Articles

Government officials from around the world have descended on the Indonesian resort island of Bali for two weeks of climate negotiations. The talk is of a new Kyoto-like treaty, with global caps on emissions of greenhouse gases. But such a treaty would harm the poor, hampering their adaptability to climate change, while doing little to prevent it.

Regardless of the nature of governments, be they civil or military, liberal or fascist they sometimes resort to blocking information to protect their rule and authority. While it is often the first measure military governments resort to, for civil and liberal governments it is the last desperate measure. In Pakistan, this scheme does not work in this order. Here, both types of governments may take advantage of the situation. If their rule and authority runs smoothly without any hurdles, they allow the media to make use of freedom. Otherwise, the story is different. Norms, principles, values, and fundamental rights do not carry as much weight in some governments as in others.

This article argues that people are not made of flesh only; they do need economic progress, but they do need freedom. They need freedom to think, imagine, experiment with ideas, to speak their mind, to write down their stream of thought, to express themselves, to publish themselves, to discuss and debate with other people, to be what they want want to be. These freedoms have been ensured to him in the Constitution of 1973.

This article discusses the moral and political implications of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's two exiles. The article argues that sovereignty of a country is determined by its Constitution. If it is followed in letter and spirit, the sovereignty is intact; if not, sovereignty is harmed.

This article discusses continuous price hikes of essential items in Pakistan and suggests a non-governmental way out highlighting responsible consumer behavior. The main cause of price-hikes is government itself. So how ridiculous it would be to plead before it or urge it to reduce or control prices. That is why the prescriptions suggested in this article are directly meant for us consumers.

Chronic hunger affects some 850 million people in the world, while hunger and poverty combined claim around 25,000 lives every day. To remind us of this unacceptable tragedy, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FOA) celebrated its annual World Food Day with the slogan "The right to food." But the FAO should have paid more attention to rights that matter most for "landless farmers, urban slum dwellers and the extremely poor" - the right to own and exchange property and the right to trade freely, both locally and internationally.

This article pleads that the recently promulgated National Reconciliation Ordinance, which grants amnesty to public office holders only, be made available to every Pakistani.

The article argues that the notion of economic imperialism is but a myth. Indeed, it is our own being that we need to analyze and evaluate first. For any sane person, it is quite difficult to understand how the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) force us to be exploited! How the United States or the European Union or the G-7 or the World Trade Organization (WTO) compels us to become its stooges? How can they exploit us, unless some of us are not prepared to be their partners in such endeavors? If such exploitation is taking place, we have only ourselves to blame for it -- we should take the responsibility on our own shoulders rather than blaming others.

Scary headlines recently announced that a study claims that a pesticide causes prostate cancer and birth defects. Predictably, the study on banana plantations in the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe was seized on by the environmentalists, in vindication of their beliefs about the dangers of agricultural chemicals.

This article argues that present circumstances require that the Supreme Court of Pakistan must fulfill its legal and constitutional duty to protect not only the provisions but the spirit of the Constitution also. If it does not do so and does not pave the way for the rule of the right, we will be going to have another 60 or 160 years' rule of the might in Pakistan.