How to Pakistan

Journalist Nadir Hassan died on April 30, 2020 at the age of 37. He was a prolific writer, clear headed, unambiguous and intellectually gifted. Fasi and Mosharraf talk about Nadir, and his generation of writers, academics and public intellectuals in Pakistan, with Omar Waraich and Shakir Husain.

On Episode 03 of How to Pakistan's Season of Covid-19 we talk about the demolition of illegal settlements in Islamabad, the Corona virus attacking members of our little How to Pakistan family in the UK, and whether this represents a moment of real, substantive change, or just a speed bump in our collective global dysfunction.

Our Season of Corona continues with Episode 02, in which we talk to economist and the former Chairman of the Board of Investment, Haroon Sharif. How does an economy like Pakistan's survive this pandemic? We talk about sugar cartels, the role of the bureaucracy, the opportunity for reform, and the future of economic diplomacy. We also discuss Haroon's recent paper for the Jinnah Institute, which you can read here: https://jinnah-institute.org/publication/india-pakistan-and-the-pandemic-community-of-shared-future/?doing_wp_cron=1586709661.1415810585021972656250

Everything has changed. So we have too. Our Season of Corona begins with Episode 01, where we try to establish how to talk about this pandemic. Our first How to Pakistan with video - clips of which will be uploaded on our Twitter handle. If you love us, you'll find it. Meanwhile, the Dave Chappelle clip referenced in this episode, upon the mention of Care Bears? Here it is: https://youtu.be/VfgwEpVSsEo Spread love. Be lovely.

The global conversation around sexual violence has created the space to engage on vital issues of justice, equality and fairness. The manifestations of the #metoo movement in Pakistan, such as Jami's allegations, often get entangled with other, concurrent but unrelated power dynamics. How do we engage with the issues? How do we fulfill our responsibility to protect? How do we avoid unfairness or libel? We asked the head of the Digital Rights Foundation, WEF Young Global Leader, and renowned activist Nighat Dad (pronounced Daad) for her help. This is the bilingual conversation that ensued. Digital Rights Foundation - https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk

Fasi and Mosharraf are joined by lawyer Umer Gilani and strategic affairs expert Hassan Akbar of the Jinnah Institute. They discuss the General Musharraf verdict, the imminent Indian attack on Pakistan and the state and fate of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Umer Gilani has studied law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences and the University of Washington, Seattle. He is an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan and practices in Islamabad. Syed Hassan Akbar is Director Programs at Jinnah Institute. Akbar has co-authored and supervised several nationally representative research studies on democracy, governance, gender and poverty alleviation. He studied at Columbia University and the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Zaka and Zaidi summarise Pakistan's week: hair extensions, rage against Dawn, Britishstani terrorists, and much much more.

After the Shaheen Chemist raid, Fasi and Mosharraf discuss other similar cases of service provision failures in Pakistan, and how the public response to such outrages only tackles our need for InstaGrat, or instant gratification. But shutting down drug stores or pharmacies, or penalizing private schools, or terminating restaurant licenses does not actually produce regulatory effectiveness. It only assuages the hunger for InstaGrat. That's why so many Real Outrages, manufacture only Fake Outcomes.

Fasi and Mosharraf return to the podcast to explore how to talk about Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif, the economy and the meat of the matter.

How do we navigate the terrain where the conversation becomes impossible? Thirteen dead citizens. A post conflict zone. A military that has won a war that seemed over just five years ago. Vultures all around. Compassion. Humanity. Compromise.

The news from Pakistan doesn't sound great. The economy is supposedly in a shambles. But are things really as bad as the mass media makes them out to be? Is Pakistan really in a such bad place? What happened to PTI's promise of reform? All this & more...

Welcome to Season Four of How to Pakistan! Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar joins Fasi & Mosharraf to discuss mayhem in the skies above Pakistan & India, the impact of Pulwama, Balakot, and hopes for peace.

A conversation with Shaan Taseer

The new government is now approaching a full month in power. How well has it done? What has been good? What has been unnecessary? Was the Economic Advisory Council fiasco avoidable? Fasi and Mosharraf examine this government's predilection thus far, for unforced errors.

By popular demand, Omar Waraich is back on How to Pakistan, and he is joined by Salman Naveed Khan, a political analyst based in Islamabad. We discuss the election results, and whether the country is poised for a stable era of Imran Khan and PTI.