The math of despair: 2015 in blasts and bodies
The South Asia Terrorism Portal keeps some dismal numbers. Collected via news reports and collated by year, and date and number of injured and number of dead; its pages and columns present in numbers...
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Imagine a world without India-Pakistan Test cricket
Imagine a world without India-Pakistan Test cricketBy Richard Heller and Peter OborneImagine an international cricket scene with no Ashes series between England and Australia because the two teams were...
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Chasing the rockstar dream in Pakistan
“Mama, I want to start an all-girl rock band.”A statement I made frequently in the early 2000s, when music in Pakistan was still exciting. What followed were glares of disapproval and a series of...
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Lahore Music Meet: Can the literature festival model save Pakistani music?
—Image courtesy of LLM’s Facebook pageA couple of years ago, when I first started regularly writing on underground musicians in Pakistan, I realised that all my pieces were ending the same way. Each...
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The Black Caps — Bringing India and Pakistan together
The World Cup 2015 had its share of ups and downs, but the finalists have been more or less on the expected lines, as many had predicted a final between the hosts.However, with the result of the second...
View ArticleAfter Germanwings: Do you trust your pilot?
The mystery surrounding the Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 seems to have unravelled finally.As airline passengers across the world held their breaths, speculations were let loose and investigators...
View ArticleYemen crisis: Don't bring the war to my home
Last time it happened, the Saudis sided with Zaidi Imam Muhammad al-Badr. It was the year 1962, when revolutionaries inspired by ideas of Arab nationalism deposed the last king of Mutawakilite Kingdom...
View ArticleOur government is MIA — now real work can be done
The work of legislation and running the country had come to a standstill because the Khan of Zaman Park and the bureaucratic Sharifs of Raiwind were trying to come to terms over two seats in Lahore....
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What Pakistanis think about Azhar Ali as their new ODI captain
This letter was written to the PCB Chairman by The Boys in Green, Pakistan's largest online cricket fan group.Dear Shaharyar Sb,We hope this letter finds you well.Firstly we would like to congratulate...
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Pakistanis seem to love Indians. Do Indians feel the same way?
“Aap India se hai? Are you Indian? That makes you our guest. We can’t take any money from you!”It was my fourth and last day in Islamabad, and this reaction from a handicrafts shop salesman didn’t...
View ArticleIslamophobia in China and Pakistan’s vow of silence
Recently, in a country that is decidedly not France, a Muslim man has been sentenced to six years in prison for keeping a beard. I daresay it’s time we have a polite talk about Islamophobia with our...
View ArticleA plague of suicide in Balochistan
Abdul Razzaq Baloch knew what he was doing when he left his friend’s house in Lyari, on the evening of March 24, 2013. He must have discussed it with a friend or left a note to his family, for how else...
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Food Stories: Hot cross buns
I went to a Catholic school in Karachi, as did my mother before me. We grew up celebrating Easter with the wonderful nuns and our Christian friends Jovita, Jacelyn and Joanne, who would bring homemade...
View ArticleHomelessness in Pakistan and Canada
It is hard to believe, but it's true. Despite all its riches, homelessness is very much a problem even in Canada.With over $50,000 in per capita GDP, Canada is one of the richest economies. Still, on...
View Article10 things I've learned raising my autistic son
April 2 is the eighth World Autism Awareness Day. This day is celebrated to raise awareness about different aspects of autism so that families, societies, and governments can collectively devise...
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Misbah takes back decision
Lahore: Former Pakistan cricket captain, Misbahul Haq, has decided to take back his decision to retire from One Day Internationals (ODIs). Talking to the media in Lahore, Misbah said that he was...
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Pakistan’s heartbreak, Brazilian joy and Falcao mark
The international window, which ran from March 23-31, saw Pakistan’s football team play one match; that was on the very first day and was the second leg of their first-round qualifier for the 2018 FIFA...
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'After 17 years in America, I'm scared of going back to Pakistan'
That was me, over and over again as I obsessed with friends and strangers alike about my upcoming trip to Pakistan. Even as I said the words, they felt strange. I am an American-born and bred...
View ArticleWill the PTI return to Parliament a different party?
After a reckless sojourn (during which the situation went from bad to worse in terms of political standing), the PTI and PML-N have finally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to constitute a...
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Fashion Pakistan Week 2015: An unfashionable perspective
“You’ve GOT to come!” cried a friend tearily (I think she was teary — it was on Whatsapp and I got a crying emoji). “I’m business-y not modell-y, the clothes won’t fit, I could FALL, they’ll make me...
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