Nadeem M Qureshi Travel through rural Pakistan and two things will strike you. One is heart rending poverty. And the other is hospitality. Visitors are greeted with warmth and selfless generosity. The poorest of the poor will immediately call for ‘paani’ for their visitors. Paani means water in Urdu. But in the local lexicon it […]
As Linux stalks Windows poor countries will benefit
(Corrected version: in para 4 line 1 – some 22 years ago instead of some 14 years ago) Nadeem M Qureshi What do the International Space Station, the Czech Post Office, the French Parliament and the Turkish Government have in common? All have switched from using a proprietary Operating System (OS) on their computers to an ‘open […]
A new system for Pakistan
Nadeem M Qureshi That the political system in Pakistan needs changing is indisputable. The ‘Whitehall’ model has failed to deliver. Elections routinely bring into parliament the incompetent, insincere and corrupt. They come for the spoils. As ministers, they loot from the exchequer in the form of kickbacks and bribes. As members of parliament, they loot […]
PIA: On a wing and a prayer
Nadeem M Qureshi Pakistan International Airlines, the national flag carrier of Pakistan, once a source of pride for the whole nation, is in trouble. Over the last five years it has reported cumulative losses of Rs. 160 billion – this is three times the amount Pakistan spends every year on education. Financial woes aside, service […]
Police Station as Instrument of Power of Feudal Lords in Pakistan
Nadeem M Qureshi The tragedy of politics in Pakistan is that the same people, despite their dismal performance, get elected again and again. This is especially true in the rural areas of the country. And since this is where where the majority of the population live it is people elected from these areas who end […]
Mustaqbil Pakistan: Detoxifying politics, promoting micro patriotism, rewriting social contract
[Editor’s note: Mustaqbil Pakistan (MP) is a new political party with fast expanding grassroots presence in the country. The party, composed mostly of successful professionals in a broad array of disciplines, aims to detoxify the political scene of Pakistan by inducing transition from personalities to issues. It is also following a relatively fresh approach by […]