infants and young children, and occurs under conditions of poor hygiene. Paralysis is prevalent and more severe when the infection occurs in older individuals. Polio spreads when the stool of an infected person is introduced into the mouth of another ...
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Know your rights: Ilmpossible
Distracted by the political instability of the country, Pakistanis have failed to draw their attention to the termites that have been incessantly devouring the well being of the country. The crippled education system of Pakistan has proved to be one of these destructive creatures. Nevertheless, the presidential assent given to the Constitution (18th Amendment) Bill in April 2010 was an occurrence of great magnitude in this matter. What were the outcomes of the 18th Amendment? It turned Pakistan into a parliamentary republic; it removed the powers of the president to dissolve Parliament unilaterally. What else did it do to the constitution? ...
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Are toilets a human right?
This weekend was one of the year’s most auspicious days. A day that the WTO prides itself on and purportedly uses to create awareness of a problem facing 2.6 billion people. A day best celebrated sitting down. I am, of course, referring to World Toilet Day, and if you’re confused, that’s not the World Trade Organisation, it’s the World Toilet Organisation. This ‘other’ WTO has organised ‘Big Squats’ globally ever since the WTD began being commemorated since 2001. Unfortunately (or fortunately for some), the website does not elaborate on what a ‘Big Squat’ is, but simply says that “WTO would ...
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Would you marry an epileptic girl?
When I was younger, a pretty girl named Sarah* used to live in my neighborhood. I would often notice her on my way to school. Sarah was like any other girl, but a little quiet. I did not know much about her. Then, a few years back, her family moved away from our neighborhood. A few days before they left, the girl’s sister came to my house to meet my mother. She told my mother that her brother, an educated web developer, was not allowing Sarah to get married because she suffered from epilepsy. Her brother thought that after marriage, her husband and in-laws ...
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Citizens of hypocrisy: Can a petition save Pakistan?
At the first protest I attended, Karachi Unversity students were protesting against the frequent riots by student political wings. It was grand. A large number of young people, full of energy, were screaming, excitedly holding up placards. Not a single one of them seemed to care about what was written on the placards they were holding. It was all about being at the front, holding the best placard, shouting slogans at the tops of their lungs, and most importantly, getting coverage from the media. Apart from the burning sun on my head and some tiny pushes from here and there, I admit ...
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AIDS: Battle the disease, and the stigma
It has been almost 30 years since the symptoms of HIV/AIDS first presented themselves in 1981 in San Francisco and New York amongst young homosexual men; 27 years since the virus itself was discovered and in this time we have come a long way in figuring out how HIV spreads and what precautions to take. As far as treatment is concerned, leaps and bounds have been made and now people with the disease can live an (almost) normal life. But what has not changed in this time is the stigma attached with having the disease, the public perception and the public ...
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Sexy people need to care about Pakistan
I must admit that the number of flood awareness related display pictures, events and links shared on Facebook have significantly decreased even though the problem, itself, has not. Display pictures have changed from victims submerged in water or looking up at helicopters for food or to be rescued to people joyfully posing at weddings and parties. My events page, once full of requests from charity organisers, is now dominated by clothes exhibitions. This gradual change left me with slight grief as I realised that we had hit a saturation point – done what we felt we could and now wanted to ...
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Breast cancer myths: It’s not as rare as you think
My aunt was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. It came as quite a shock because like everyone else, we thought cancer was something that could not possibly affect us or our loved ones. Two of my friends had already lost their mothers to cancer the same year. We were worried and consultations with doctors led to a unanimous decision that she need not go far for her treatment. Shaukat Khanam Cancer Hospital provides the best treatment for cancer patients. That prompt decision, early diagnosis and treatment helped my aunt get better. She is now cancer-free. Could I have breast cancer? My childhood ...
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