Hundreds of decaying historical buildings across Lahore await Attention
Third story for the Herald’s annual heritage issue: Once renowned as a city of gardens and monuments, Lahore now manifests decaying cultural heritage, rampant…
Consensus is vital for democracy
Any morality-led reinterpretation of the supreme law will open doors for future misuse The federal government seems to have escaped many a crisis in…
The Feast Of Roses
The Feast Of Roses is a sequel to Indu Sundaresan’s widely appraised novel The Twentieth Wife. As can be expected it is the story…
Coups are not easy anymore
By Raza Rumi: A situationer that was written last week.. Published: January 12, 2012 If there is one phrase that would summarise the events…
Mughal era: Lahore’s neglected heritage is a sad shadow of its glorious past
The second story from Herald’s annual supplement on heritage As the second Mughal capital, Lahore was home to emperors and noblemen during the 16th…
2011- A year that will haunt us
From Paper Magazine 2011- a year in review A journalist recently remarked that 2011 was the year that no one will remember. Alas, this…
‘Greater rights abuses will ensue unless Pakistan’s elected institutions assert themselves’
An interview of – Ali Dayan Hasan (Director, Human Rights Watch) taken by me, published in TFT December 30 – January 05, 2012 –…
Siavash Mahvis – Artist from Iran
“Siavash Mahvis” is a contemporary Iranian artist and a university professor. He owes his acquaintance with the world of line and design to realist…
Governance crisis cannot be treated by old formula of changing faces
An old piece that I could not post earlier: Commenting on the melting state of the economy, a reputed economic analyst stated how the…
“What do you really possess?”
What do you really possess, and what have you gained? What pearls have you brought up from the depth of the sea? On the…
History’s ghetto – (Geneva Camp, Dhaka)
My recent piece for the The Friday Times – about the bitterness and destitution in a Dhaka camp for Biharis It was almost by…
Erasing memory to deal with loss – Pakistan, Bangladesh and India
This following article was first published in The Hindu on December 16, 2011. Forty years ago, South Asia underwent another traumatic experience with the…
Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959)
For years I had been planning to write about Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim (1896-1959), the great philosopher and intellectual of the twentieth century. Last…
Enigma of democratic governance
Pakistan’s President Iskander Mirza (1956-58) is remarked to have said that democracy was ‘unsuited’ to the genius of Pakistani people. Decades later, similar questions…
The debate on new provinces in Pakistan
Since 1977, military or quasi-military governments have ruled Pakistan. The basic tenet of such a governance structure has been centralization and denial of multiple…
I am a child of love
I profess the religion of love, Love is my religion and my faith. My mother is love My father is love My prophet is…
Sahir Ludhianvi’s poem composed on Ghalib’s centenary celebrations
Sahir Ludhianvi laments the way Urdu was treated by Indian nation-state as it became alien overnight. Ikees baras guzray aazadi-i-kaamil ko Tab ja…
Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa (The cloud weeps…)
Amir Khusrau’s lofty couplet Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa Choon kunam dil becheneen roz zedildar judaa. Abr baraan wa man-o yar…
A universe with four moons
Neelam Ahmad Basheer is best known as a short story writer with a new voice in Urdu fiction. She has been writing all her…