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Revisiting the Al-Zulfiqar saga: What really went down
Last Monday (06 September, 2015), I received an e-mail from a Pakistani who claimed to be living in a European city.He wrote that he had read my Sunday column in Dawn of 06 September, 2015, part of...
View ArticleWhy the Sahiwal stabbings are an attack on all Pakistani women
Somewhere in Sahiwal, if a woman now decides to jog at the Ladies and Children Park in Farid Town, it would be an act nothing short of gallantry and revolt; a woman versus patriarchy affair; versus...
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Remembering Dr Shakeel Auj: The man who wasn't afraid
Death feels a little closer than usual to many in Karachi. It feels even closer to the city’s teachers. Each teacher’s murder initially makes headlines, but media attention wanes away gradually, since...
View ArticleWhat does it take for a Bollywood sports movie to click?
When my friend Aatika spent INR 1,500 (about 2,400 Pakistani rupees), to take her husband and minor son to watch Brothers, I sort of sniggered.It was not a typical boys’ day out that she was...
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Pakistan's blue gem: Neelum Valley
My driver and I drove by the Line of Control as we passed through an area opposite to the Keran sector of Indian-held Kashmir. From the Chella Bandi Bridge – just north of Azaad Kashmir’s capital...
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Arriving in Pakistan on August 15, an Indian recounts his visit
As dawn broke on 15th August, India's Independence Day, I landed at the Lahore airport. A few hours earlier, Pakistan had celebrated its Independence Day, and the entire place was bedecked with green...
View ArticleWhy the Pakistan Super League is a win-win situation
There is no limit to ambition and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is one such project that has no limitations. Set to be played in Qatar in February 2016, the event promises to be the biggest, the most...
View ArticleIs Imran Khan really Pakistan’s Donald Trump?
In a recent Dawnop-ed, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy argued that Imran Khan is the Donald Trump of Pakistan. I beg to differ.Yes, there are many striking similarities between the two men. Both are...
View ArticleFrom Aurangzeb to Kalam: Is Delhi rewriting its history?
In India, history textbooks tell us that in the long line of Mughal rulers, Aurangzeb was possibly the most tyrannical. He destroyed, looted like no other and didn’t even spare his own family. Yet, the...
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Love, labour and laundry: The remarkable stories of Karachi's dhobis
A dhobi puts up laundered clothes for drying in the sun.The service of the dhobi has been around for centuries in this part of the world. The word dhobi refers to a dry-cleaner, or a launderer....
View ArticleAn unrelenting injury: The hushed tones at suicide funerals
Shahwar* was a girl in her mid-20s, living with her family in an impoverished neighbourhood of Karachi. She was the youngest of four brothers and three sisters. A talented embroiderer, she dreamed of...
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Human rights award: How we failed Sabeen’s T2F
Recently, a rare moment of optimism and hope was to be had following an announcement on social media about the nomination of our celebrated organisation PeaceNiche / The Second Floor (T2F) for The...
View ArticleIn the world of big data, big opportunities await Pakistanis
The prestigious Harvard Business Review calls it the sexiest job of the 21st century. Data scientists, i.e., statisticians of yesteryears, are in high demand. Firms are fighting over talent, even...
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Sport over politics: India shouldn’t forget Pakistan’s 1999 tour
The Narendra Modi-led government in India may have succeeded, for now, in boosting their popularity through unfavorable statements against Pakistan, but the damage their policies have inflicted on...
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Eid makeover: The art of camel barbering
Following our annual family tradition, this year too, we visited the cattle market to buy a sacrificial animal for Eid-ul-Azha. It was hot and humid at Asia’s biggest cattle market on the Super...
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The 1983 MRD Movement: The flasher’s version
In 1983, a movement against the Ziaul Haq dictatorship began to spiral out of control and threatened a full-scale civil war in the Sindh province.Dozens of civilians were killed, hundreds arrested and...
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Cricket and cattle — An unlikely partnership at the mandi
Inside the mandi. —Yumna RafiSoon after descending from the Sohrab Goth flyover, one is greeted by a sea of tents stretching far into the skyline. Behind the tents looms a brightly lit Ferris Wheel...
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Forty goats and a train
A policeman in Gujrat led a herd of over 40 goats onto a train track to be brutally killed by an express, as revenge against their owner. In this spirit, tragically, we mark the beginning of the...
View ArticleFood Stories: Bihari Kabab
http://images.dawn.com/news/1173911/food-stories-bihari-kabab
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Heroes forgotten: Searching for the Dinshaws of Karachi
This is the story of a Parsi father and his son; their services for the city of Karachi long forgotten by the non-Parsi community of the city or the country. The father was Edulji Dinshaw, and the son...
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