Rumi’s Dilli
Here is a wonderful review of my book in India’s Frontline magazine The Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi is both an insider and an outsider as he explores the…
Walk with a Dehlvi
Another review of my book, Delhi by heart, over at the Indian Express One thing that can be said about Pakistani journalist Raza Rumi with a great amount…
A literary landmark
A review of the Islamabad Literature Festival for TFT Literature festival in Islamabad sounds a contradiction in terms. A city better known for politicos, babus and palace intrigues…
Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Search for a Modern Muslim
I grew up in Pakistan where we are taught about Sayyid Ahmad Khan throughout our school years as the grandfather of Muslim Nationalism in nineteenth century India. While…
A message from Nizamudddin Dargah
I have never met Marta but the attachment to Nizamuddin Dargah has bound us for years. Yesterday I got this email and beautiful photographs from Marta Irene. Marta…
Marta Franceschini: H Nizamuddin Auliya’s devotee
This message cheered me up. Amazing that some of us have never met yet there is a bond we share – the calm space in Delhi where a…
Music sans frontiers
By GEETA NANDAKUMAR Song of the soul Farida Khanum ‘Aaj jaane ki zid na karo, haaye mar jaayenge ham to lut jaaenge, aisii baatein kiyaa na karo’. Strains…
Beyond the barriers
The work of Ram Gopal Varma and his associates is ushering in a new era of Bollywood cinema If there is one individual and talent who has been…
Fiction: City of Stories
By Vidya Rao The streets of some cities, they say, are paved with gold. This city’s streets are paved with stories. Doubtless, they were also paved with gold…
On Buddha, Silence and Impermanence
The celebrated artiste Vidya Rao from Delhi has sent this tender and profound letter after reading my post on destruction of Buddhas in Swat (and the painting that was inspired by the…
Shanul Haq Haqqee: The Forgotten Literary Giant
“Don’t know whose idea it is and what the target is. My personal goals have been very limited. Nor have I ever made literature my career or adopted…
New US Administration And Indo-Pak Relations; Is There A Way Forward?
Raza Rumi shares key insights on impact of prospective Biden administration on foreign front, especially in South Asian context, Indo-Pak stalemate and nationalism, and prospects of normalcy in…
Remembering A ‘Rebel’ – Fahmida Riaz
If there is one word that describes Fahmida Riaz, it has to be a ‘rebel’. A woman who has always been true to herself, fearless and outspoken without…
The Fall of Nawaz Sharif
04 August 2017: The Fall of Nawaz Sharif, Open Magazine. The story of Nawaz Sharif’s rise and fall is the story of contemporary Pakistan. For him, it matters little if…
Midnight’s furies
The violent process of Partition remains a highly contested domain in the study of history. Raza Rumi examines various histories of Partition in the light of arguments from…
A corridor to a closer Sino-Pakistani alliance?
Chinese influence in South and Central Asia is set to expand through the much-hyped China-Pakistan Economic Corridor just as the United States draws down its presence in the…
Do not let the hawks dictate terms, says Raza Rumi on Pakistan
Vajpayee with Nawaz Sharif, Lahore, 1999 In Pakistan’s neighbourhood, a tectonic political shift seems to be underway. The Indian voters in large numbers have made their choice by…
Escaping death in the Land of the Pure
Finally, I countenanced what I had been dreading for quite some time. Journalists and media houses being under threat is a well-known story in conflict-ridden Pakistan. I had…