Dinshaw Avari- Trying my Hand at Blogging!

March 2, 2020   There were many interesting sessions at this year’s Karachi Literature Festival; and naturally, it’s just impossible to visit many of them due to clashing schedules. However, I found a certain “theme” which seems to emanate this year - the NEED FOR QUALITY EDUCATION AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL.   Let me explain in brief with examples of the sessions at KhiLF 2020- ·         At the Opening , the Education Minister’s frank remarks on the state of primary education in Pakistan for the last 50 years; ·         The Political Character of Pakistani Middle Class – I touched on this   https://dinshawavari.com/2020/02/29/at-the-karachi-literature-festival-2020-the-political-character-of-pakistani-middle-class/ o    The panelists said teach them to THINK FOR THEMSELVES –we “follow the State’s narrative”.   We can’t be civic minded because of this. · ...

February 29, 2020 This morning’s session at the KLF with Dr Asad Sayeed, Ghazi Salahuddin and Dr Huma Baqai (moderated very capably by Yasir Qazi), like a lot of discussions on Pakistan’s civil (and social) direction, was pessimistic … unfortunately and, I believe, rightly.                Several questions emerged from this discussion – i)                     Where is the Pakistani civil voice? ii)                    Who is the cause of the destruction/silencing of this civil voice? iii)                  Why does the middle class - the backbone of any society – stay silent [numb] over atrocities that are committed in society over and ove...