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Pakistan Army — A Colonial History

The British Empire in India, other than the local elites, relied upon a large portion of one institution more than any other: its military, or troopers who likewise ended up being the contributing factor why they later left India. During their rule in India, the British maintained a vast military to safeguard their resources, invade foreign lands and keep command over the domestic environment so as to reinforce their mandate and expand the trade for ruling elites. Hence, the military ended up as one of the most vital organs in the working of the Empire, both internally and externally. While far from any doubt majority of institutions even in British India suffered due to the absence of quality and appropriate administration, but the British Indian Army was one institution that was found in a state which would impress even the most snobbish Western observers, alongside railway system helping the Empire in trade and educational institutions which helped in creating a new class for th
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Abuse is Not a Human Right: Islamophobia in Cyberspace

Islamophobia is a huge problem worldwide. More so because it is often confused with the freedom of expression and thought. Being unbiased here, it’s safe to say that Islam and Quran at their core, are willing to accept challenges and questions. The problem arises when these questions are not meant to bring about the understanding of the religion of Islam — or any religion/ideology for that matter — but to turn people against it. In the end, such online abuse can often lead to actual offline abuse and violence within the people. Today, cyberspace is the major tool to promote Islamophobia. However, at the same time, it is also being used to monitor and combat it, and countless Muslim organizations are using the Internet and social media for these purposes today. Although a lot of big names are involved in fighting Islamophobia, they are rarely successful due to their open public image. I was approached by one of the organizations that prefer not to make them public. They are anonymously
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Discovering Attock: The Grand Trunk Road

In Rudyard Kipling's famous novel Kim , the Grand Trunk Road is described as being “the backbone of all Hind”. The road has witnessed so much history. Along this short stretch, there is the Gandharan capital, a holy Sikh site, Moghul gardens, and the spot where Alexander crossed the Indus.  Centuries later, the hustle and bustle of now an industrial hub still echoes an untold story; we'll be witnessing a fraction of it – the Grand Turk Road to Attock.  Our journey begins with an unexpected phone call. The Government of Pakistan decided to promote the cultural side of Attock through a campaign titled, Discover Attock . All things aside, it was refreshing seeing the youth marking top seats and taking such initiatives. The answer was “ Definitely !”.  Invitees and photographers gathered at the A. D. C. Office [Asad Ullah; 2021], Hasan Abdal – a city in Attock, located 40 km northwest of the country's capital city, Islamabad. Hasan Abdal is an interesting spot with a collection
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How Schools Failed Pakistan

Education is surely not what it ought to be in Pakistan today, where students are gravely caught in competitions struggling to keep their individuality in the society. To put things into perspective, an average student, including me before dropping out goes through around 10 hours each day preparing for the tests that are held thrice a year. That can additionally be separated into 6 hours at school, which encompasses on preparing the students for the finals, and 4 hours at private tuition centers where untrained tutors, as their side occupation set up the students for the school. Both's homework, then, is done in whatever time is left. At that point, the basic development of mind and critical thinking fades in memorizing certain subjects, which too contains highly censored and biased content, often selected on the basis of publisher's wealth or current government and political conditions. Sometimes, a curriculum may be repeated for years, or even decades due to the lack
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The (Quiet) Death of a Legendary Parisian Bookstore

When it was announced that the legendary bookshop Le Pont Traversé would definitely close down on the 31st of December in Paris, many French TV stations put in phone calls and tried to convince Josée Comte-Béalu to do a filmed interview. She refused every single one of them. “They are like vultures,” she said on a recent afternoon, while Paris was paralyzed by an unrelenting general strike and suspended public transportation. Her carefully cluttered bookshop was unusually calm, and Josée took advantage of the quiet moment to attach a price tag to her opaline glass chandelier—a rare early 20th century piece, now for sale along with the rest of her 11,000 books. “TVs suddenly show an interest in interviewing me because the bookshop is closing, but I think that we should rather talk about those who are just getting started,” added Josée, who, like her boutique, turned 70 this year. Despite her composure, it’s hard to accept that Le Pont Traversé—which means “The Crossed Bridge,” a
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Heart Heart, Pakistan

