The Right to Dissent
(The year 2011 will be celebrated worldwide as the centenary of the great poet of Southasia, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Himal‘s forthcoming January 2011 issue…
Pakistan’s rich dissident literary tradition
Himal Magazine had published this article on the resistance poetry in Pakistan. I had uploaded it on the Pak Tea House some time back.…
In too deep: Afghanistan, Pakistan & the region
Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan is caught in the muddled terrain of domestic political machinations and regional ambitions. Afghanistan’s history is a turbulent one filled…
That easy intimacy
A Pakistani re-discovers Bangladesh. As a Pakistani, there is a part of you that reacts instantly to the word Bangladesh: guilt, remorse or, in…
An existential crisis
On 4 January, Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer was killed by a member of his security detail, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri. But as disturbing…
My candle burns at both ends
Who will listen to the tale of my woeful heart? Far and wide have I wandered on the face of this earth And I…
Living Lohawarana – a Lahori rambling
My piece for Himal Magazine’s October issue There was a Lahore that I grew up in, and then there is the Lahore that I…
The pampered Islamabadites
My piece published by Himal Southasian Islamabad is a very peculiar urban space. Though no longer a town, it is still struggling to become…
The pursuit of the Southasian past
Moving beyond the colonial-era understanding of the history of the Subcontinent gives us a whole new way of looking at the Subcontinent’s past. This…
The invisibility of the Mughal princesses
Painting by A.R Chughtai | Chughtai Museum My piece published by the Himal Magazine The limitations of Southasia’s historical record can be seen in…
Finally some filmi cooperation..
Interesting developments in Pakistani cinema: first the release and accolades that a newly released Khuda Ke Liye (In the name of God) received and…