2015: The year in words

Last year was long, unsettling and transitional. I have always welcomed change but being unsure about one’s future path is not too exciting.Have been a nomad for the past eighteen months. But I don’t want to start 2016 with complaints or regrets. During 2015, I finished two fellowships in Washington D.C. and then moved to Ithaca College in the Fall. A new beginning and perhaps a new direction.

The good thing is that amid all the transitions, my writing continued.

Here is a quick summary of all that I wrote in 2015. Three policy papers, one long essay and seventy-four commentaries, reviews, analyses and interviews. Most of them are also archived on this website.

Thanks to all those who gave me feedback, encouragement and ideas.

Policy/analytical papers & Essays:

  1. Charting Pakistan’s Internal Security Policy, Feb 2015. United States Institute of Peace
  2. The Prospects for Reform in Islam, March 2015. Hudson Institute
  3. Pakistan: Education, Religion and Conflict, May 2015, Tony Blair Foundation
  4. Long Essay: On the run, October, 2015, AEON Magazine

Commentaries, Op-eds, Reviews, Reports

  1. Op-ed: Countering the terror menace January 1, 2015, Express Tribune
  2. Report: Protect minorities, says Pakistan Ulema Council January 2, 2015, The Friday Times
  3. Taseer, an icon for sane, just Pakistan – January 4, 2015
  4. Book Review: A definitive history of Pakistan January 13, 2015, Express Tribune
  5. Analysis: Islam Needs Reformation from Within January, 16, 2015, Huffington Post
  6. Analysis: Back in the Driver’s Seat January 16, 2015, Foreign Policy
  7. Commentary: No exit January 16, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  8. Report: The Art Of U.S.-Pakistan Relations – January 26, 2015, Foreign Policy
  9. Art: Journey to change January 30, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  10. Op-ed: The vicious cycle of hate and violence February 2, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  11. Culture: The verse of freedom February 6,2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  12. Literature: Manto’s women February 13, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  13. Op-ed: Pakistan’s future fraught with perilous possibilities February 13, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  14. Art: Through the looking glass February 20, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  15. Analysis: The terrorism challenge February 27, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  16. Op-ed: Decisive action needed against militancy March 3, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  17. Memoir: About suffering they were never wrong March 6, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  18. Op-ed: The need to review our India policy March 11, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  19. Commentary: Brutal Murder in Bangladesh Highlights Growing Religious Intolerance March 12, 2015, Fair Observer, USA
  20. Art: The City Speaks March 20, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  21. Op-ed: Pakistan fails its Christians again March 21, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  22. Analysis: Bangladesh On The Brink March 26, 2015, Foreign Policy
  23. Op-ed: A year ago, I was almost killed March 28, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  24. Memoir: More than Just a footnote April 3, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  25. Op-ed: Counterterrorism: rhetoric vs reality April 16, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  26. Interview: China wants to stabilize its entire western periphery April 24, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  27. Op-ed: Sabeen Mahmud, Martyr for Free Speech April, 29, 2015, New York Times
  28. Commentary: A Drone Killed My Friend, Warren Weinstein April 30, 2015, Foreign Policy
  29. Analysis: Publish At Your Peril May 12, 2015, Foreign Policy
  30. Commentary: An Era of Reporting Under Fear May 12, 2015, Huffington Post
  31. Op-ed: Ideology, Impunity & Chaos May 15, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  32. News Analysis: The ghost of Osama May 15, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  33. Op-ed: Why India should not worry about China-Pakistan ties June 9, 2015 DailyO, India
  34. Commentary: Enemies of The State June 10, 2015, Foreign Policy
  35. Interview: Yazidi Youth Protests Through His Art June 15, 2015, Huffington Post
  36. Op-ed: How Modi can ruin India and Pakistan relations June 23, 2015 DailyO, India
  37. Op-ed: A crippling governance deficit June 26, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  38. News Analysis: Save Palmyra From ISIS’s Rampage June 26, 2015, Huffington Post
  39. Literature: Abdullah Hussein: alive in his vision July 8, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  40. News Analysis: Hope & fear: how to read the renewed Modi-Sharif bonhomie July 10, 2015, Catch News
  41. Book Review: Chronicles of our recent past July 10, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  42. Op-ed: Why India, Pakistan treat their Nobel laureates shamefully July 21, 2015, DailyO, India
  43. Commentary:Negotiating Freedom of Expression July 22, 2015, Center for International Media Assistance, USA
  44. Analysis: Rebuilding public narratives July 31, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  45. Review Essay: Islam and the Cold War baroque August 14, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  46. Op-ed: Our culture of silence and shame August 16, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  47. News Analysis: Be mature guys; there’s a lot at stake in India, Pak August 23, 2015, Catch News
  48. Review Essay: The mythological life and death of Benazir Bhutto September 19, 2015, Express Tribune
  49. Commentary: Political Princes: Struggles of Rahul Gandhi and Bilawal Bhutto September 24, 2015, The Quint
  50. Op-ed: Democracy in recession? September 28, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  51. Culture: Why fanatics of today would not have spared Kabir September 29, 2015, DailyO,
  52. News Analysis: Watching Kunduz Collapse From The Sidelines October 2, 2015, Foreign Policy
  53. Art: Pakistani Artist Animates the Times Square Oct 7, 2015, Huffington Post
  54. Art: Grace in hand October 9, 2015, The Friday Times, Pakistan
  55. Review Essay: Bridging the Divides: Muslims in Europe October 9, 2015, Huffington Post
  56. Op-ed: Sticky wicket: Why cricket is a lot like the world’s oldest game October 20, 2015, DailyO
  57. Essay: Exile for me and others – October 25, 2015, The News on Sunday
  58. Report: A Young Pakistani Physicist Who Loves Nuclear Reactors October 26, 2015, Huffington Post
  59. Essay: Blasphemy it was not October 30, 2015, The Friday Times
  60. Commentary: Landscape for Journalists in Pakistan – From Bad to Worse June 11, 2015, Center for International Media Assistance, USA
  61. Art: Diaspora art: Maximalist miniatures November 8, 2015, DAWN, Pakistan
  62. Culture: Faiz Ahmed Faiz: A window to what could have been November 14, 2015, Express Tribune
  63. Op-ed: Nawaz Sharif’s shift to the centre November 22, 2015, Express Tribune
  64. Essay: Climate of Intolerance: Down the well of religious bigotry November 23, 2015, Hard News Media
  65. Interview: Blasphemy laws have become an instrument of malicious motives November 27, 2015, The Friday Times
  66. Commentary: Defeating ISIS a far cry without a settlement in Syria November 29, 2015, DailyO, India
  67. Op-ed: Global terrorism myth and reality December 03, 2015, Express Tribune, Pakistan
  68. Commentary: ISIS, Muslims and the West December 9, 2015, Huffington Post
  69. Blog: Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia: The Dilemma of Secular Muslims December 9, 2015, The Quint,
  70. Commentary: Muslim clerics must reject notions of non-Muslim inferiority, December 16, 2015, Religion News Service, USA
  71. Review Essay: Midnight’s furies December 18, 2015, The Friday Times
  72. Commentary: In Bangladesh the term Blogger has Become a Curse December 21, 2015, Center for International Media Assistance, USA
  73. News Analysis: From terror to trade: Eight reasons Pakistanis now want a peace process from Modi and Sharif December 26, 2015, Quartz
  74. Interview: How perilous is the threat to Muslims in the US? December 26, 2015, DAWN, Pakistan

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