Shahram Azhar
@ShahramAzhar
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Marxist Economist. Socialist Musician. Activist. Econ Professor @bucknellu. Host of @dialecticatwork @democracyatwrk, Editorial Board Member @RethinkMarxism
Joined December 2013
Acemoglu or Paul Baran’s Prize? . My paper, published online today, presents a critique of the work of the 2024 recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics.
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“But women are not interested in sports”. “But what can sports do for poor people?”. “But what do rural people know about global sports?”. Answer: 🤫 .#ArshadNadeem
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The fact that IK doesn’t have a single thing to say about the economic achievements of his government and instead has to rely on concocted myths about foreign interference for his cult-followers is, de facto, a confession that Naya Pakistan was a complete failure.
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“The guy who got gold is also my son”. Beyond the narrow definitions of borders there lies simplicity, honesty, integrity, and honor that only true love can achieve.
Neeraj Chopra's mother says “ I am happy with the silver, the guy who got gold ( Arshad Nadeem) is also my child, everyone goes there after doing a lot of hard work”. what grace from Neeraj Chopra's mother, something that people can learn a lot from ♥️. Most beautiful video on
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Pakistan's Economic Performance under IK in 4 graphs:. I could go over a list of indicators but for now 4 will suffice: . 1) GDP per capita: Even by Pakistan's dismal economic standards, IK's regime was truly exceptional: GDP per capita FELL after a very long time.
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🧵1/5 Acemoglu or Paul Baran’s Prize?. Acemoglu’s argument on settler versus non-settler colonialism was first presented, in almost the same language, by the Marxist economist Paul Baran decades before the publication of AJR 2002 in his book The Political Economy of Growth.
BREAKING NEWS.The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”
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The Islamabadi elite is truly one of the most despicable post-colonial ruling classes in the world. Growing up in Pindi, I have witnessed (first-hand) how they brazenly use their class and privilege to unleash their utter hatred for middle-class/working-class people and women.
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Dear friends,. I am happy to announce that I am starting a new podcast on Urdu poetry. The podcast is called “Mir se Jaun tak” and will capture the journey of Urdu poetry using music, explanations of technical terms, and interviews with leading practitioners and scholars
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The 6-day working week is a terrible idea. Other than being a pleasing optic for people who like to see super-exploited workers there is no empirical evidence to suggest that overworked workers produce productivity gains. In fact, the evidence points to the contrary. Thread 1/4.
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On this #27DecBlackDay 13 years ago, we lost the first female PM of the Muslim, Shaheed #BenazirBhutto. This poem by Hassan Mujtaba, woh larki laal qalandar thee, is dedicated to #SMBB. #بینظیر_تو_بس_بینظیرجیسی_تھی
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Imran Khan’s biggest mistake was his inability to appreciate the significance of the Charter of Democracy (what IK disparagingly calls an “NRO”). The idea of the COD is intuitive and simple: civilian politics must take place within constitutional and juridical boundaries and no.
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A few months ago, Arshad Nadeem was struggling to buy a Javelin. This is how a whole village community pooled money to witness what happened today. This is what the power of community building and solidarity can achieve. 🥇 .
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A natural experiment has played itself out right before our eyes. 5 decades ago we were the same country. Today, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has left Pakistan behind on every economic indicator. Coincidence? Nope. Institutional reforms are the key to growth & dev
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پنجاب تجھ سے جالب کا سوال آج بھی زندہ ہے .سندھ ،بلوچستان اور پختونخواہ کے لوگ بھی ایک ہی سوال پوچھ رہے ہیں 13 دسمبر کو اسکا جواب دے دے ۔.جاگ پنجاب جاگ.#PDM #PDMLahoreJalsa
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Dear friends, . My short course (4-seminars) on Marx’s Capital in the 21st century, which covers all 3 volumes and their applications to the contemporary era, is now available on this YouTube playlist. Hope it helps you understand this amazing book.
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Remember when “iss ko bhi try kar lo” used to be a major argument for IK. The last 4 years have demonstrated the results of this “trial” approach: a devastated economy, massive poverty, int relations at historic lows, and an abrogated and humiliated Constitution.
