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Shooting down a drone isn’t so hard to do
-Illustration by Faraz Aamer KhanSoon after Pakistan’s May election, Imran Khan called on the new government to “stop or shoot down” American drones. His position has softened in more recent weeks, but...
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The wonderland of wood – 2
For whom the bell tollsThe 16th day of April in 1853 is special in the Indian history. The day was a public holiday. At 3:30 pm, as the 21 guns roared together, the first train carrying Lady Falkland,...
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Sixty-six shades of green
-Illustration by Tahir Mehdi.Our political discourse is dominated by two competing narratives of the recent history of Pakistan. Each claims to be ideologically rooted. The dominant one describes Islam...
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Discovering Carlos Castaneda
All paths are the same, leading nowhere. Therefore, pick a path with heart!I discovered Carlos Castaneda in 1991 when I was 20 years old. I had already spent about a year in Zagreb, the capital of the...
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What is the Karakoram Anomaly?
Pakistan is home to the most heavily glaciated area outside the Planet’s polar regions. The massive glaciers of Baltoro and Biafo stretch for over 60 kilometres each in the Karakoram Mountains. In...
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When the mountains were red
Many Pakistani Pushtuns find themselves in a spot of bother when some political commentators and analysts define extremist organisations like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as an extension and...
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You are Sexist
—Photo by Shameen Khan“That's sexism, that is. Going around giving people girly presents just because they're a girl.” ― Terry Pratchett, Good Omens.You are sexist.No, I’m not talking to you guys — the...
View ArticleStone Wars and Drone Wars
Mohammad Junaid’s evocative essay “The Stone Wars” was published last week by Guernica Magazine. Taking readers into the strike-afflicted, trash strewn streets of an Anantnag under curfew, Junaid...
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Night cricket, part II: Growing roots in new soil
You must have seen villagers who settle in large cities. They keep bringing saplings from home and try to grow them in their backyard. We, the first generation immigrants, do the same as we try to...
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A No is a No
In my college days, I was a regular visitor to the sprawling, rocky campus of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, without doubt one of the most liberal campuses in India. Many of my friends studied...
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The annual surprise
So much for all the good-willed graffiti on the walls of the city – I own Karachi stamped here and there, perhaps it means something – perhaps it doesn’t. This weekend one thing was clear though, as...
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The evolution of the mosque
Not one, not two but three of the mosques' four minarets have gone missing, from all over the country engulfed by mysterious influences through a clandestine process. Only one stands and it stands tall...
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My name is human
There was a time when the Christian church used to insist upon establishing ‘the kingdom of heaven’ on earth through the state. This doctrine was made the basis to justify many crimes of humanity that...
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Indus Dolphin: Survival against all odds
The Indus River Dolphin. -Photo by Francios Xavier PelletierThe recent floods in the Indus River, which are becoming an annual occurrence, are certainly devastating for the local human population but...
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When the giants squabbled (music soared)
The 1970s and early 1980s were a golden age of Quwalli in Pakistan. This genre of Muslim devotional music first emerged almost 700 years ago in Afghanistan and Iran.But from the 11th century CE it...
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When sport and survival die
A few days before Eid is a particularly bad time to die. The ground where the funeral prayer for the eight soccer players who died had been used for the football match they had played just before they...
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Thirty funerals and an Eid
Today is Eid, and I am dreading the day.For me it is a day that is dead, empty of meaning, and bereft of joy. Yesterday, 30 persons were killed in a funeral procession in Quetta. Thirty funerals will...
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Who says there’s no perfection in the world?
“Everything remains inconclusive, even our fasts and prayers,” Ali muttered. He fasted all month and spent the last 10 days of Ramazan in the mosque.Ali is always in religious mode in those 10 days....
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Ceasefire: Will it turn 10?
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did the right thing when he expressed“sadness” at the recent “incidents” along the Line of Control (LoC). He said it was imperative for India and Pakistan to take effective...
View ArticleFrom Amrita Shergil to Lady Harrison: A journey through history
Earlier this year, I set out in search of some old houses in Lahore city, where the legends of arts had once lived, I came across the house of Amrita Shergil, a true Punjabi artist, who breathed her...
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