Publish At Your Peril
Pakistani journalists hold placards and photographs bearing the image of Geo television journalist Hamid Mir during a protest against the attack on Mir by…
Sabeen Mahmud, Martyr for Free Speech
My op-ed for The New York Times The appalling murder in Karachi last week of Sabeen Mahmud is a stark reminder of challenges that…
Counter Terrorism by Urdu Literature
I partiicpated in a VOA show with Ayesha Siddiqa and Wusatullah Khan hosted by Tabinda Naeem on language, literature and current trends. We began…
Sabeen Mehmud: A voice of reason, pluralism and secularism
I have been quoted on different stories published on the murder of Sabeen Mahmud. A collection of these is being posted here. Pakistani rights…
Counterterrorism: rhetoric vs reality
Amid the controversy of Pakistan joining the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the media focus has shifted from the implementation of the National Action Plan…
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…
One year after: On the endangered freedoms in Pakistan
It has been a year as I wrote here since I was almost assassinated. I have already posted the tribute to Mustafa who died…
A year ago, I was almost killed
A year ago, I suffered the fate of thousands of Pakistanis who have been attacked, maimed and terrorised by violent extremism. I was lucky…
Bangladesh on the Brink
Unrest sweeps Dhaka after disputed elections, but Bangladesh’s problems extend much farther from the ballot box. Also sparking the flames of turmoil are a…
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…
Pakistan fails its Christians again
The dual suicide attacks on Lahore’s Christian churches last Sunday were a continuation of evidently unstoppable violence against the country’s minorities. A gruesome lynching…
The need to review our India policy
The Indian foreign secretary’s visit to Islamabad last week generated much interest but the outcome was the usual bureaucratic statements amounting to nothing. The…
One size may not fit all
Excerpts from my statement: Raza Rumi, Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, says the government has much to do when it…
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…
A corridor to a closer Sino-Pakistani alliance?
Chinese influence in South and Central Asia is set to expand through the much-hyped China-Pakistan Economic Corridor just as the United States draws down…
Mystical Music at one place…
Mystica Music contacted me and introduced their website that sells amazing music. I am not promoting their sales nor do I have any mandate…
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…