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We must ask how we allowed hypocrites and wife-beaters like Aamir Liaquat to become the interpreters of our faith, our ethics, and our moral compass. There must be something terribly wrong with our ability to distinguish between a loud-mouthed “Aalim online” and genuine scholars.
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Marxist economist Paul Baran in 1954: . Settler versus Non-Settler colonialism explains economic divergence. “Neo-Institutional” economist Acemoglu in 2002 says literally exact same thing with a cozy liberal spin=> #thedismalscience.
Reading institutional economics is like finding a student report on what Marxist theorists and historians wrote half a century or more ago.
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Remembering Habib Jalib on his 28th death anniversary, I kept asking myself: "Agar Jalib aaj ham main hotay?". To answer this, I revisited his poetry in the historical context of Pakistani politics. Follow this link for the complete YouTube video:
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Imran Khan innocently asks a pressing question in his speech today: “how did the Americans know about the vote of no confidence on March 7th?”. I think there’s a simple answer. They were doing something that IK and his supporters should also consider: read newspapers.
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Many people do not fully recognize the intellectual caliber and ideas of Shaheed #BhagatSingh. In this short video, I try to address this particular issue by examining some of his articles, letters, and speeches. Follow this link:
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Many people fail to recognize that #BhagatSingh was an intellectual of the highest caliber. To address this issue, I will be uploading a video on YouTube tomorrow on the intellectual legacy of this anti-colonial hero (along with a Punjabi folk song dedicated to his memory)
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17 years ago, I decided to pursue a PhD in Econ after watching this man’s videos and reading his books. His insights completely changed the way I think about the world. I went to study with him and his co-author Prof Resnick. Today, I appeared on his show as an interviewee. :).
Available Now! All-new episode of #EconomicUpdate today at 4:30PM ET with @profwolff and @ShahramAzhar, #Marxism & #Economics: A Global View! Watch it here:
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A man, born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan), fought against British colonialism and happily went to the gallows imagining a future where people of all religious communities could live freely; in peace and harmony with one another. Was he Pakistan’s hero or not?.
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Dedicated to the courageous women leading the struggle for democracy in Pakistan: @MaryamNSharif and @AseefaBZ. Following in the footsteps of Asma Jehangir and BB Shaheed (for whom Jalib originally wrote this poem), they are a beacon of hope amidst the darkness. #PDMMultanJalsa
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Pakistani farmers, on average, pay a lot more than their Indian counterparts for Fertilizer. Ever wonder why? . The answer has to do with WHO supplies fertilizer in the two countries. While India has a cooperative system, one of Pakistan’s largest fertilizer suppliers is.
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Historians agree that countries born after WW II were the result of complex political-economic crises, conflicts, & contradictions within the world system. But the irony of post-colonial Pak is precisely this: how to superimpose theological ideas onto an accidental geography.
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فیض صاحب نے ١٩٨٣ میں طویل مدّت کی جلا وطنی کاٹنے کے بعد پاکستان کے حالات کو دیکھتے ہوے یہ غزل قلم بند کی. اگر آج وہ ہم میں ہوتے تو کوئی بعید نہیں کہ وہ پھر یہی الفاظ دہراتے . #FaizAhmedFaiz #Faiz #Faiz110thBirthday . For a complete video:
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“It would have been better to drop an atom bomb on Pakistan than to have these people in power". (Former Pak PM Imran Khan). Clearly, a man who is not only callous to the point of criminality, but someone who thrives on grandiose, false comparisons, and the naïveté of his fans.
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Ya Allah ham sab ko robot bannay key taufeeq ataa farma taakay hamaaray muaashray key khavaateen mehfooz reh sakain. Aameen.
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I get the governance, violence, and instability bit @TheEconomist but calling Pakistan 🇵🇰 a “global menace” (without any evidence to back that claim) is a gross exaggeration (and distasteful) to say the least. Can anyone in the editorial team @TheEconomist help Pakistani.
Pakistan has become a global menace. It is abysmally governed, violent, unstable and nuclear-armed. Its generals must, once and for all, get out of politics:
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Must watch and learn: . Ahmed Faraz explains: 1) why he supported pro-democratic forces despite internal disagreements; 2) why, minus the sanctity of voting rights, our current system will be no different than British colonialism.
