From Bhutto to Zia to Musharraf, 'no apologies' should be our national motto
The All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) denies that former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf offered an apology over the 'murder' of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. Perhaps the ex-army...
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A parable on love and loathing
There’s less love and more loathing here in the US and elsewhere. Fear, hate and xenophobia against Islam will suck out most of the oxygen in forthcoming presidential debates, TV talk shows and op-ed...
View ArticleHealth cards will not end Pakistan's healthcare nightmare
The health ministry recently announced a plan to issue health cards to underprivileged Pakistanis with hopes of ameliorating healthcare within the country.The prime minister's card, which will be...
View ArticleWhat can Kashmir expect after the Nawaz-Modi rendezvous?
There is no sight more comforting for a Kashmiri than the top leadership of India and Pakistan sitting together with the intention of creating an amicable political environment.Notwithstanding some...
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Altit Fort — Hunza's silent prestige
Hailing from one of the world’s biggest metropolitan cities, I have always been fascinated by the rural lifestyle and topographical features of Pakistan's northern areas.The strong cultural values and...
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Will Pakistan see another Jahangir Khan?
Yet another year has passed with no success in the sport which Pakistan once dominated for nearly fifty years: squash.How many teenagers are growing up with the drive and ambition to be the next...
View ArticleIf Donald Trump was a Muslim in Pakistan...
A month ago, an 81-year-old Muslim bookseller in New York was caught with a copy of the Holy Quran. The FBI arrested him promptly, and just two days back, an anti-terrorism court in Washington DC...
View ArticleChris Gayle and sexism in sports — The game is changing, baby
If you were hoping to turn to the innocuous TV spectacle of cricket’s Big Bash League for some light relief from the politics of gender, Melbourne Renegades player Chris Gayle just spoiled the party....
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Anxious anti-heroics: Zinda Bhaag — The DVD review
Pakistani cinema is changing. As more and more filmmakers from the urban middle classes continue to extend the recent extraordinary revivalist run of Pakistani films, the scope of mediation and...
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Double-a double-a! Nine ways to survive public buses in Karachi
Riding public buses in Karachi requires a stomach of steel, expert gymnastic skills, and patience greater than one accumulates during the month of Ramazan. It is, in short, nothing less than a daily...
View ArticleExpelled: Pakistan's dangerous campus censors
Just because we haven't fully learned to command freedom of speech offline does not mean we should not protest the erosion of freedom of speech in the digital age. More so for our students.In addition...
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Why did Bhan Singh break down in tears?
To answer the above question, I will have to bring up the history of Bhan Singh's city, namely Mirpur Khas.As the name suggests, Mirpur Khas was 'the special town of Mirs' in the old days. After the...
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Once upon a time in Karachi
Before the trawlers had started to harvest the sea’s upset meadow and the refugees hadn’t started to migrate in large numbers, Elphinstone Street, or Elphi as it came to be known (much before it was...
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Women on Wheels = 'Beyhayai' on wheels?
The Punjab government’s Women on Wheels programme was initiated on January 10 by a rally of 150 women trained by the Special Monitoring Unit on Law & Order and City Traffic Police.The WoW programme...
View ArticleWe are invisible...until we speak English
We are background noise, it seems, until we have sufficiently demonstrated our humanity to the world by speaking fluent English.A video on social media features a homeless man making an appeal for an...
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Souqs and street art: The lesser-known Riyadh
Much of the news on Saudi Arabia is relegated to the high number of executions that the kingdom carries out, her deeply conservative society and at present, her standoff with Iran.I won't lie, I...
View ArticleWill Pakistan be able to resist Butt and Asif?
So, Salman Butt is back with a bang. Mohammad Asif, too, showed signs of the magic that he once worked on the cricket pitch.I have a feeling, somewhere in Lahore, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman,...
View Article'Fix it' is not going to fix Pakistan
The “Fix it” campaign is bold and charming, a quick antidote for Karachi’s citizens who have suffered decades of negligence towards the city's many glaring problems.Last week, activist Alamgir Khan,...
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Dark knights: From Akram to Amir
I am a teenager shouting out at a middle-aged man selling drinks behind a counter.“Chacha, chacha, chacha,” I call out to him without pausing.There is a crowd around me, also desperately trying to get...
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Saudi crown prince’s visit to Pakistan: A fly-on-the-wall review
Prince: So, about those troops…PM: We have prepared some really great dishes for you.Prince: That’s nice to know. Now, about those troops…PM: …including roasted houbara bustards. Prince: That’s...
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