Rahat

“The position of power I’d been granted, and all because I had won at the genetic lottery that had determined my sex.” -Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner

Wow, love the innovation and creativity! @Strafasia_PK really is breaking the redundant cycle that research institutions tend to follow in Pakistan. It's such a refreshing space for young people.

This where you get internationally qualified faculty that will push and guide you actual research, a dedication to innovative thinking, and a kind of industry exposure seldom found.

Strafasia is launching a Summer Internship 2026 for students of international relations, strategic & security studies, public policy and media. Gain research and digital content experience, mentorship and a certificate. Apply by 4 July: [bit.ly/strafasia-summ…] #internship #InternationalRelations #SecurityStudies #PublicPolicy #Pakistan #media

Pakistan's National Assembly has passed a controversial Telecom bill that provides the sweeping rights to Telecom Companies over the private and public properties. ◾Bill allows the telecom companies to access public and private land for installing the 5G mobile towers, laying fiber-optic cables, and deploying related equipment, even without the explicit consent by individual owners. ◾Refusal by private property owners in granting access to Telcos to their private property can result in fines up 50M rupees. ◾The bill permits installation on the public spaces such as parks without any environmental assessments. ◾ Bill now requires senate approval, but after the backlash, Senate has deferred the bill for further scrutiny.

Super proud of you, @AnasYamin_ and the team!!!

The HIV epidemic in Pakistan is at a critical juncture with relatively large numbers of newly infected cases being reported daily from different parts of the country. The new cases are increasingly from the general population, although the country’s disease is labelled as concentrated in high risk groups ie injection drug users, transgenders, men-having-sex-with-men and female sex workers. The most unfortunate part is that children are getting infected in large numbers, which is unique when compared with other countries and is largely due to too many and unsafe injections through reuse of disposable syringes and transfusion of largely unscreened blood. UNAIDS and WHO have declared our HIV epidemic as fastest growing epidemic in Asia Pacific. Surveillance of this disease is not being done properly and we don’t know the prevalence of this disease in our high risk groups and in general population. The last National Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance (IBBS) was conducted ten years ago in 2016. The latest round of IBBS that was carried out in the country at the cost of USD 3.5 million is fraught with controversies that are not being resolved for the last 3 years. For evidence based planning and effective future response latest surveillance data is urgently needed.

On Iranian & US brinkmanship in Hormuz for @newsonepk

Why is there 8 hours of load shedding in Punjab and KP right now? 1: Incompetence. Qatar Gas hasn’t sent a cargo since March 4. The government has had one and a half months to restart domestic gas supply. The government has failed to do so. It should not have taken more than two weeks. Has 400 mmcfd of gas been made available, big power plants in Punjab would have produced 2000 MWs of power. 2: Priorities. The government is still preferring to give pipeline gas to fertiliser companies rather than to the power sector. We already have adequate stocks of urea for the beginning of the Kharif season, and only 10% or so of their total gas would be cut temporarily. But still the government isn’t diverting. Whether against sugar mills, oil marketing/refining companies or fertiliser companies, the people of Pakistan always lose under this PMLN + PPP government. 3: Incompetence again. The government can already send electricity from south (where it has excess power) to north and is not utilising this capacity fully. But by giving repressed gas and diverting fertiliser gas to the power sector, it would not only increase power production in the north but further increase its capacity to transmit power from south to north, as the grid becomes more stable. 4: Not taking responsibility. When there was LNG, this government said we are getting LNG and this is making the cost of power and gas too high and we can’t sell cheaper local gas. Now that we don’t have LNG, they are blaming not getting LNG for load shedding. In both cases, inexplicably, it is the fault of LNG but not the government! 5: Not taking responsibility again. We keep hearing that power prices are high because there is so much excess capacity. (Essentially the prime minister blaming his brother the ex-prime minister). Now that we have shortage of only one type of fuel, why aren’t we using other plants. Where is the excess capacity? What happened to power from coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and hydro? 6: Incompetence, yet again. Mian sb is PM for four years. Why hasn’t the government developed transmission lines to convey cheaper power from south to north. If you have set up more power in the country’s south (where port, coal, gas and more wind is available) for use in the north, shouldn’t you then ensure that power can be delivered to the north? Surely it cannot take more than 4 years. Everywhere you look, this government comes out incompetent, siding with the rent seeking elites against the people, and taking no responsibility. Hence there is zero delivery.

This is next-level incompetence. Surplus installed capacity, people paying all kinds of taxes, yet the electricity situation is this bad. Maybe after fixing world’s problems, someone would finally pay attention to what’s happening.