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آمدِ امام حسینؑ مبارک ہو!!. #HussainRabKa #HussainSabKa. #HussainiatZindabad. #ولادت_سردارِ_جنت_حسینؑ
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Corruption is not the CAUSE of under-development but rather an EFFECT. Think of it as a “leakage”; as a fraction of total output produced by a country. The moralistic idea that Pakistan (or other developing countries) is poor because of a “corrupt elite” sounds nice because. .
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محبت گولیوں سے بو رہے ہو.وطن کا چہرہ خون سے دھو رہے ہو.گماں تم کو کہ رستہ کٹ رہا ہے.یقیں مجھ کو کہ منزل کھو رہے ہو. حبیب جالب.
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4) Investments and Equities: Pakistani stock market indices have STILL not reached their levels in 2017. In short, the period was terrible for everyone: investors, workers, industrialists, ordinary consumers.
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3) Currency depreciation: The PKR plummeted and tanked to unbelievable levels.
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2) Unprecedented Inflation: ALL quintiles experienced RAPID inflation (including food inflation). Thus, with a falling GDP per capita (figure 1) and increasing prices, Pakistan essentially experienced a stagnating economy with rising prices: another historic achievement of IK.
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Obviously, a SOLDIER mortality rate story provides a befitting confirmation of the ORIGINAL story first presented by Paul Baran- a contribution that, till this date, remains UN-CITED and UN-recognized by AJR. Maybe, today is the day to remember Paul Baran.
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So which one is it? . 1) The ppl of Daska suddenly changed their political opinions between Feb 19th-April 10th? . 2) Massive voter fraud and subversion took place at an unprecedented scale on Feb 19th? . In either case, we deserve an explanation from our prince of morality, IK.
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This is what real Olympians are made out of: labor, sweat, and blood. Rising from Mian Channu, this son of a Jutt farmer shows the world how it’s done: . Resources and nutritional information = 0.Government support = 0.Corporate branding = 0.Funding for school sports = 0. Olympic
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اے عظیم کبریا.سن غریب کی دعا.سازشوں میں گھر گئ.بنت ارض ایشیا.لشکر یزید میں.ایک کنیز کربلا.فیصلے کی منتظر.ایک یتیم بے خطا.ٹال سب مصیبتیں.ہے دعا تیرے حضور.واسطہ حسین کا.توڑ ظلم کاغرور.یا اللہ یا رسول.عاصمہ بے قصور.#IstandWithAsmaShirazi
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This statistic is thoroughly misleading. To make comparisons between countries meaningful, the number needs to be adjusted relative to the average household income in a country. As it stands, it basically compares the “cost of living” relative to someone living in New York City.
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They should also open up fertilizer trade so farmers in PK can benefit from the much cheaper fertilizer being produced across the border. One wonders what happens to the Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC), that currently charges monopoly prices, way above the price across the border
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Na main Baabi, na Main Wahabi.Main hun Muslim Ilmi Kitaabi. If you have arguments then present them and engage in a scholarly debate with him. Let there be freedom of speech and conscience. Let discussions be held in a civil and respectful way. #EngineerMuhammadAliMirza.
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This is best demonstrated by the befitting critique of AJR by David Albouy’s 2012. Here, Albouy zoomed into the data used by AJR to construct “settler mortality”. To his shock, Albouy discovered that many data points in AJR were not settler but SOLDIER mortality rates
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In contrast to the original Baran story, where EXTRACTION (the verb) of the SURPLUS by imperialist colonizers is the cause of underdevelopment, in its AJR form the argument is turned on to its head: it is a NOUN (extractive state) not the verb (extraction) that is to be blame.
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In a world where people think that getting offended is the best course of action in every situation, this 19-year old’s positivity and humility is very heartening :).
Honored ♥️♥️.
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Between now and May 17th, Imran Khan could literally murder someone in broad daylight without consequence since, at least according to the IHC order, he cannot be arrested “in any new case registered till May 17”.
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Baran’s story is one of CONFLICT. His argument is that where European colonizers faced resistance from an EXISTING state, they had a higher mortality, and hence decided to create “extractive” states. In places where they could easily wipe out the indigenous population=>neo europe.
