Havelian aur Hava: On Architecture and Air Pollution
How Karachi's architecture became environmentally unsustainable.
By sarah shamim |
Anti-Ahmadi hashtags: Initiated by Jamiat Ulema Islam, supported by all
The hashtags #AhmadisAreNotMuslims and #Expose_Qadyani_ProMinisters may have been started by JUI activists, but their popularity amongst users across the political spectrum reflects the strength of anti-Ahmadi hatred in Pakistan.
By Asad Pabani|
#SackShireenMazari
We analyzed a network of Twitter accounts targeting Pakistan’s Minister of Human Rights.
By Asad Pabani|
Trend of over 99,000 tweets appears to have been manufactured by TLP
#WeStandWith_MuftiMuneeb: An organic Twitter hashtag or a creation of coordinated TLP support? We analysed twitter data to find out.
By Asad Pabani|
Is piddarshahi a feminine noun?
On sisterhood, solidarity and the sacrifices made to organise and attend Aurat March
By Zuneera Shah|
Comrade: A lament, a love letter
What does it mean to be a comrade today? What unfulfilled desire, what future promise, does it hold?
By Ayyaz Mallick|
Does your pichal pairi have a guitar-slinging boyfriend?
On the possibilities inherent in Pakistani speculative fiction
By Hamza Sarfraz|
Where are students supposed to live?
Last year’s CDA action against hostels exposed a paradox: Education is a priority. But are students?
By Annam Lodhi|
What makes a story true?
A Sundance film imagines conversations between a ship berthed at Gadani and the labourers who come to break it
By Natasha Japanwala|
Is abortion legal in Pakistan?
Lack of clarity has made life difficult—and dangerous—for millions of women
By Zuha Siddiqui|
City of slights
More and more people are living independently in Karachi, by choice or by circumstance. What problems do they face?
By Sarah Dara|
Why is it so difficult to talk about female genital cutting in Pakistan?
Reticence, resistance and intimations of a reckoning
By Hina Javed|
ایمپریس مارکیٹ کے متاثرین کا کیا بنا؟
گیارہ نومبر 2018 کو ایمپریس مارکیٹ پہ ہونے والی انسدادِ تجاوزات مہم نے کم از کم تین ہزار پھیری والوں کو متاثر کیا
By Aziza Ahmad and Zuha Siddiqui|
Afterlives of the Empress
It took one day to evict informal vendors from Empress Market. It has taken a year—and counting—for them to rebuild their lives.
By Aziza Ahmad and Zuha Siddiqui|
She had a child through a sperm donor. Nadra refuses to recognise it.
A non-traditional family's looming collision with the patrilineal Pakistani state
By Annam Lodhi|
Sued for saying #MeToo
Criminal defamation lawsuits are rising at an alarming rate in Pakistan. What happens when you’re served?
By Zainab Husain|
#MeToo and the media: Mistakes we know we are making
In light of the rape allegations against the CEO of Dawn, we asked journalists how we can better report on ourselves and each other.
By Soch Editorial|
Indigenous iterations of azaadi in Kashmir
Tracing the life and legacy of Maqbool Bhat
By Zuha Siddiqui|
Alchemy in a Pakistani classroom
As authoritarian and neoliberal logics undermine universities, students remain their saving grace.
By Nudrat Kamal|
A Web of Disinformation
How is a Brussels-based group managed by Indian stakeholders influencing narratives about Kashmir?
By Annam Lodhi|
Something stinks in the Capital
Will Islamabad's single-use plastic ban help control the city's sprawling landfill sites?
By Annam Lodhi|
Silencing Kashmir
Social media platforms are silencing dissenting Kashmiri voices. Soch investigates how, and why.
By Annam Lodhi|
Karachi’s Missing Children
Why are rising rates of infanticide not a pressing issue for Karachi's police?
By Zuha Siddiqui|
Marching for Water
Hundreds of people from the Indus delta region marched 140 km in July this year. Their demand was simple: Water.
