Rediscovering Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941-1999)
Raza Rumi asks if Pakistani state and society are ready to reclaim the great artist on his tenth death anniversary Ten years ago, on…
Imagined homeland
It irks me when I hear simplistic platitudes on Pakistani society, state or people. The heterogeneity of Pakistan is by itself an anthropologist’s dream,…
Bulleh, the Beloved is hidden and sits aside
Another poem of Bulleh Shah with a translation KaoN aayaa pehn libaas kuRey tuseeN puchho biThaa ke paas kurey hath khooNDee moDhey kambal kaalaa…
Mystical power
Philip Jenkins writes why Sufi Muslims, for centuries the most ferocious soldiers of Islam, could be our most valuable allies in the fight against…
Bombay – Nostalgic shop owners refuse to change name
Read the captioned story in the Times of India today- politics of war mongering can be such a disruptive influence on ordinary lives. In…
Khowaja Fareed – The Mystical Voice of Southern Punjab
A friend, for the lack of a better term (why are we always hankering after labels and identities for some associations that lie beyond…
Khowaja Fareed – the Sufi voice of Southern Punjab
A special friend, for the lack of a better term (why are we always hankering after labels and idenitities for some associations that lie…
We shall overcome the trap of violence
As clouds of war hover in the skies of Lahore, I am missing Delhi and lamenting the relatively difficult venture to visit the city.…
Carlos Latuff’s artwork on Gaza
Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff creates artworks that call on the world to condemn Israeli brutalities in Gaza. Carlos Latuff’s statement: I’d like to beg…
Say no to war
Little did we know that the imminence of war between India and Pakistan would once again become a possibility, howsoever faint or misguided? The…
Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night
Book Review by Sumaira Samad Curfewed Night is the memoir of young Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, recounting his youth in the troubled valley during…
Symbolism And Allegory In Qur’aan
The Message of the Quran Translated and Explained by Muhammad Asad (Formerly Leopold Weiss) When studying the Quran, one frequently encounters what may be…
Dholaks drowning gunfire
by Shreekant Gupta During a recent visit to Delhi I mentioned to my aunt that I planned to visit Rawalpindi next week for a…
Trouble bubble – a fresh perspective
Ejaz Haider’s article published in today’s Daily Times is a welcome perspective. Thanks for some sanity.. …Pakistan may be in a political crisis, but…
‘There are none so deaf as those who don’t want to hear’
Liked this excellent editorial from The News: Yet more curiously, there appears to be a positive dearth of arrests of those who publicly carry…
Most poetry ignores most people
Courtesy The NEWS, Pakistan The shadow poet Adrian Mitchell died on December 21, 2008 in London. A prolific poet, novelist and playwright, he was…
Pakistani media – an alternative view
Themrise Khan sent me her provocative piece on Pakistani electronic media. It is a contested standpoint and will not be appreciated by all. But…
Dark forces still potent year after Bhutto’s slaying
I was quoted in this piece posted below SAEED SHAH ISLAMABAD SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL, DECEMBER 27, 2008 A year after Benazir…
Remembering Benazir Bhutto
I am reposting my piece that was written a year ago. It seems that not much has changed in these twelve months It was…
9 Is Not 11
I am completely under the spell of this fabulous piece of writing, brutally honest and eminently sensible. 9 Is Not 11 (And November isn’t…