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…
Abject surrender
My piece published in The Friday Times How can I remain unaffected and quiet after seeing that my country might be disfigured and my…
Brewing storms
Raza Rumi laments the tragedies of our times, and says that the state cannot be absolved of its responsibility to protect citizens against terrorism…
Civil society speaks
Zinda dilaan-e-Lahore say no to Talibanisation, reports Raza Rumi Never before have we citizens been traumatised with an uncertain future and the knocks of…
Pakistan’s Sufis Preach Faith and Ecstasy
Read this great blog and was tempted to cross-post a few bits here: Every year, a few hundred thousand Sufis converge in Seh- wan,…
the new e-conflict zone for Indian, Pak netizens?
Times of India has quotes my post on Varun Gandhi today. Well, I know media-wallas have to find stories and sell. It was good…
Brutalities have swung public opinion in Pakistan
I have been quoted in this brave piece of reporting: Girl’s flogging exposes Pakistani rift Salman Masood (writing for The National) ISLAMABAD // The…
This night bitten dawn
The triumph of a popular movement on March 16 has marked a new beginning. The retreat of an intransigent government and the wise response…
Lahore is burning
[reportedly] 27 dead and dozens injured – no respite for us. Once again, in less than a month Lahore has been ravaged by terrorists.…
Postcard from Agra
Published in The Friday Times As Indian TV channels broadcast stories on Pakistan’s domestic infighting, and rumours of a new coup d’ etat, my…
Build The Peace Consensus
By Sadia Dehlvi The trail of terror continues with cricketers as the latest target. The Mumbai and Lahore attacks, public executions and the murder…
Reclaiming melody
Izzat Majeed was raised in a household where good music was an object of reverence. His late father, Mian Abdul Majeed was an avid…
Nightingale of Peshawar falls silent
My piece published in The Friday Times The bombing of Rehman Baba’s shrine is more proof that we are slipping, inch by inch, into…
Suicide Democrats
I am appalled by the recent events that have yet again stirred instability and uncertainty into Pakistani politics. Those of us who voted in…
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…
Capitulating Rajas: why Taliban might not be resisted
My new piece for The Friday Times South Asian history is a tale of capitulation of local elites before external invaders. Be it the…
Casteism is alive and well in Pakistan
What do you expect of a country where the aboriginals are known as janglis, asks Raza Rumi It is a cliche now to say…
Lost Imaginations
Sixty one years have gone by but the creation of Pakistan is still a heated debate: contested, fractured and bitter. That history has been…
Rediscovering Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941-1999)
Raza Rumi asks if Pakistani state and society are ready to reclaim the great artist on his tenth death anniversary Ten years ago, on…
Imagined homeland
It irks me when I hear simplistic platitudes on Pakistani society, state or people. The heterogeneity of Pakistan is by itself an anthropologist’s dream,…