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Many years later, another Marxian rephrased this as the choice between socialism and barbarity. Which of these will prevail is a question which the twenty-first century must be left to answer. Eric Hobsbawm
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On the 28th death anniversary of my hero, Habib Jalib, I will shortly be uploading a YouTube video where I will sing some of his poems and also try to analyze and understand the method that shaped his political positions over the course of Pakistan’s history.
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The Fauji Fertilizer Corporation (FFC). The FFC monopolizes pricing both at the input level as well as the output level. It receives special subsides on gas prices; yet, Pakistani farmers do not receive cheaper fertilizer; as a result, Pak. consumers have to pay more for food.
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You know something has gone terribly wrong with a country when the person leading an institute of “Development Economics” says that inequality is natural.
Inequality is everywhere on nature. Some ppl make a living out of decrying inequality! No reason.
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Fast fashion and class exploitation: a horror story that never fails to surprise.
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پاکستان میں اس وقت چھٹے نمبر کی پارٹی حکومت کر رہی ہے. @ImranKhanPTI کیا مغرب میں ایسا ہوتا ہے ؟. آپ سے بہتر تو مغرب کو کون جانتا ہے مہربانی کر کے اس پر روشنی ڈالیں-.
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I often find myself wondering how PTI supporters deal with, or explain, IK’s self-contradictory political positions. Of course, their go-to retort is “but XYZ did this too!”, but does it not even generate a LITTLE cognitive dissonance in their minds? Just a little?.
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Capitalism, at its core, is a system premised on social theft: profit is another name for unpaid labor extracted from workers. It robs not only workers but capitalists of their humanity. That is why, charity is just a “feel good” mechanism for the rich. It is NOT the solution.
Charity will never solve poverty.
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@RadioGenoa The reality is the opposite of what you’re trying to present. You don’t seem to see that the woman with the knife is bullying the Muslim woman (in the scarf) seated on the left.
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Dr. Adeeb Rizvi, who was a leader of the Marxist student organization National Students Federation, devoted his entire life, knowledge, and talents to helping the poor. What an inspirational man.
Only if the rulers of subcontinent had the same compassion as Dr Adeeb Rizvi. #COVIDEmergency2021 #CovidIndia
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لشکر یزید میں اک کنیز کربلا .@asmashirazi.
Addressing the protest against attack on @AsadAToor in Islamabad, @asmashirazi says journalists will start naming the 'known unknown' if the cycle of violence against media persons continues.
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What a proud day for Pakistan. PM Imran’s golden words cited in NY Times for the whole world to read and learn from. Yeh hota hai leader. Yeh hota hai charisma.
Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan blamed a rise in rape cases on how women dressed. "Not every man has willpower. If you keep on increasing vulgarity, it will have consequences,” he said.
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Baran argues that the divergence between colonies such as US/Australia versus colonies in Africa/Asia has to be sought in the fact that in the former case “Western Europeans…. SETTLED in those areas. ” (pg 273).
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It ties in nicely with the fanciful notion that “our country is endowed with everything in the world” but the only thing that’s impeding development is corruption. This kind of lazy analysis evades the real problem: how do you create the institutions that LEAD to development!.
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I second Jawad Ahmad’s stand and would like to request PTI followers to stop using Umeed e Sahar in any of their videos.
جولوگ بھی میرےگانے”تم جیتویاہاروسنو” کوعمران خان جیسےآئین شکن، غدار وطن،ملک فروش، عوام دشمن کی وڈیوز پرلگارہےہیں وہ یہ جان لیں کہ اگر دنیا ختم ہو جاۓ اور یہ اس میں باقی بچنے والا آخری آدمی ہو تب بھی میں اس جھوٹے منافق کو اپنے اس گانے کے قابل نہیں سمجھوں گا۔.
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In contrast, Baran continues, in Asia/Africa, the “climate and natural environment” were different. In other words, AJR’s story is IDENTICAL to the story first presented by Paul Baran. But there IS a key difference:
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Beneath all this cute language of “independence”, the aim of the proposed SBP amendments is quite simply the OPPOSITE: it is to ensure that the lender can control the economy’s monetary sovereignty to ensure debt repayments. SBP “independence” = Total IMF monetary dependence.
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Let’s get some facts (and math) straight. In 1927, Bhagat Singh’s father bailed his son out on a surety bond of 60,000 indian rupees. In 1927, gold was about 18 rupees per 10 grams, so 60,000 INR would be worth about 3.5 kg of gold. Do the math: this would be worth about.
