Saadat Hasan Manto- Writer of Stark Realities
Saadat Hassan Manto (May 11, 1912 – January 18, 1955) was a Pakistani Urdu short story writer, most known for his Urdu short stories…
Poetic resistance to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s murder
As a young student I obtained a tattered copy of ‘Khushboo ki Shahadat’ from an old bookstall in Lahore’s Urdu bazaar. This was the…
Would you permit me?
Nizar Qabbani In a country where thinkers are assassinated, and writers are considered infidels and books are burnt, in societies that refuse the other,…
Ghoom Taana by Junoon
Great that I discovered this music video on Youtube. This may not be the best of compositions but it has the magical voice of…
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…
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…
No more escape routes
Pakistan’s military should review the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and how they were not always the kind of partners and proxies we had envisioned…
Towards a decentralised Pakistan
Without civil service reform, devolution of policy setting will be unachievable and the current reform may just not achieve its intended purposes On July…
More on the Pakistan Wikileaks- US Operations Constrained by India-Pakistan Relations
My interview which has appeared on Wikileaks Central. The Dawn Media Group in partnership with WikiLeaks has been releasing the “Pakistan Papers.” Thus far,…
Pakistan: Fixing the civil-military imbalance
Sovereignty is the flavour of the month in Pakistan. Since the capture and questionable assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the Pakistani discourse has been…
Three Pakistani film songs
Jab Koi Piyar se Bulaye ga Us Bewafa Ka Shehar haye Mujhe Tum Nazar se Gira tau rahay ho …
On the Issue of the United States, Pakistan Is Playing with Fire
I was interviewed on the recently released Wikileaks Cables on Pakistan. Here is part one. Will upload part two soon. Part two appeared on…
Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies are weak – Raza Rumi
My analysis on the national security issues of Pakistan. I discussed the PNS Mehran attack in Karachi. The breach of security at such heavily…
Saving a rocky relationship
The killing of Osama bin Laden is another hurdle to tackle, and we are in a critical moment of another reevaluation of the Pakistan-US…
Cultural Assets of the Communities of District Multan and Bahawalpur, Pakistan
“South Punjab, in particular, the districts of Multan and Bahawalpur…, have a vast range of cultural assets. the living culture of the communities carries…
Dynasties and Clientelism in Pakistan
THE hallmark of Pakistan’s political elites is their narrow base. A limited number of families have dominated Pakistan’s legislatures since the country’s inception in…
Andrew Buncombe: Those who dare to speak out become a shooting target
By Andrew Buncombe Rarely have Pakistan’s religious minorities and liberals felt more beleaguered. Less than two months after the killing of Salmaan Taseer, a…
Taliban suicide bomber dressed as schoolboy kills 31 army cadets
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent, The Independent Pakistan’s army suffered a damaging blow after a suicide bomber believed to be in his teens and…
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…