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Toba Tek Singh II: A post-Manto dream
On the 14 of May, 2014, a most terrible storm in the Arabian Sea caught dozens of fishermen unaware. Many drowned, as their boats were torn asunder by the sheer magnitude of the waves, the powerful...
View ArticleCheque please — Forget hospitality, split the bill
Now that someone has finally been shot dead in Istanbul over an argument on who gets to pay the restaurant bill, it may be time to consider replacing our valued Eastern tradition of prandial...
View ArticleKeeping quiet on sexual abuse is hurting your children
Our domestic helper resides at our house. And even though she is not a minor, every month when her mother comes to meet her from their village, she asks me, "Is my daughter sleeping inside the house?...
View ArticleYour guide to writing impossible-to-ignore e-mails
Most, if not all, of the time we really don’t pay attention to outbound e-mails. We safely assume that our recipient will open our e-mail, read it till the end, understand everything and figure out...
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Istanbul: Walking through the greatest empires
Recently, on a whim, my wife and I booked our tickets, packed our bags and headed to Turkey. Home to ancient Greek and Roman civilisations and, later, the Ottoman Empire, the diverse heritage of Turkey...
View Article7 trials of being a Muslim in our times
"How do you guys celebrate new year in Pakistan in line with Islamic principles?” a very learned German friend of mine asked me last New Year’s Eve in Sweden. Coming from a person well-versed in...
View ArticleBad news = good ratings — The Pakistani media's formulaic demise
A wise old journalist once said: bad news will find you, but you have to find good news. When it comes to TV media in Pakistan, this couldn’t be truer. After all, when a bomb explodes, it explodes on...
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'Our birth is our single biggest regret' — Being transgender in Pakistan
It was the first day of my internship at Lahore's Fountain House. I was sitting next to Doctor Saima, project manager of the Khawaja Sara Rehabilitation Program, preparing myself for the task I was...
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Panama president admits to offshore company in Pakistan and other unbreakable...
The Panama president has an offshore company in Pakistan. Also owns a flat in Karachi. Panama City: According to an un-leaked set of papers which were to be leaked along with the notorious Panama...
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Justice, sexual exploitation and bigotry — Musings of a Pakistani lawyer
I was first exposed to exploitation within the lawyer community last year in August, after being enrolled as a lawyer at the Karachi Bar Association.I met with a typist named Mubarak Ali — who over a...
View Article'Lightly' beating about the bush in 2016
This time around the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has produced an exhaustive 163 point ‘model’ bill as its response to the Punjab Women’s Protection Bill passed earlier this year. The Women’s...
View ArticleThe real peacemaker
I first met Fateh Shah Firaq eight years ago on Valentine’s Day; he was giving flowers to passers-by outside the Hyderabad Press Club. At that time I wondered about his motive, but much later I...
View Article50 shades of CII
Feeble-minded, simple and not-to-be-trusted because of our easily influenced nature, we, women, must be reprimanded, oppressed and shown the rod (both of the animated and unanimated variety) if we are...
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Trapped between debt and humiliation: The story of a Pakistani migrant
Documentary courtesy of Al Jazeera | Documentary filmmaker: Syed Owais Ali. “When I spoke with my parents, tears rolled down my face. I was wondering what to tell them…” These are the words of a...
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The day I declared my best friend kafir just so I could get a passport
If you are a conscientious Pakistani, or if you don’t live under a rock, it is hard to ever forget or ignore the kind of infuriating discrimination and shameful persecution that members of the...
View Article'Hijray ho kya' — and other ways Pakistan trivialises trans hate
The first time I ever saw a transgender person was when I, along with some cousins, went to an ice-cream parlour in Karachi for a late night escapade on Eid. We were a few years shy of hitting puberty...
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One man's terrorist... — The tragicomedy of Pakistan's apologists
PTI spokesman Naeemul Haque. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) spokesman Naeemul Haque on Thursday defended his stance over calling Afghan militant Mullah Mansour a 'martyr', who was killed in a US drone...
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In the footsteps of Rajas: A journey through the soul of Potohar
I lower the car window and stick my head out to feel the pulsating wind. It reeks of ancient legends and genius. The narrow winding road through hillocks is less travelled and I have not seen any...
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The last ascent of Rajab Shah — Pakistan's forgotten mountaineer
Rajab Shah at his home with all his awards. Not many in Pakistan know of Rajab Shah other than those who are connected to the mountains. He is the first Pakistani to summit all five 8,000metre peaks...
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‘Our’ Muhammad Ali — Why Pakistanis saw him as one of their own
Muhammad Ali. —AFP Anyone who lived through the 1970s could not have remained immune to the phenomenon that was Muhammad Ali, even if — like me — they had missed him at the peak of his athletic...
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