No comparison between her and Bhagat Singh. 1- Socialist revolutionary Bhagat was from a middle class peasant family. Liberal social activist Iman is from a rich feudal family. Her mother is a part of one of the rich ruling class parties, PTI. Led by Imran Khan, PTI polished.
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Excellent idea. Maybe we could start by ensuring that 1) vegetation/greenery-killing elite real estate schemes can be curtailed & 2) green belts can be protected from the land mafia. An inquiry report by the PM to identify the perpetrators of 1 and 2 would be a great first step.
I want all Pakistanis, esp our youth, to gear up for the biggest tree planting campaign in our history. We have a lot of catching up to do.
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No that’s not a typo. China’s economy grew at 18.3 percent in the first quarter.
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There is an odd tendency to “medicalize” the gruesome murder by overemphasizing the past schizophrenic episodes of #ZahirJaffar. This not only completely ignores the social (gender, class) aspects of this heinous act, it also leads to a further stigmatization of mental diseases.
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This is why we need mature parties. Just compare the way the PMLN govt handled the situation in 2017 vs. how the PTI has (mis)handled it. For 20 days, the PML govt allowed the sit-in to continue & never used lethal force at ANY point. It tired the protesters out. Tactics matter!.
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@Pakistanomy On the bright side, it landed two hours ahead of schedule. One should always try to emphasize the positive aspects you see.
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The political ‘fog’ has cleared to reveal certainties: the #DaskaElections are reflective of PRECISELY what happened on 24th July, 2018.
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Dear friends,. I am beyond excited to share this news with you. After a decade of work, I will be releasing my music album Banbaas: Exile in Wilderness. It consists of new ghazals, with English translations, devoted to the inner world, the world of the “subject”. The first
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The PDM's situation can be best summarized by something former world chess champion, Vishwanatan Anand, said: "In a bad position, every move is a bad move". Consider the options: 1) Accept IMF deal (increase fuel prices => political fallout); 2) Default (=> political fallout).
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Covid and Garment workers in Pakistan- Some Facts: . - 86% of workers experienced layoffs.- Employers stole the wages of the poorest workers. - 81% of the workers were pushed below the international poverty line. #EndWageTheftNow.
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After Daska, the voters of #NA249 also declare in one voice that they REJECT the selected and the selectors. This government has lost (if it ever had) all legitimacy.
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Scapegoating is easy. But Pakistan’s trade balance did not worsen overnight because of a “Dar-peg”. The current downward spiral in Pak’s trade balance began 2 decades ago: . Look at this graph: notice the sudden downward dip after 2002-04?
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Allama Iqbal on #KarlMarx . Woh Kaleem Be-Tajalli, Woh Maseeh Be-Saleeb.Neest Peghambar Wa Lekin Dar Baghal Darad Kitab. That Moses without Light, that Jesus without the Cross: .No prophet is he, yet with him a book he carries.
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Dear friends . I have received a lot of emails and messages to ask about the hindutva attack on my public lecture, today. I will write a short thread about it later. Rest assured, that our resolve only becomes stronger as does our faith in the possibility of a better future. ✊🏽.
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Khilafat Movement 2.0: The obsession with the ottoman caliphate never seems to die.
More than a display of Pakistan's defence capabilities, #PakistanDayParade is coming across as a display of Turkish soft power.
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@Naumanms1 I don’t mind the hostility. As a teacher, I can only smile at ignorance and keep fighting against it :).
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There is much to celebrate in the SC decision against #NAB as a biased and politically motivated institution. But this paragraph, citing Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci takes the cake for me:
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I wrote this song at a time when Pakistan was trying to recover from the dark era of the Musharraf dictatorship. Happy to see HKP put the song to good use. Happy Independence Day!.
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If you needed more proof that capitalism is killing us—- from the inside and the outside—- here you go.
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When you value empty swagger and bravado more than talent, persistence, and hard work, this is the kind of mediocrity you get. Hate to say it, but #PakvsUSA is just a microcosm, a case study, a mere symptom of the general institutional collapse.
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“He was as simple as truth itself”. (Gorky on Lenin) . Happy Birthday to one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century: VI Lenin
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