By Zuhaib Ahmed Pirzada|
One Khokha, One Thousand Lives
Why then is the CDA so adamant to shut down Islamabad's khokhas?
By Annam Lodhi|
The Kashmir Dispute – A Timeline
India and Pakistan have been locked in a territorial dispute over Kashmir since 1947. This timeline charts the history of the region and the conflict
By Zuha Siddiqui and Umer Zaib Khan|
India Scraps Kashmir’s Special Status Amid Statewide Crackdown
Indian has revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special autonomy to Kashmir. What does this mean for Jammu & Kashmir?
By Zuha Siddiqui|
Promising Sex, Delivering Adverts
How are an entrepreneur from Sargodha, developers from India, sexual frustration, cybersex pages, advertising revenue and an impersonation scam related to each other?
By Umer Zaib Khan|
Bad Doctors by the Dozen
There are over 600,000 non-registered medical practitioners in the country. They are distributing ‘medicines’ to patients without being answerable to anyone.
By Shabana Mahfooz|
“I am part of you”
Jalila Haider is here to stay, to challenge the present order, and rebuild the future for her community. In these pursuits, she is relentless.
By Enum Naseer|
Silencing journalists, one tweet at a time
Who began #ArrestAntiPakJournalists on Twitter? What did they hope to achieve?
By Annam Lodhi|
What the Jharu Embodies
If the forced identity of Pakistani Christians has become sanitation workers, then the symbol most commonly associated with them is the jharu.
By Sarah Eleazar|
A Culture of Rape
Rape culture in Pakistan is the embodiment of a constant power struggle; one that is carefully nurtured and disdainfully disregards that female wounds are deeper than male ‘desires’.
By Daanika Kamal|
Last man standing: Hammad Azhar
Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar has the unenviable job of guiding Pakistan’s tax policy; Soch sat down with him to learn more about revenue collection going forward.
By Meiryum Ali|
Quetta’s Missing, Dying, Dead, and those Left Behind
Communities in Balochistan have been protesting for over a decade. Can anyone hear them?
By Zainab Husain|
Maybe think again about fasting while pregnant
About 75 per cent of all pregnancies overlap with Ramzan in any given year.
By Farhan Majid|
Can the Pakistani job market afford graduates?
After a lifetime of investment, can most graduates today afford basic expenses such as rent, transport and food?
By Natasha Japanwala|
“Many accounts on Twitter are created for propaganda”
Rizwan Saeed, an online big data researcher, talks to Soch about his frustration with ‘propaganda fake accounts.'
By Maham Javaid|
What Digital Media ‘Gets Away’ With
Whether its reports about aliens or sex, why is it that digital media appears keener to take risks than print media?
By Maham Javaid|
Smartphones and the fight against sexual harassment
The smartphone’s role as a whistle-blower on society is probably least available to those experiencing the heaviest brunt of social injustices.
By Mehar Khursheed|
Facebook and fifth generation warfare
Fifth generation warfare was popularised by Major General Asif Ghafoor. There are very few mentions of it online.
By Asad Pabani|
The truth behind India’s airstrikes in Balakot
Nine days after the Balakot airstrike, Soch visited the bomb site to explore what happened first-hand.
By Asad Pabani|
The tragedy of Lahore’s Orange Line
The Orange Line Metro Train is slated to launch by June 2019. This correspondent visited the affected sites in January 2018 to assess the heritage and property damage caused by its construction.
By Asad Pabani|
What political parties believe about healthcare
Pakistan’s total expenditure on healthcare is a mere 3 percent of its GDP.
By Asad Pabani|
Afghanistan and Syria’s role in geopolitics
Welcome to World War III, where superpowers can have their cake and eat it too.
By Asad Pabani|
Unexplained abductions in Karachi
Countless people around the country have gone missing this year after being associated with Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.
By Zainab Husain|
Pakistan’s biggest threat: contaminated water
the World Bank estimates that water pollution costs Pakistan around $6 billion, or roughly 4% of its GDP annually.
By Asad Pabani|