Clik here to view.
Finding Subhan — An India-Pakistan wartime friendship
This is part 2 of a two-part series. Read part 1 here. This is not how two friends are supposed to meet after 50 years.During my vacation in Europe last year, I found myself walking around the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Edhi's politics of kindness
It almost feels as if our only chance at redemption is lost. Because that is what Abdul Sattar Edhi has been for Pakistan for a very long time: her unwarranted redemption. Our one chance to tell...
View ArticleI'm a Pakistani Hindu. So what business do I have missing Eid?
Last summer during Ramazan, I shared the Shan Masala Eid commercial like Pakistanis all over the world. The ad showed two brothers spending the occasion away from home. For the purposes of the advert,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
'Edhi, move or you’ll get shot'
Burdened by responsibility. —Arif Mahmood/White Star The first time I met Abdul Sattar Edhi was also my last. It was March 23rd. Little did I know that the meeting — which happened completely by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Terrorising the public — Are gory signboards 'helping' road safety?
I drive down the Lahore-Multan Road as part of my daily commute everyday. Yesterday on my way back home from the office, a signboard showing a blood-soaked body of a road accident victim jumped out at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dispatch from Srinagar: Our nights are becoming longer and darker
When Indian forces announced they had killed a top Kashmiri rebel leader earlier this week, backlash followed — an outpouring of public anger, daily protests and dozens dead in the streets. —AP/Dar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The age of Misbah
Misbah was never in the league of those spontaneous cricketing talents, who burst onto the international scene at a very young age, exhibiting an early promise to become one of the game's best.He was...
View ArticleDarul Uloom Haqqania — When the past is present
The rising star in 1996 was Imran Khan. As a newbie in politics, he was a fresh face with fresh ideas and fresh hopes for Pakistan. President Farooq Leghari had a revolving door: exit Benazir Bhutto;...
View ArticleQandeel taught us to own our sexuality but we couldn't handle it
Never in my wildest, most spit-fired dreams had I ever imagined that I would one day be defending Qandeel Baloch. That I would feel a militarised outrage so pure and renegade in concentration that it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I went to Edhi's grave because women couldn't go to his funeral
Because I never had a chance to meet Edhi sahib in life, I thought I would meet him in death.The night he succumbed to his longtime illness, I decided I would go to his funeral. But my resolve to...
View ArticleAfter Qandeel: An open letter to ‘honourable’ Pakistanis
I trust that by now, every shareef citizen has had their say.You say Qandeel Baloch was a wicked person, but you're still saddened by her death. Well done, it's nice to know that you're anti-murder....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can the PSL format revive Pakistan hockey?
I remember the time Pakistan was at the pinnacle of four different sports. It was a brief sliver in its tumultuous history, but it filled the people of this country with pride, and actually gave us...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Men on horseback: A century of coups
Military coups: A 20th century phenomenon The 20th century was the era of military coups — mostly in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America.The phenomenon was largely associated with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Silencing Kashmir: The two faces of Facebook
Hamza Ali Abbasi seems to be building quite the resume when it comes to getting his Facebook posts deleted. In the latest such instance, the social media giant took down his post in which he praised...
View ArticleCheck your male privilege when talking about Qandeel Baloch
In a passage from Rabisankar Bal’s Dozakhnama, Manto, on the male ego, says: When it rears its head, it wants to destroy the very world. Do you know why? Because it’s a glass doll. Throw it on the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Diary of a Kashmir curfew: 'Our eyes are crucial to envisioning our...
A Kashmiri girl looks out the window of her home. —AFP It is another summer morning in Kashmir. Clouds sit in the bright blue sky. On the streets, there is a battle. Following the killing of Hizbul...
View ArticleZafar Iqbal Lund: The poet environmentalist
Zafar Iqbal Lund, 55, a social and rights activist from the Seraiki belt of Southern Punjab, was murdered this past week by target killers. Two young men came to his house in Kot Addu in Muzaffargarh,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How I almost joined a 'jihad' training camp
It has happened to me, and it can happen to anyone. In plain sight of my unsuspecting family, I was radicalised during my teenage years. It did not matter that I lived a privileged life — not all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Did the floods drown Bhutto?
It poured like never before. Over eight inches of rain descended on Karachi in just 12 hours. The otherwise tame Lyari and Malir rivers went wild and burst their banks. Karachi was flooded. The early...
View ArticleEscape ’em all — Why Pokémon Go is a ‘reality’ we can digest
Even with a constantly soaring heat index, I’ve been out and about: phone in hand, eyes glued to the Pokémon Go app, trying to ‘catch ’em all’. Having spent too much time navigating Orlando in search...
View Article