What are we teaching our children?
The overwhelming response to my earlier piece on the subject of jaundiced Pakistani textbooks has prompted me to continue with this theme. A large…
Pakistan has been playing us all for suckers
Britain is spending millions bolstering Pakistan, but it is a nation in thrall to radical Islam and is using its instability to blackmail the…
Reflections on Jantar Mantar revolution
By Jehangir Ali The Drama “So we had an insouciant, television revolution in Lutyen’s Delhi. How peaceful it was! It took just four days…
The Mohali exchange did not take place in a policy vacuum – Sherry Rehman
An interview with Sherry Rehman who visited India with Pakistan’s Prime Minister to enjoy cricket and build bridges with India. It was the first…
Celebrating the Word
By Nadir Hassan At first glance, the second iteration of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) was a rerun of the first, with the same…
Behold the faithfulness of spring
The red rose, which tears its cloak to shreds — I for one know its motive. The willow has let down its branches in…
Ba bazi-ye ishq mi bazam
Ba bazi-ye ishq mi bazam, sar-e bazaar sar bazam Rah-e mardan-e safa sazam, sar-e bazaar sar bazam Ba meydan asb mi tazam, to’i waqif…
Life’s Too Short Short Story Prize 2010/11
By Aysha Raja The Life’s Too Short Literary Review could never have been possible were it not for the Life’s Too Short Short Story…
Witch hunt grips Pakistan as bloody political assassinations deplete liberal ranks
By Amanda Hodge IT says much about Pakistan’s McCarthyist atmosphere that the television presenter whom many accuse of inciting the political assassinations rocking the…
Zeal gives religious right in Pakistan the upper hand
By Salman Masood As Pakistan reels from last week’s murder of another political opponent of its blasphemy law, the divide between the country’s liberals…
Bulleh for our times
By Ali Abbas Mystifying is the turn of time, indeed. Refuted by clerics of his time, the same Bulleh Shah who was refused burial…
Shola tha jal bujha hoon
The Man & His Music Asif Noorani Liberty Books Karachi (Pakistan) 2010 Pg 80 Rs 695 To make a living he became a motor…
Seven artists in Delhi: Gigi Scaria – video
Tim Hinman, Source: third ear The first of seven films looking at Indian artists’ responses to the city of Delhi features Gigi Scaria, a sculptor…
Tahrir square eastward?
February 2011 saw the iron fist of Hosni Mubarak being wrenched open after three decades of repressive rule. During this period, the Egyptian secret…
The lost diary of Queen Victoria’s final companion
By Ben Leach Abdul Karim’s writings, hidden by his family until now, throw new light on a close and controversial relationship, says Ben Leach.…
Diplomatic duplicity
By C. CHRISTINE FAIR LAHORE — This much is clear about the latest convulsion in U.S.-Pakistan relations: an American man, operating under the name…
KLF: a mixed bag
By Huma Imtiaz When a literary festival’s headliner is author and religious thinker Karen Armstrong, one wonders whether to be amused, or descend into…
Wandering between two worlds – Karachi Literary festival
Ghazi Salahuddin’s write up for the NEWS makes interesting points about the festival and also mentions me as one lost between the English and…
Karachi Literature Festival: Too many divides to bridge
By Ali Syed KARACHI: ‘Bridging divides’, as the name suggests, was about a certain disparity within the Pakistani society, perhaps religion vs secularism, moderation…
Literature Festival ends with homage to Faiz
By Peerzada Salman KARACHI: A befitting and heartfelt tribute to Faiz Ahmed Faiz ended the 2nd Karachi Literature Festival at a local hotel on…