The Islamabad Policy Research Institute organised a Distinguished Lecturer Series on "Changing Global Society: Post-Colonial World Order" on the 25th of March.

Dr. Homi K. Bhabha, an Indian-American academic from Harvard University, stated that "More conversations, more dialogue at the people-to-people level is the way forward for forging peace in South Asia".

While discussing the prospects of an India-Pakistan peace dialogue, Dr. Bhabha mentioned that there is no cultural problem between the two countries, and that "We need to have people-to-people dialogue at regular basis, and need to listen to the problems people want us (politicians) to address”, including multi-generational poverty and regional stability.

Speaking on post-colonialism, Dr. Bhabha argued that post-colonialism is not the end of colonialism and thus the strategy of dependence sustains the problems faced today such as ultra-nationalism. “The notion of security in culture has been disastrous because now people look at other cultures and question whether other cultures are “dangerous” to them or not.” he added.

Zarrar Khuhro, Pakistani journalist and discussant at the webinar, further articulated that the otherization, “us vs. them” discourse, is perpetuated to gain some political goals, particularly in South Asia. On Kashmir, Dr Bhabha noted that while political warfare is being witnessed in Kashmir, the rights of Kashmiris must be emphasized on and their alterity must be appreciated.

Dr. Meera Sabaratnam, Senior Lecturer at SOAS University of London and discussant, articulated that the technology behind social media is dangerous as well as manipulative. “On social media, we are fed with data as to confirm our bias” she added.

Another discussant Dr. Ahmar Mahboob, Associate Professor at University of Sydney, emphasized knowledge is at times biased, perpetuating a colonial-knowledge structure. “The world is morphing into ''Colonization 3.0" where Covid-19 has been weaponized to allow a whole different shift in how the relationship between people and communities exists” he noted.