M. Zafar Khan Safdar
Daily Times
Pakistan
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Past articles by M.:
Beyond tears: living after 12/14
The December 16 attack on the Army Public School (APS)in Peshawar was the worst terrorist act in Pakistan’s history that claimed the lives of more than 149 people, including 134 children, and a nearly equal number injured. Terrorism has claimed more than seventy thousands of innocent lives in Pakistan over the last several years, but … → Read More
Self-appointed warders of religion
Asia Bibi’s case gained national prominence because of brave, pluralist politician like Salman Taseer who served as the 26th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011. He was a successful businessman and a liberal politician, who remained a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. He gave interviews saying that he had sought … → Read More
Pakistan, Israel and the Muslim world
The conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs has endured for more than a century. It centres on control of territory and, as common in such disputes, is characterized by conquest, destruction, and revenge, with all the animosity and sorrow that these actions bring. Because the land in question is terra sancta to three major … → Read More
21st century Peshawar getting out of control
My city Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a road and rail centre near the famed Khyber Pass, an important military and communications centre, the historical limit of the Grand Trunk Road of Indo-Pak, and the major depot for trade with Afghanistan. It is famous for local handicrafts, fruit farms, Industries that include … → Read More
Pakistan: the impacts of urbanisation on society
Pakistan is one of the fastest urbanising countries in South Asia and the share of urban population has risen from 17 percent in 1951 to 37 percent in 2010, and to 39.7 percent in 2017 with annual rate of urban change at 2.77 percent. Projections show that in next 10 to 15 years half of … → Read More
The art of diplomacy
I still remember my professor Iqbal Tajik who during a lecture on diplomacy in the postgraduate class back in late 90s, compared it with nations’ chess-board meant to play power gamesbased on calculations. His brilliant definition calling “diplomacy as the art of saying good doggie till you have time to pick up the stick” depicts … → Read More
How will Pakistan match to its population boom?
For years, Pakistan’s soaring population growth has been evident in increasingly crowded roads, malls, schools, hospitals, parks, and communities across the country. No one is serious to understand the reasons until now.6th Population and Housing Census of Pakistan says Pakistan has surged to a staggering 207.8 million, showing an increase of 75.4 million people in … → Read More
The man of destiny
It was 10:25 pm on Saturday, September 11, 1948, when the father of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah passed away. The country that he had founded was left bereft. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that he was dead, all the more so because his illness was kept a closely … → Read More
Stereotyping the Pashtuns
Pashtuns are the second largest ethnic group, they make up 25 percent of the total population of Pakistan. Their rich cultural tradition and literature and varied political and economic contexts, reflect familiar notions of hospitality and pride. However, nearly four decades of continuous war in our neighboring Afghanistan (1979-till date), have branded Pashtuns on both … → Read More
The journey to Naya Pakistan
On a day when the nation is celebrating the 71st Independence Day with due reverence and paying tribute to the memory of the country’s founder Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the newly elected parliamentarians are all set to elect the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), and its allies in the National Assembly, have … → Read More
The elephant in the room
The gradual erosion of social infrastructure, endemic poverty and the growing inequality have made our society violent and militarised. Pakistan is currently faced with numerous existential issues including lack of good governance, the population boom, rising violent crime — especially against women and climate change. A substantial proportion of the population remains deprived of the … → Read More
Asma Jahangir — the iron lady
Pakistan’s fearless rights campaigner and lawyer, Asma Jahangir, served two terms as Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and was the first woman president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. She breathed her last in Lahore yesterday. Her funeral will be offered today. I have had many interactions with her and … → Read More
DailyTimes | 208 million and still counting
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has officially revealed the provisional results of the sixth Population and Housing Census of Pakistan in it’s presentation to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) earlier this week. The results are rather depressing for a country like Pakistan where majority of the population lacks basic necessities of life. The results show that Pakistan has surged to a… → Read More
DailyTimes | Democracy must not suffer anymore
In May 2013 after his electoral victory, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said something that for years, no Pakistani leader had dared to express. During an interview to renowned Indian journalist and anchor Burkha Dutt for NDTV, he expressed as "civilian supremacy over the military is a must." He went a step further and said, "The prime minister is the boss, not the army chief. This is what… → Read More
DailyTimes | Women empowerment through social safety nets
Pakistan is a developing country and most of its population lives in undesirable circumstances. A large number of people in our country do not have a proper place to live, this miserable condition has given birth to a large number of beggars and needy people to survive on the charities. The economic condition of an average individual is not encouraging. Poverty, hunger and unemployment have… → Read More