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