Exile for me and others
Pakistan needs to remember those who wanted to but could not stay back Little did I know that a sojourn to recover from a…
Grace in hand
Komail Aijazuddin’s artwork marks a step beyond the earlier explorations of the baroque symbolism Komail Aijazuddin is a representative of Pakistan’s younger generation of…
Democracy in recession?
On the surface, things could not appear to be better for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. With a majority in parliament, electoral rigging charges thrown…
Political Princes: Struggles of Rahul Gandhi and Bilawal Bhutto
Two days ago, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, scion of the legendary Bhuttos, celebrated his 27th birthday. His party workers also known as jiyalas (the impassioned…
Islam and the Cold War baroque
When empire strikes back, but the Force remains strong in the arts and academia of contemporary Muslim countries. I spared with Sadia Abbas As…
Chronicles of our recent past
FS Aijazuddin’s new book is an erudite and introspective account of a turbulent decade The past decade in Pakistan has been cataclysmic. Political upheavals…
Abdullah Hussein: alive in his vision
The great Pakistani writer Abdullah Hussein is no more. Perhaps, he has been relieved of the agony that he underwent as a cancer patient,…
Ideology, impunity & chaos
The sheer barbarity of the attack on the Ismaili community in Pakistan’s largest and one of the more misgoverned cities shocked the country. It…
Charting Pakistan Internal Security Policy
Pakistan recently announced National Action Plan focuses on combatting both terrorism and militancy and addresses endemic insecurity and radicalization. The plan follows in the…
Sabeen Mehmud: A voice of reason, pluralism and secularism
I have been quoted on different stories published on the murder of Sabeen Mahmud. A collection of these is being posted here. Pakistani rights…
Counterterrorism: rhetoric vs reality
Amid the controversy of Pakistan joining the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, the media focus has shifted from the implementation of the National Action Plan…
Journey to change
In referencing N M Rashed, clay pots, paper boats, the river Ravi and the lost garment Saddri, Pakistani artist Sabah Husain creates a seamless…
A year ago, I was almost killed
A year ago, I suffered the fate of thousands of Pakistanis who have been attacked, maimed and terrorised by violent extremism. I was lucky…
One year after: On the endangered freedoms in Pakistan
It has been a year as I wrote here since I was almost assassinated. I have already posted the tribute to Mustafa who died…
The City Speaks
Shaan Taseer’s debut solo exhibition is a ceremonial homecoming for the artist. It has taken the gifted Shaan Taseer almost two decades to focus…
Pakistan fails its Christians again
The dual suicide attacks on Lahore’s Christian churches last Sunday were a continuation of evidently unstoppable violence against the country’s minorities. A gruesome lynching…
The need to review our India policy
The Indian foreign secretary’s visit to Islamabad last week generated much interest but the outcome was the usual bureaucratic statements amounting to nothing. The…
About suffering they were never wrong
Pakistani art going global is a remarkable story, for it typifies the ineffable contradictions of the country. In part it is a testament to…
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…
The terrorism challenge
The Pakistani government must take swift, effective action to implement its will and assert its authority. Pakistan’s terrorism challenge has burgeoned into a full-blown…