The most Dangerous Place for Journalists (a short interview)
I was interviewed in Karachi last month; here is the intro and the link- Recently, the journalist Saleem Shahzad has been killed in Pakistan after…
On the Issue of the United States, Pakistan Is Playing with Fire
I was interviewed on the recently released Wikileaks Cables on Pakistan. Here is part one. Will upload part two soon. Part two appeared on…
Sense and sovereignty in Kafkastan
I just returned from Karachi, where the city was outraged at the unscheduled, endless power cuts. Everywhere, the energy crisis dominated the discussions. In…
OBL saga and Pakistan’s crisis of governance
My piece for The News, Pakistan As details of Operation Geronimo unfold, more and more questions are being raised regarding Pakistan’s role in the…
Love and the Law: An exerpt from Bulleh Shah (Required reading if you have studied the law)
By Sovmind Bulleh Shah (1680 – 1757) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, a humanist and philosopher from what is now considered Pakistan. As one…
Pakistan media: Through the looking glass
It is ironic that the electronic media which played a major role in the movement against a military dictatorship is now being cited as…
At this one point, all talk ends – Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah Pakar saaf dile diyaan khavaabaan nu. Gal aise ghar vich dhukkdi eh, ik nuqte vich gal mukdi eh. Hold tight…
Witch hunt grips Pakistan as bloody political assassinations deplete liberal ranks
By Amanda Hodge IT says much about Pakistan’s McCarthyist atmosphere that the television presenter whom many accuse of inciting the political assassinations rocking the…
The land of his dreams
Professor Javaid Iqbal Syed’s memoir traverses the political and the personal, the mundane and the sublime, and weaves a narrative that reflects the decades…
Life’s Too Short Short Story Prize 2010/11
By Aysha Raja The Life’s Too Short Literary Review could never have been possible were it not for the Life’s Too Short Short Story…
A constructed enemy?
Multiple subjectivities plague any ‘objective’ measurement of anti-American sentiments in Pakistan Since the end of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Pakistani society has been…
Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.
By Jalal-Uddin Rumi Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. Friends are enemies sometimes, and enemies friends. I was a tiny…
Confused and distraught — Rumi
Rumi interpreted by Coleman Barks derived from Arberry’s translation You bind me, and I tear away in a rage to open out into air,…
Taliban suicide bomber dressed as schoolboy kills 31 army cadets
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent, The Independent Pakistan’s army suffered a damaging blow after a suicide bomber believed to be in his teens and…
Ba bà zì’-i ishq mì bà zam…
Ba bà zì’-i ishq mì bà zam, sar-i bà zà r sar bà zam rah-i mardà n-i safa sazam, sar-i bà zà r sar bà zamBa-maìdà n asp mì tà zam, tú’ì-i wà qif az ìn…
Before it’s too late
Pakistan’s radicalization is now a threat to its society and the region. Whilst General Zia ul Haq will be remembered for institutionalizing extremism, most…
The Beloved you’ve lost
…but you’ve chained me down stolen away my heart leaving yourself behind now i’ve lost my way my soul restless and head twisted all…
Destination of love by Ahmad-i-Jam
Sohaib Qureshi has translated 12th century mystic Ahmad-i Jam’s verse – thanks to his endeavours Manzil-i ishq az makàn-i dìgar ast Mard-i ìn ràh…
I am the call of Love — Rumi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You whispered in my ears like early spring: “I am the call of Love, can you hear me in the full grasses, in…