A world without written words: the remnants of Pakistan's oral tradition
A few years ago, I had gone on a long trip to south Punjab in Pakistan, where I wound my way through various Sufi shrines belonging to several traditions, some similar and others distinct. I was...
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Jhulay Lal's cradle of tolerance
This article was originally published on June 3, 2015. One of my colleagues asked me some time ago:‘Can you believe that Hindus and Muslims can pray at the same place simultaneously?’‘Well, of course...
View ArticleIt's time we stopped using 'kala' as an insult and respected the...
February is Black History Month in the United States. It originated in 1926 with the efforts of the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, founded by historian Carter G....
View ArticleWhy we should be concerned our children are growing immune to terrorist attacks
We don’t realise how terrorist attacks affect our children indirectly. Have we ever stopped to think how it is changing our younger generation’s behaviour pattern?I will never forget the conversation I...
View ArticleThe tale of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Aurangzeb embodies simplification of...
The emperor Aurangzeb had forbidden anyone from removing the decapitated head and body of the ninth Sikh guru, Tegh Bahadur. The residents of Delhi, who had just witnessed the guru’s assassination,...
View ArticleI am a Pakistani-American and Trump's rise threatens me
This article was originally published on October 10, 2016 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...
View ArticleWhat does Trump's Executive Order mean for Pakistanis?
On Friday January 27, 2017, United States President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” The text of the order...
View ArticleWhat does the recent shooting in Quebec City mean for minorities in Canada?
There is no safe place left anymore.It is hard to imagine a quieter suburb than Sainte Foy and a town quainter than Quebec City. But this façade of calm and peace collapsed Sunday night when at least...
View ArticleWhy liberal politics is no answer to prevent the disappearances of activists
One of the most common liberal responses to the excesses committed by the powerful in Pakistan is to call for people to ‘speak out’. This familiar refrain, voiced often in the aftermath of the January...
View ArticleFawad's selective brand endorsement is a strategy other celebs should consider
http://aurora.dawn.com/news/1141627/celebrity-restraint
View ArticleChina, not America, likely behind Hafiz Saeed's house arrest
The biggest question about Hafiz Saeed’s house arrest isn’t why, but why now?After all, we’ve been here before. He was placed under house arrest in December 2008, just days after the Mumbai terror...
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Pakistan: The lesser-known histories of an ancient land
The first people Long before the emergence of the great Indus Valley Civilisation on the banks of River Indus 5,000 years ago, the earliest known people to make present-day Pakistan their home were the...
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Helping people at Chicago airport is the beginning of my fight against...
My father always wanted me to be a lawyer. Like many Muslim parents, he was thinking of a job that was safe, secure, and lacking in ostentation. So I went to law school, passed the Bar Exam in my first...
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Has Lahore forgotten why January 26 was chosen as India's Republic Day?
The Ferozepur road, one of Lahore’s arterial thoroughfares, evokes a lot of nostalgia. Starting from the Walled City, connecting several small ancient hamlets on the way, including Ichra, Mozang, Amar...
View ArticleI'll never forget the day Burhan Wani was killed
This blog was originally published on October 29, 2016.The news first broke when I was in the north of Kashmir in Vijbal, a town of less than a hundred households.My cousins had invited me for dinner...
View Article'Security situation' is the reason Taimur was shot. What is 'security...
In a police state, we all live on a knife’s edge. And the slightest error in judgment on part of a citizen may have lethal consequences. This ever-present fear is inconsistent with our vision of a free...
View ArticleDear Imran, a leader who wants to fix Pakistan would never propose a US visa ban
On January 27, US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order which barred nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the US for 90 days, as well as indefinitely suspending the...
View ArticleAs a Jewish person, I won’t stand idly by as Muslims are targeted in North...
My grandfather Morris wasn’t even 14 years old when he had to flee Kozmyn, a small village in Russia, by himself in 1904. Geopolitics had invaded the young boy’s life. The Czar’s soldiers had come to...
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Here is how Pakistanis actually reacted to Trump's Muslim ban
From a Pakistani TV soap character Dear … sob sob … Sartaj Trump …Please …sob sob … sartaj, don’t put a travel ban on us. Please don’t behave like my mother-in-law … sob sob … even though, I think it...
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By grabbing a cobra by its head, one woman changed her Tharparkar tribe forever
From inside a straw hut she had built, Meeran pulled out a small, woven basket and opened the lid covered in a swatch of azure blue fabric. With quick, nimble fingers she nudged the coiled cobra...
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