  This article is a work of satire   “ Burger Syndrome ”; a phenomenon of moderate to extreme cringe towards one's native culture, traditions and local language. Roughly half of the population is affected by this syndrome in Pakistan today, statistics show, and the virus seems to grow at an uncanny rate, especially in economically developing areas. However, no vaccines have yet been discovered or invented to cure the virus—alarming news for some yet quite reliving for others nonetheless. Although may not be in the exact context, but the mentioning of this syndrome has been present in our literature for quite some time now. Patras Bukhari's work, Anwar Maqsood's plays, and even the early dramas aired during the initial days of PTV to mention a few. Manto's name comes up again and again when talking about such writers, and Imran Khan in his autobiography thoroughly explains how cool it was to speak Urdu with lots of English mixed in during his time at Aitchiso
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Kashmir conflict, explained

India and Pakistan have been, since their autonomy, in a state of war, either with or within each other. Truth be told, if geographical boundaries are set aside for a minute, the individuals of the Indian subcontinent have now turned out to be entirely distinct groups—three of them—rather then religious forces, totally antagonistic the founding bases of their countries. Over the most recent couple of decades, the countries have taken some unexpected turns with an end goal to change their characters, or national identity winding up more slanted towards securing nationalities instead of their establishing premise; religion. On one hand, the development of Pakistan, if worked out as planned, ought to have finished the on-going clash among Muslims and Hindus of the Indian subcontinent. Be that as it may, at that point the possibility of Pakistan, as planned, was not easily executed either. 66% of the Muslims relocated to Pakistan upon segment, while third chose to remain in India. Late
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The Fear of Intimacy

Your heart and soul have a deep desire for intimacy, but if you fear it, you probably do everything you can to push it away, despite your best efforts. Over and over, you find yourself getting stuck in a game of tug-of-war: "Come close, go away." Why? Why would you be afraid of something you so deeply want and yearn for? You want to be deeply seen, understood, and known. You yearn for the delicious joy of connection, for the exquisite flow of love that occurs between two open hearts who profoundly “get” each other.     A wide range of psychological research now confirms that although you can live without intimacy, you can’t grow and thrive in the same ways. There are even some studies that link a lack of intimacy with a shorter lifespan. Sometimes associated with an anxiety disorder, intimacy problems can show up in familial, platonic and romantic relationships. There is nothing more blissful and enlivening than intimacy. On the other hand, there may not be anything s
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Why You Should Stop Chasing Love

It has been too long you have waited for love to come around and now even though it hasn’t you are still wasting your time waiting for it. Waiting for love is not wrong but waiting, but not living is. In order to see yourself happy you need to let go of the idea that only love can make you happy, another person is a key to your happiness. If even it was true there would have been more happy couples in the world. We know it gets lonely at times, but there is strength in finding solitude, feeling it is a sign that you still feel things. Even though you think you are dying inside, it is not true. Stop chasing love. Love shouldn’t be chased it should come to you. It’s better to wait then to go after things that don’t mean anything to them or you, which makes you nothing but desperate. Stop telling yourself that you are not lovable. Don’t get into an unnamed relationship thinking they can complete you. Don’t do that to yourself. All that sex you have to feel something is not going t
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In Defence of Writers

When you think of a writer, do you imagine a person who is brilliant, eloquent and deeply philosophical? Someone who is charming and witty, able to hold forth on any subject and illuminate the workings of the inner and outer worlds? Or perhaps you think of a writer as a genius who worships at the altar of words, who is never seen without a book in their hand, who looks at the world and never fails to find inspiration in it. If you believe any of this, chances are you have never met a real writer. It may be hard to identify a writer-in-embryo: children are all delightfully weird in their own way, and that little kid who can’t make friends and lives with her nose in a book may not necessarily be preparing to win the Booker Prize; she might just be intelligent and bored. Similarly, a child who is overly talkative or displays a faculty with words beyond his or her peers might actually grow up to be a smooth-talking con artist instead of a writer. Most teenagers feel, at some point in the
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Dear Life; with Love, from Pain

Pain, far from its perceived context, is likely the most misjudged feeling in our universe. We cannot resist the opportunity to avoid the dread of being hurt, of being lost or sometimes, even found. Law offers cruel punishments for the culprits, and most of all, religion grants it as the final destination for the disbelievers. But even in all that, what we frequently fail to realize is the means by which, despite being a punishment, pain and agony never resists from teaching its bearers—as its initial purpose—a new way to look at life. Regardless of a murderer, a disbeliever or even a shattered heart, the pain one feels never neglects to teach its 'followers' a lesson in life, even in the face of demise. On the other end, there lies love; a relatively simple feeling yet often believed to be the key to our existence. Love fades, and true love, if it exists, does not call for itself. Love, regardless of whether for someone, a desire or even an attitude towards everyd
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