As a taxpaying citizen, I have a question: What exactly are we paying for? For years I have been paying my electricity bills on time. My gas bills on time. My internet bills on time. Every tax deducted from my salary and added to every purchase — also paid on time. Yet this is what I get in return: - Load shedding : Hours of no electricity daily and bills keep rising. - Sui gas shortage : No gas during cooking hours. - Slow internet : Pages don’t load, calls drop, work gets delayed. Even though my ISP bill is cleared every month. - Burden of regional war, oil crisis, traffic jams, vip routes and lock down. We are told shortages happen because people don’t pay. I pay. My neighbors pay. Millions pay. If theft and line losses are the issue, why is the burden on those who already pay? If the dollar crisis is the issue, why are essential services for citizens the first to be cut? If infrastructure is old, why are new taxes easier than actual upgrades? As a civilian widow and journalist I am not entitled for any concession. Paying citizens are not asking for luxury. We are asking for the basics we already fund: light when we flip the switch, gas when we turn on the stove, internet when we log in for work. Really need some peace in life.

A hospital under punjab government caused an HIV outbreak because it was reusing needles. The same punjab government that just got a brand new private jet.

There is an all-out war against the poor in Pakistan. Katchi abadi residents, redhi walas, factory workers, peasants & salaried classes are under attack to facilitate the tiny elite that consumes Rs 2700 billion in annual subsidies. Pakistan is a welfare state for the rich!

We are sitting on a generalised epidemic of AIDS in Pakistan. UNAIDS estimates that Pakistan has the fastest-growing number of AIDS cases in Asia. What BBC film has revealed in Tunsa THQ is a tip of the iceberg. Same practices are rampant in all districts of the country. All blood borne diseases as a result are on the rise in Pakistan due to absolutely irresponsible health care practices including, reuse of disposable syringes by health care workers and drug addicts; unscreened blood transfusions; unprotected sex; unhygienic use of shaving instruments and so on. We have the largest population with Hepatitis C infection in the world ie around 10 million. After RatuDero outbreak of AIDS among young children, I sat up a Taskforce for safe injection which produced a National Action Plan for Injection Safety and we banned the import, manufacture, sale and use of reusable disposable syringes and we promoted their replacement with auto-destruct syringes. The breakdown of governance, lack of implementation of policies, and complete lack of accountability has not made the desired effect on the ground though local manufacture has shifted predominantly to auto-destruct syringes. There are health budget issues, supply chain issues and unfilled posts in public sector health facilities where only poor and gullible people go for lack of affordability. Tunsa is a wake up call, like Ratu Dero (2020) outbreak was, like Jalalpur Jatan (2009) outbreak was, and many other outbreaks. After a spike in media discussions and governments defending the issue gradually dies down. Our successive governments have failed to make health care their priority which is evident from the very low spending on health care. In this case, very young children are suffering and dying due to AIDS due to health care workers criminal behaviour of using same infected syringes on multiple children. Those who survive have to take lifelong medication - a life long suffering and liability on society. Look at the clip below. It is horrendous. This is scandalous. For God sake take care of people’s health and make it a fiscal priority. We have to take a moral and financial responsibility for people’s health care, rather than continue to be dependent on Global Fund, GAVI and others. These are our children, our people and they are our responsibility.

@ShireenMazari1 Dr. Mazari, thankyou for engaging with us, albeit indirectly. I've had the pleasure of hearing from you as a younger academic. Your observation, I must point out, ref 'like-minded young ones being groomed' is prejudicial; unintentional, I'm sure, based on only a picture. 1) We are a private platform operating currently without funding. Our interest in convening these events is to shape debate with fresh perspectives, based on insight not rhetoric. 2) To that end, our workshops are formatted to jettison preconceived notions and incorporate the participants' views after debate and in-depth argument. We value input from experienced minds, and believe in challenging existing notions. Our workshops participants will echo this. 3) Given our team's collective experience in the research and academic sectors, having seen the issues associated with agenda-driven or PR driven activities, we believe in a different approach and have initiated with success a different model. The landscape of academia and policy research is being re-shaped by others like us, of like mind. I'm sure they would welcome your insight as an old hand of academia as well.

@ShireenMazari1 As a student who engaged with @Strafasia_PK on multiple occasions, I always felt encouraged to share my thoughts. Through these experiences, I learned to question more deeply and think independently rather than conform. It remains one of few spaces to actively promote new voices.

Haha same old faces of retirees from SPD & MoFA & like-minded going ones being groomed! Uniforms may go but faces are the same - just more aged! Good to see old friends like Banuri & Zamir still active even if one is not kosher in their eyes these days!!

Appreciate the engagement, Dr Mazari. Our #FuturesWorkshop brings together young scholars and practitioners precisely so different generations – and viewpoints – can disagree in the same room. If “same old faces” are now debating new scenarios with early career researchers, we see that as a feature, not a bug; that’s progress, not decline. We’ll keep making that conversation possible. Our only grooming is of ideas: interrogating assumptions with people who agree or disagree – uniforms, suits, shervani, or shalwar kameez.

At a time where a regional war has laid bare the criticality of #energy #security, I write for @SAVoices that, the 🇵🇰 Govt's Net Billing Policy ignores structural governance failures and weakens energy security. @fass_air

So this is not Iran Vs Israel-US, it is infact a religious/ civilizational war against the Muslims being fought from the US military bases hosted by the Muslim countries!!!

Probably the universities should stop teaching intl relations related subjects!