Ayesha Akhtar Ghumman

history, geopolitics, literature and whatnot

[Into The Forest Dark @ElliottBlackwe3]

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

[Middle East Critique @MidEastCritique]

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑈𝑆-𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑟, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑟 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑥 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑠, 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠."
#Iraq #Afghanistan #Venezuela

NEW #OPENACCESS ARTICLE by Farwa Sial @farwasial

𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
...
"𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐠𝐞: '𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞.' 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."
...
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 '𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧' 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐍 𝐎𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐒-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐪, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐍 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦, 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐪𝐢 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡."
...
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟗.𝟏 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 '𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲' 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭."
...
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦."
...
"𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 '𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬' 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲."
...
"𝐓𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 '𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬' 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞."

...and much more
Continue reading for free here... https://t.co/eQpCmV81C6

[ਠੇਠ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Theth Panjabi ٹھیٹھ پنجابی @ThethPanjabi]

"Baisakhi" was celebrated as a holiday in Pakistan in 1953. Originally a pan-Punjabi cultural festival, the celebration became associated with the Khalsa Sajna Diwas of Sikhi. Punjabi Muslims gradually stopped observing Vaisakhi, perhaps due to it becoming too "Sikh-inflected".

[The Eqbal Ahmad Project @EqbalAhmadProj]

A> For now we feature this short clip from Eqbal’s 1996 BBC Documentary ’Stories My Country Told Me’ . In this excerpt the two friends discuss Raza Kazim’s hopes for the newly established Pakistan .

Watch the full documentary at our project archive - https://t.co/oouow2jZ0C

2/x

[Mel Smith @iamMelsmith]

No one *has* to do Coachella twice. Glad they decided to maximize their moment.

[Nnamdi Obi @nnamdiobiii]

Every time the West calls an African country "unstable" they mean the resources stopped flowing.

I made a glossary of 100 diplomatic words they use and what they actually mean.

https://t.co/hivzYl1N0Z

Bookmark this before your next history book. 🧵

[Ali A Olomi @aaolomi]

they did the meme

[Hina Rabbani Khar @HinaRKhar]

Instead of strengthening the grid and building on the momentum of private investment in solar that Pakistan’s net metering policy had unlocked, the government went into overdrive to kill it. A rigid, outdated bureaucratic mindset couldn’t see beyond protecting an inefficient power system. The objective seemed less about enabling affordable, clean $30 energy alternatives, and more about maintaining a broken energy economy.

[Ayesha Noor @khigirlinlhr]

Wow what a banger

[H @alicdry]

Amazing piece by Kasurian after a while.
This actually reminds of my all time fav of Iqbal’s Ghazals:
کمالِ تَرک نہیں آب و گِل سے مہجوری
کمالِ ترک ہے تسخیرِ خاکی و نوری
مَیں ایسے فقر سے اے اہلِ حلقہ باز آیا
تمھارا فقر ہے بے دَولتی و رنجوری
1/3

[punnu - پُنّوں @punnu__khan]

remembering Maulvi saheb on his 7th death anniversary

[لالہ مصری خان @Bedil_Khushabi]

Readers Digest inspired Pakistan's first digest in a similar format Urdu Digest in 1959, which in turn sparked the digest revolution in Pakistan
https://t.co/6YVs1bKGWl

[Inking_Insights @Inking_Insights]

Nothing beats Pakistani humour 😂

[Tamkenat @TamkenatM]

Chachu after this classification.

[Natasha @OhTripe]

There will be no nature left for the hospitality industry to leech off on if they keep building without ecological considerations in mind.

[PS @dostoevesque]

Even a single fictional book like The Count of Monte Cristo can teach you a lot more than a hundred self help books can. We are narrative creatures, shaped by stories that slip past our defenses. Our entire reality is subject to narrativization, and we cannot learn anything without them. Direct advice often bounces off because it feels abstract, preachy, or disconnected from lived experience.

Stories, by contrast, invite us in. We do not merely consume them, we inhabit them. Lessons must land unconsciously, and there must be some real stake involved. Transformations must happen without us being conscious of it and emerge as a byproduct rather than the direct goal.

Edmond Dantes does not receive a seven-step guide to overcoming adversity. He is thrown into the abyss, betrayed, imprisoned, and stripped of everything. Through years of isolation, a mentor's wisdom, relentless self education, and calculated transformation, he emerges as the Count.

[Jon Danilowicz @JonFDanilowicz]

This is an outstanding article from @DanQayyum, which reinforces much of what I learned about Pakistan during my five years living in the country.

"They are only finally being seen as who they are. A people who have absorbed war, terrorism, economic crisis, and decades of narrative assault, and who have responded not with bitterness but with tea, charity, laughter, music, and an insistence on dignity that no amount of external pressure has been able to break."

Pakistan Zindabad.

[Shumail 🇵🇰🍁 @Pakforever9]

In the quiet lanes of old Lahore,Multan,Rawalpindi,Peshawar,Karachi and other Pakistani cities,stand the faded havelis of our forefathers,silent witnesses to a time when life moved slower and homes had soul.
Their weathered wooden doors intricately carved with Jasmine flowers and geometric patterns,once welcomed generations with open arms,courtyards where children laughed under the shade of neem trees,where summer evenings were spent on charpoys listening to the dadi or nani's stories.
These havelis were not just houses ,they were living poems of our heritage.
Today,as modern concrete rises and swallows the skyline,these crumbling beauties remind us of roots we must not forget.
May these havelis forever live in our memories and in the stories we pass on to our children .
#Oldhavelis
#Pakistaniheritage

[Archaeology & Art @archaeologyart]

Long before telescopes were invented, the moon was a character on paper with its own features, lighting up the night and keeping time.

Scribes working in medieval Europe meticulously crafted this face onto parchment. In the margins of prayer books and astronomy texts, they'd paint it using blue, yellow, and red pigments. On some pages, the moon appeared as a blue profile draped in a cloth hood. Sometimes, it'd gaze directly at the reader with a round face framed by gold leaf. In those years when lapis lazuli pigment was even more valuable than gold, masters used their finest materials to paint the moon.

Toward the end of the fifteenth century, the printing press became widespread. The Nuremberg Chronicle, printed by German publisher Hartmann Schedel in 1493, transferred the moon onto paper using an entirely new technique. Carved into woodblocks, the moon's face carried the serious expression of a man marked by deep lines of age. With the arrival of the printing press, colors vanished. The angular lines of black ink replaced the paints in the manuscripts.

When Eastern civilizations transferred the same celestial body onto paper, they used the features of their own people. In Zakariya al-Qazwini's cosmographical works and Persian manuscripts, the full moon took on a very different form from the European depictions. The masters who copied these texts drew a lunar face that resembled royal court members. A unibrow, dark almond eyes, and red cheeks gave this celestial body a directly human expression.

The blue profile drawn by a European monk and the thick-eyebrowed full moon painted by an Eastern master were the product of the exact same effort: they made this distant mass familiar using their own paints.