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Sarhad University Incident: Is This the Future of Pakistan?
Sarhad University Incident: Is This the Future of Pakistan? A University Protest, an Armed Confrontation, and a Warning Pakistan Should Not Ignore On August 24, 2026, a student protest at the Islamabad campus of Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology (SUSIT) escalated into an extraordinary confrontation. Video footage circulating widely online showed a uniformed man striking a person with a stick, becoming involved in a physical clash with students, drawing a pistol, pointing it toward the crowd and then…
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Power, Privilege and Unequal Justice in Pakistan: When Influence Appears to Change the Course of Law
Power, Privilege and Unequal Justice in Pakistan: When Influence Appears to Change the Course of Law Pakistan’s Constitution promises equality before the law. In principle, a wealthy industrialist, the child of a senior judge, a labourer, a domestic worker and an ordinary citizen should all stand on equal ground before the police and courts. In practice, however, many Pakistanis believe that justice operates differently for people with money, political influence, institutional connections or powerful family backgrounds. This perception does not…
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Could Pakistan Be Next? Why Revolutions Swept South Asia—But Pakistan’s Anger Has Yet to Become a Mass Movement
Could Pakistan Be Next? Why Revolutions Swept South Asia—But Pakistan’s Anger Has Yet to Become a Mass Movement I think your observation—that Pakistan has many of the grievances seen before the upheavals in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, yet no comparable nationwide movement appears imminent—is quite plausible. But fear is only one part of the explanation. Pakistan has several structural differences that make a Bangladesh-, Nepal-, or Sri Lanka-style uprising harder to develop and sustain. One caution first: nobody can…
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Nepal’s Gen Z Revolution: How a Social-Media Ban Became a Movement Against Corruption and Changed the Country’s Politics
Nepal’s Gen Z Revolution: How a Social-Media Ban Became a Movement Against Corruption and Changed the Country’s Politics Nepal experienced one of the most dramatic political upheavals in its recent history in September 2025, when a largely youth-led protest movement—widely described as the “Gen Z Revolution” or “Gen Z uprising”—grew from demonstrations against restrictions on social media into a nationwide revolt against corruption, nepotism, political privilege and ineffective governance. The movement was remarkably fast. Within days, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma…
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Imran Khan’s Health Is a Human Rights Issue, Not a Political Privilege
Imran Khan’s Health Is a Human Rights Issue, Not a Political Privilege Pakistan’s Supreme Court has issued an important order concerning the health and basic rights of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. On August 18, the Court directed the authorities to transfer Khan from Adiala Jail to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad within two days for examination and treatment by a multidisciplinary medical board. His personal physician and his sister, Dr Uzma Khan, are also to be associated with…
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Are We Pakistanis Really Free?
Are We Pakistanis Really Free? Every year on 14 August, Pakistan celebrates Independence Day. Green flags fill our streets, patriotic songs echo everywhere, and we proudly remember the struggle that created an independent homeland in 1947. But amid these celebrations, there is a difficult question worth asking: Are we Pakistanis really free? Pakistan is certainly an independent and sovereign country. But independence of a country and freedom of its people are not exactly the same thing. True freedom means more…
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