What is 'Pakistani culture' anyway?
Navigating one’s way in Pakistani society often involves an encounter with two pertinent social check posts. Both of these markers are concerned with how individual behaviours intersect with what is...
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Ghutarghoon Khan: More proofs of Pakistani spy pigeon released
In May 2015, Indian authorities announced the capture of a Pakistani spy pigeon. The Indian intelligence agency, RAW, claimed that the pigeon, Ghutarghoon Khan (GK), was specially trained by the...
View ArticleThe 'enemy' is the handsome Pakistani guy dancing on an Indian screen
They call it an 'artistic bridge', but in truth, art in the subcontinent has never quite known a boundary in the first place.As cross-border tension escalates, authorities on both sides have aimed...
View ArticleAn end to (coercing) 'forgiveness' in honour killings
The parents of Qandeel Baloch no longer have a place to live. According to news reports, their landlord evicted them a few days ago. He isn’t the only one at their necks; most of the people in Basti...
View ArticleI am a Pakistani-American and Trump's rise threatens me
When Donald Trump first made the statement about banning Muslims from entering the United States, I did not take it as an abstract concern. I did not think he didn’t mean it or that he wouldn’t want to...
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Karbala: visiting the site of Islam's greatest tragedy
As I observed the roza of the Prophet Mohmmad's (PBUH) grandson Imam Hussain in Karbala, it seemed surreal that I was actually here. People visiting the haram can do as they please – eat, sleep, walk,...
View ArticleOrange Line Metro: Will the Supreme Court save Lahore's heritage?
The Lahore High Court's (LHC) decision this August to suspend construction on Lahore’s Orange Line Metro Train within 200 feet of 11 heritage sites is a critically important verdict given that the...
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Karachi won't be Karachi without the sea
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest and most populated metropolis. It is also the country’s busiest trading post and a highly pluralistic city. But the crime rates here have been the highest in the country;...
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The untold story of Pakistan’s blasphemy law
Note: This blog was first published on Dawn.com on January 15, 2015. A few days ago, a video of erstwhile pop icon and widely heard Islamic evangelist, Junaid Jamshed went viral on the Internet, in...
View ArticleI didn’t want them to think I was crazy...
It is 7:30 am. I reach out to turn off my alarm as the sun rays creep through my window. I have a quick breakfast and head outside for the university on foot. As I walk, I spot a familiar face, Sara....
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The mystery that shrouds Liaquat Ali Khan's murder
On October 16, 1951, Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated in Rawalpindi's Company Bagh (also known as East India Company Garden) during a public meeting of the Muslim City...
View ArticleHow Pakistan won a skirmish with India over climate change funds
Songdo, South Korea is not a place that would normally spring to mind as a venue for an Indo-Pak confrontation. Last week, however, the boardrooms of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) witnessed a...
View ArticleThis Hazara mother’s letter to her son will move you to tears
My dear son Salaar,You are the joy and purpose of my life. You are an innocent soul who has made our life beautiful and make us smile every day. I can’t even imagine a single moment of my life without...
View Article'Amma, how many people got killed this time?'
My dear son Salaar,You are the joy and purpose of my life. You are an innocent soul who has made our life beautiful and make us smile every day. I can’t even imagine a single moment of my life without...
View ArticleThe real story is not about the Chaiwala. The real story is about us
http://images.dawn.com/news/1176449/that-man-they-call-chaiwala
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India and Pakistan: Here's the history the government is hiding from us
Secular liberal fascists in both India and Pakistan have for long been distorting the history of the region. One of their worst acts in this context has been the way they have managed to repress and...
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Unbelievable pictures of Thar desert after the rain
The annual rain shower is a blessing for people living in the Thar desert.The desert is suddenly buzzing with activity as people become occupied with cultivating the land as the dull, arid landscape...
View ArticleHow Sajida lost her family to bonded labour
Let me tell you a story that still haunts my mind about one of Pakistan’s biggest evils: bonded labour.Our housekeeper Sajida had 13-year-old twin daughters, Bushra and Nusrat. They used to come over...
View ArticleIs your spouse emotionally abusive? Here's why that needs to stop
Karen doesn’t even have the strength to walk properly. She tells me anxiously that it feels like pins and needles in her left leg. She is hoping that I would offer some explanation about her recurrent...
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Bum ‘em all: War clouds over South Asia
War clouds are hovering over Hindustan — a vast empire which includes all of the subcontinent, including the Maldives, parts of Seychelles and some residential areas of Mauritius. Its brave youth are...
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