Doctors, where art thou?
Pakistan has a count of ‘athara crore awaam’ (thank you, dear politicians, for continuously repeating this in the television talk shows) while the doctor/patient ratio was a mere 1:1,800 in 2010 – that means a single doctor catered to the medical woes of 1,800 people, and the situation has not seen much improvement ever since. The constitution of Pakistan clearly describes that the state has a responsibility, “To provide basic necessities of life, such as, food, clothing, housing, education and medical relief, for all citizens, irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race.” But where does the problem lie? It lies in the fact that ...
Read Full Post
One dozen provinces, please
Recently, the voices calling for the division of Punjab have been getting louder and louder. But do we really need to? What will the consequences be? What are the advantages? My personal view is that many people are demanding division for their petty agendas, but the step is not in the larger interest of Pakistan. Keeping personal interests aside and treating the matter without bias we have come to the conclusion that: Pakistan has certainly developed but not uniformly, many smaller cities have been overlooked (not only in Punjab but in all provinces) Facilities are not provided equally to people of all regions A ...
Read Full Post
Karachi’s crime malaise
Karachi, with a population of nearly 20 million, has its fair share of problems like all other major metropolitans. Its weary residents have had to put up with a multitude of problems, including a huge slum population, frequent power cuts and poor infrastructure. However, few cities have as bad a reputation for crime, particularly street crime, as Karachi. Be it mobile snatching, car theft, robberies at ATMs or traffic signals, there will be few Karachiites who do not have some sort of a story to tell of their or their acquaintances’ encounters with street crime. Many will be quick to attribute ...
Read Full Post
How my driver said yes to contraception
My driver, Qasim, beamed at me in our car’s rear-view mirror. “Kara liya! Hum nay baccha band kara liya! Main nay apni biwi ka bachadaani operation say nikalwa liya” (We did it! We got permanent contraception! I got my wife to get an operation to get her uterus removed). I beamed back – the two of us, partners in glory. Strange conversation with a driver indeed. I settled in to my seat and thought back over the past few years. My mother was the first one to tell me about Qasim’s wife – pregnant with their eighth child, her listlessness and apathy had scared ...
Read Full Post
The untapped power potential of AJK
On a recent visit to my hometown Chakothi in Azad Kashmir, I felt disconnected from the rest of the world due to the perpetual darkness I endured for two days. Azad Kashmir is said to have an enormous potential for producing hydropower – up to 17,000 megawatts. The state continues to witness many rulers making tall claims about developing it up to the standards of Dubai or Paris – something that does not seem like a hard task given AJK’s relatively small size in terms of population (3.2 million). Azad Kashmir consumes around 300 to 400 megawatts of power only, making ...
Read Full Post
Callousness towards rape
Perhaps the intensity of my anger towards rape and rapists is linked to my gender. If this were true, I am certainly not the only woman living in Pakistan, by that rationale at least half the population, if not more, should be as livid as I am. The treatment meted out by some members of the media, as well as politicians and the police towards the ‘alleged’ rape of a woman in her mid 30s in Karachi was appalling. So perhaps the reason why I’m so enraged is because I live in a developing country where feudalism and the feudal mentality ...
Read Full Post
I heart Karachi until foreign university folk arrive
When I’m feeling bored, I put on my ‘I heart Khi’ tee-shirt with the little red heart against a black background. You can see the signs spray painted all over the city from Zamzama to Sharae Faisal. (The logo was the brainchild of the late artist Asim Butt). Whenever I put the tee-shirt on, I always feel slightly smug with the thought that I’m part of an 18-million people strong city. Thank you Pakistan Studies Geography. Last week though, that air of superiority came crashing down around my ears and in disgust I threw that tee-shirt into the back of ...
Read Full Post
Everywhere you look
A few days back I spoke to a political analyst who very blatantly said, “Pakistan is an economic basket case”. And while anything to do with economy and finances usually goes over my head, the statement was jarring enough to get me thinking. The government has failed, once again, to ensure a curb on hoarding and overcharging. The Ramazan relief package worth Rs2 billion announced by the government last month, is yet to take effect. I think most people would agree that this month surely does not feel like a month of blessing. Even before the country was hit by floods, ...
Read Full Post
The people we are made of
I have an obsession with numbers. They epitomise knowledge in many ways and surveys give us a plethora of numbers and figures to handle and realize the reality of various beliefs and problems in our society. Although social science research remains limited in the country, the surveys conducted by the government do present us with some figures to assess. However, these are almost always never expounded upon and besides the obvious press release that states the executive summary of the reports, the entire news media and blogosphere never addresses them. In that very spirit, I thought that I should highlight ...
Read Full Post1-9 of 9
