Foqia Sadiq Khan
Daily Times
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Past articles by Foqia:
Dispossession and Property
Katchi Abadi residents of I-11 were evicted from their mud houses in 2015 by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) with the help of law enforcement agencies. Some 25,000 residents became homeless and quite expectedly, had put up a strong resistance. Scholars-activists, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar and Ammar Rashid, were also a part of this movement. They […] → Read More
Smokescreen statements: Pak-US relations
All states issue ‘smokescreen statements’ from time to time and truth about foreign policy and strategic relations is often hidden from the public at large over fears of bad public opinion ratings. However, in recent weeks, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and the establishment leadership in the country have gone into […] → Read More
The judiciary
Has Pakistan’s judiciary come of age? Some think it has had some independent status in the near past. A lot of people disagree with this view as well and consider the judiciary as still being under the establishment’s influence. Yasser Kureshi’s chapter on judiciary in the new book on “Pakistan’s Political Parties: Surviving between Dictatorship […] → Read More
Judicial Accountability (Part-I)
While addressing the beginning of the new judicial year a little while back, the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) recognized the perception that the accountability drive being pursued is considered part of the ‘political engineering’ and it makes the accountability process lose it credibility. He also referred to the ‘loss of political space … → Read More
GSP Plus
Any country in the world must ensure protection of its citizens as per its Constitutions and keeping in mind the best practices in the world. Unfortunately, it is not implemented in letter and spirit in many countries, including Pakistan. This article refers to some literature (Kishore 2011; DRI 2016; Pasha 2014; EU 2018; Wolf 2014) … → Read More
Democracy and its institutionalization at the local level
The common understanding is that local government level democracy is only needed for better and effective local governance and delivery of services. However, actually, a credible institutionalization of local level democracy can strengthen the overall democratic project in the country. This article refers to some literature both on democracy in general and also the local … → Read More
Women's employment in the informal sector
Pakistan has recently entered into its 13th IMF programme since 1988. Engagement with the IMF is euphemistically called the “structural adjustment”; it is actually the onset of the neoliberal economic agenda. Such ‘structural adjustment’ in the past has invariably had a bad impact on the poor. Though, now we have well-designed and effective social protection … → Read More
Regulatory framework issues
The better governance of the country is inextricably linked to the prevalence of an improved regulatory framework. As the old wisdom goes that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Similarly, a well-functioning regulatory framework ensures the separation of powers. We look at regulatory framework issues in this article by referring to some literature (mainly Sherani 2017; but … → Read More
A Moment of Reconciliation
There are early signs that the establishment in Pakistan has decided to give a NRO to PML-N and Nawaz Sharif. It is also clear that neither Pakistani establishment is willing to publicly admit this reconciliation nor PML-N; it is being covered up through other face-saving means. There might be more twists and turns on the … → Read More
Women’s participation in labour force
Women’s labour force participation is very low in Pakistan. Roughly a quarter of women work. There is need to both explore the causes behind low women’s labour force participation and come up with recommendations to increase it. This article refers to some literature (ADB 2016; Khan 2007) to illustrate the discussion. Mobility has a huge … → Read More
Women in Politics
Now that the third elected government has resumed charge of affairs of the country, at least at the de jure level, in the continuation of ‘transitional democracy’ since 2008; and women have been continuing to get elected on reserved seats for many years in the national and provincial assemblies and local governments; it might be … → Read More
Poverty issues
A new IMF economic package is in the pipeline and it has renewed focus on increasing poverty and unemployment due to contraction of the economy. This article refers to some literature (Chaudhry et al. 2015; Amjad 2004) to illustrate the discussion. An important point to make regarding the poverty in Pakistan is that the choice … → Read More
Local governance issues
In terms of institutional reforms, decentralization is critical aspect of local governance. It is both important to look at the theoretical aspects of decentralization as well as to see how district-level social development plays out in practice. This article refers to some literature (Faguet and Shami 2015; Bari and Malik nd; PILDAT 2019) to illustrate … → Read More
Issues of democracy
There is need to debate the theory and practice of democracy; to dwell on liberal versus illiberal manifestations of democracy; to bring forward the essential features of democracy; and discuss the ethnic angle. This article refers to some literature (Keefer 2009, Zakaria 1997, Waseem 2002) to illustrate the discussion. The literature discusses the political economy … → Read More
Consolidation of Fascism in India and elsewhere
Modi’s BJP has won the elections in India. A lot of commentators are calling it a triumph of “majoritarian” nationalism; some are calling it “cultural majoritarianism”, others “ethnic”. However, they all agree that this win is driven by the call to hate and bigotry by prioritizing the interests of Hindu majoritarianism over all else. In … → Read More
Industrial development
Industrial development is crucial for development and exports promotion. This article refers to some literature (Ahmed et al. 2015, Sánchez-Triana et al. 2014) in this article to review issues of industrial development. The government plans pin high hopes on the industrial development. However, the industry in Pakistan has not proven to be the driver of … → Read More
Civil society issues
Having discussed other sectors in detail in the many previous columns in the past some months, it is worth revisiting the role of civil society in Pakistan and the kind of issues it faces. In some ways, the term ‘civil society’ is a misnomer as it is applied presently. The theoretical basis of the usage … → Read More
Formalization and economic reforms
Transition towards formalization and urbanization not only benefits the economy, it also has benefits for the larger good of society. The state and society in Pakistan needs to move towards even further formalization of relations of power and production. Economic reforms, boosting exports, improving human and physical infrastructure, and the new economic agreements need to … → Read More
Elections manipulation and nudging behaviour
Technological advancements have altered the architecture of human societies for a long time. Each new technological leapfrog had massive impact on the politics, sociology, and economy of human societies, the way of living, and relations of power and production. Pankaj Mishra, who is the leading original thinker in India, has recently written in Economic Times. … → Read More
Private sector development and economic reforms
Discussion is taking place on the kind of economic reforms needed to boost productivity and economic development in Pakistan. We refer to some literature (Burki 2008, Pakistan Vision 2025) in this article to illustrate it. The industrial sector is in decline in Pakistan. In the recent past, the services sector has attracted more private sector … → Read More