Mansoor Tariq Khattak is a native of Shakardara, Kohat. Professionally, he is serving as an assistant director in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the Board of Revenue (BoR) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Additionally, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in remote sensing and GIS from the prestigious Punjab University, Lahore.

Suppression of dissent and critical thought has been a common issue throughout history, frequently leading to the stifling of societal development and intellectual advancement. The sad end of Hypatia of Alexandria, a distinguished mathematician and philosopher whose cruel murder in 415 AD embodies the perils encountered by people who oppose established orthodoxies, is among the most moving historical examples of this phenomenon. Hypatia’s predicament and the current state of affairs in Pakistan, where intellectual oppression is still undermining freedom and progress, might be compared.

Renowned for her academic accomplishments in the fields of philosophy, astronomy, and mathematics, Hypatia of Alexandria came to represent critical thinking and intellectual independence. Alexandria’s period of scholarly enlightenment came to an end when a mob, driven by religious zeal, killed her.

The term “Hypatia syndrome” refers to the way that individuals in positions of authority, sometimes driven by religious or ideological orthodoxy, persecute and eventually silence intellectuals and free thinkers. In addition to marking the passing of a sharp mind, Hypatia’s death also signaled a larger cultural movement towards intolerance and intellectual suppression. This disease highlights the risks associated with the combination of strict ideological orthodoxy with political authority, which can result in the deliberate silence of critical voices and ideas.

The repression of criticism and dissent in modern-day Pakistan is........

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