Fiction in newspapers

Where’s the ghairat brigade now?

When Pakistan’s image is “tainted” we thirst for blood but some holy cows get away with doing so over and over again without fear. The News is one of them. Remember the wiki leaks they made up?

So when this absolutely incredible story broke, I just didn’t take it seriously simply because it was coming from The News. Had it been published in Dawn, I wouldn’t have been sceptical simply because I know it is the ONLY newspaper in Pakistan that is ethical. The News simply isn’t.

This story ended up circulating the world. People the world over wanted to help this poor man whose heart wrenching tale tugged at their heart strings. Instead, they were told it was an elaborate hoax, reinforcing a stereotypical image of the greedy, corrupt Pakistani crying wolf over and over again.

So whose heads will roll? Who will be held accountable for this “shame” on our “national image”? Will there be any responsibility or apology? Or will the Jang group get away with it again like all those aligned with the deep state do?

My critical thinking course

After I wrote about how lack of critical thinking is creating an intolerant and indoctrinated society, I really thought there would be no solution other than overhauling the entire education system and introducing a system similar to the International Baccalaureate. While I still feel that the current private school O and A level system needs to be replaced with something better, I know it’s not going to happen any time soon.

Under the current system, students arrive at university without any critical thinking skills. They struggle with critical thinking courses and they also do not know how to present well. After excelling in school, this leads to a loss of self confidence and can impact their academic performance. Surely the deserve better and if schools aren’t teaching them critical thinking, someone should. So after months of just thinking and planning, I have finally set up a critical thinking course for students. It is twice weekly and two months long. Here is the facebook page for this course as an event and here is the official description on The Knowledge Factory’s official website. Although it was meant to start this week, not enough people have registered so we have delayed it for a week until we have enough participants.

My teaching philosophy is that learning should be fun. For this course, there will be no reading. Instead, I will use animations, videos and images in class. Because I personally find lectures boring, it will be interactive and will be a safe space for debate.

Do check it out and sign up if you’re interested. You can also contact me at nabiha@theknowledgefactory.org for more details or just leave a comment here.