Pakistan’s rich dissident literary tradition
Himal Magazine had published this article on the resistance poetry in Pakistan. I had uploaded it on the Pak Tea House some time back.…
In too deep: Afghanistan, Pakistan & the region
Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan is caught in the muddled terrain of domestic political machinations and regional ambitions. Afghanistan’s history is a turbulent one filled…
That easy intimacy
A Pakistani re-discovers Bangladesh. As a Pakistani, there is a part of you that reacts instantly to the word Bangladesh: guilt, remorse or, in…
An existential crisis
On 4 January, Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer was killed by a member of his security detail, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. But as disturbing…
Living Lohawarana – a Lahori rambling
My piece for Himal Magazine’s October issue There was a Lahore that I grew up in, and then there is the Lahore that I…
The pampered Islamabadites
My piece published by Himal Southasian Islamabad is a very peculiar urban space. Though no longer a town, it is still struggling to become…
The invisibility of the Mughal princesses
Painting by A.R Chughtai | Chughtai Museum My piece published by the Himal Magazine The limitations of Southasia’s historical record can be seen in…