Could there be a liberal resurgence in Pakistan? Lawmaker Sherry Rehman says she’s working on it.
By Issam Ahmed Fri Jan 28 | Karachi, Pakistan – Liberal Pakistani lawmaker Sherry Rehman left a comfortable life researching a book in London…
Developments around Taseer killing disturb liberal Pakistanis
Islamabad, Jan 5 The emergence of Facebook pages eulogising the assassin of Governor Salmaan Taseer and praise from Islamic clerics for the killer have…
Can we afford to bypass Jinnah’s Pakistan?
Published today by Jinnah Institute, Islamabad: Notwithstanding the contradictions inherent to pre-1947 Muslim politics, Jinnah was clear about certain fundamentals. Pakistan was to be…
Pakistan: Ungoverned Spaces
My paper published by CIDOB – Barcelona Centre for International Affairs Even after more than six decades since its inception, Pakistan has been unable…
Pakistan loses young Facebook friends
Raza Rumi was quoted by the Australian The Lahore High Court banned access to the social networking site on Wednesday after conservative Islamic lawyers…
Pakistan’s Southern Punjab: Politics of marginalisation
The discourse on South Punjab conceals the grassroots social movements and the clamouring for a linguistic identity in the region The conundrum of South…
Abida Parveen sings Faraz’s poem
Found this enchanting piece of music here: In his latest double CD “Paigham-e-Muhabbat” composer Muzaffar Ali, who has brought so much pleasure to our…
Why a Pakistani Ambassador is not acceptable to Saudi Arabia
Now this is truly funny – Saudis have rejected the credentials of our Ambassador designate on not-so-flimsy grounds Read here -The post at Cafe…
Farewell Haqqani Saheb – forgive your peers and colleagues
A personal favourite, Irshad Ahmad Haqqani is dead. This is a huge loss to Urdu journalism as he was the last of sane voices…
The tender tea house
I was quite pleased to read this piece. Aside from fact that it talks about me, the constant rememberance of Pak Tea House is…
Sub-Continent’s Berlin Wall
I am posting Shivani Mohan's article where I have been quoted with reference to the recent folklore festival held under the aegis of SAARC.…
Coffee, tea and revolution
Before his death in July 2009, KK Aziz had accomplished one mission that he had set for himself, i.e. to write about the Lahore…
Extracts from Empires of the Indus by Alice Albinia
From The Guardian In a land where it seldom rains, a river is as precious as gold. Water is potent: it trickles through human…
Jinnah Unfairly Demonised for Partition
Jinnah was a “great leader†and was unfairly “demonised†by India for his role in the Partition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh…
Amankaar Tehrik (peace movement) in Pakistan challenges the status quo
Courtesy Fouzia Saeed DISSPELLING THE MYTHS ABOUT TALIBAN Myth: The root cause of Terrorism is extreme poverty and lack of education Reality: This is…
Contemporary Pakistani literature in the age of terror
I am posting the synopsis of my paper entitled Silhouetted Silences – contemporary Pakistani literature in the age of terror, that I presented at…
Sad times in Lahore
What a sad day it was – a city that usually glows with spring colours and crisp air was a death-zone. Everyone was afraid…
Noor Jehan & Khurshid Anwar
I loved Fawad’s post A Divine Musical Collaboration – Noor Jehan & Khurshid Anwar and here it is: In the wake of Khalid Hasan’s…
Swat, Now
Cross posted from CM Yesterday’s announcement that Zardari has made a deal with the TNSM and installed “Islamic government” in Swat is all over…
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…