Mumtaz Qadri – Salmaan Taseer – Blasphemy it was not
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty for Mumtaz Qadri “the policeman who murdered former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in January 2011 for…
Animating Times Square
This October, the electronic billboards at the maddening Times Square in New York City will display the creative prowess of Shahzia Sikander, an artist…
Grace in hand
Komail Aijazuddin’s artwork marks a step beyond the earlier explorations of the baroque symbolism Komail Aijazuddin is a representative of Pakistan’s younger generation of…
Islam and the Cold War baroque
When empire strikes back, but the Force remains strong in the arts and academia of contemporary Muslim countries. I spared with Sadia Abbas As…
Chronicles of our recent past
FS Aijazuddin’s new book is an erudite and introspective account of a turbulent decade The past decade in Pakistan has been cataclysmic. Political upheavals…
More Than Just a Footnote
Mustafa: associate, companion, employee, friend A year after gunmen attacked his car, killing his young driver, I mourn the loss of Mustafa It has…
Journey to change
In referencing N M Rashed, clay pots, paper boats, the river Ravi and the lost garment Saddri, Pakistani artist Sabah Husain creates a seamless…
The City Speaks
Shaan Taseer’s debut solo exhibition is a ceremonial homecoming for the artist. It has taken the gifted Shaan Taseer almost two decades to focus…
About suffering they were never wrong
Pakistani art going global is a remarkable story, for it typifies the ineffable contradictions of the country. In part it is a testament to…
The terrorism challenge
The Pakistani government must take swift, effective action to implement its will and assert its authority. Pakistan’s terrorism challenge has burgeoned into a full-blown…
‘We haven’t asked some basic questions about this war’
It has been two months since the recent wave of civil society activism to pressure the government to act against terrorist outfits began. Are…
Through the looking glass
After a decade of epistolary exchanges, I finally met Shahzia Sikander, Pakistan’s most celebrated global icon of the arts, ironically unsung at home. Not…
Manto women
Manto stands more or less alone in the position he takes on women, contends Raza Rumi, in an exploration of Manto relationship with his…
Promoting pluralist folk heritage is vital for Pakistan future
Dr Fouzia Saeed, a scholar and civil society activist, was recently appointed as the head of Lok Virsa the premier government institution to…
The verse of freedom
In a powerful exploration of resistance poetry in indigenous languages, I discovered marginalized poets challenging mainstream Pakistani identity in moving verse. Much has been…
No exit
The US must not forget the importance of a democratic, pluralist Pakistan The recent visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to…
Protect minorities, says Pakistan Ulema Council
In an unprecedented expression of support for religious minorities in Pakistan coming from a religious group, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) demanded equal rights…
Meeting Salma Bhatti
I met the wife of slain Minister Shahbaz Bhatti and discovered tales of woe, marginalisation and hope It has been over three years that…
The legend’s shadow
Forays into analysis give resonance to Dilip Kumar’s recollections that are occasionally derailed by Saira Banu’s looming shadow, I wrote in this review of…
Europe faces a huge challenge in dealing with its Muslim citizens
Mannequins dressed in brightly coloured headscarves at a shop in Cite, France I talked to Akbar S. Ahmed about the perception of Islam…