Lahore – a nightmare that is still not over
Updated: my quotes in Tehran Times Today’s events in Lahore have shaken the entire country. The zealots and the bigots aside, an ordinary Pakistani…
Pakistan seethes on Twitter, Blackberry ban
I was quoted here and here Islamabad : Pakistanis are hopping mad following the ban on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and the blocking…
Whatever happened to Kerry-Lugar?
Pakistan’s dire fiscal situation has resulted in the reduction of development spending by 40 per cent. This does not bode well for the citizens…
Divide or perish: creating new provinces in Pakistan
My piece published in TFT Since 1947, two characteristics of the Pakistani state have continued to haunt its legitimacy and survival. The first relates…
Pakistan: A failing society?
My recent op-ed: A couple of weeks ago a conference at the Lahore School of Economics allowed me to pontificate on how Pakistan is…
Karachi Literary Festival: Spring in the land of suicide bombers and charlatans
Who says Pakistani literature was a relic of the past? If anything, Pakistani authors have a global audience today, and our writers are now…
Pakistan: flood politics at its worst
there appears to be a deliberate construction of a dangerous discourse and a sham argument for the ascendancy of the armed forces. The military…
Whither rule of law?
State effectiveness, by most definitions, has been waning in Pakistan. The ability of the law enforcement agencies and institutions to deliver services and entitlements…
Institutions, accountability and the UN Report
The Pakistani citizenry has a right to know and live in a rule-based, just society where political assassinations are not the norm. If the…
Who’s afraid of Dara Shikoh’s ghost?
It is now a given that the Pakistani state is a playground for Islamism and extremism under various guises and forms. Since the passage…
Whither civilian governance?
My new piece published by The Friday Times While the gurus of security and international affairs continue to unpack and make sense of the…
In memoriam – Asim Butt (1978-2010)
But it was Asim’s venture into public art and his subsequent adoption of the Stuckist creed that turned him into a major figure at…
Mystical Form of Islam Suits Sufis in Pakistan
A NYT piece where I was quoted. By SABRINA TAVERNISE – LAHORE, Pakistan For those who think Pakistan is all hard-liners, all the time,…
No priests needed – search of a Pakistani identity
With a demographic revolution in the making, a depressed and cynical youth is a time bomb that we are living with. Things will have…
The vanity of being quoted
A friend sent me these links and I am shamelessly posting them here: My views on the IMF programme for Pakistan – Also here…
In Memory Of The Inimitable Madam Nur Jehan
A common Punjabi aphorism, loosely translated, states that there never was and never will be anyone like Nur Jehan. With her incredible talent, fiercely…
Let the cynics froth and fume
This is the magic of Lahore and its deep-rooted cultural mores. No other city can boast of such individuals, movements and trends. Hopefully, the…
Folklore sans frontiers
I was part of a delegation from Pakistan that was driving to Chandigarh to attend the SAARC folklore festival organized by Punjab’s legendary writer…
Anchorless rambling
We did it again. A hallmark of Hillary Clinton’s visit to Pakistan was her meeting with the stars of the Pakistani media – the…
Remembering Parveen Shakir (1952-1994)
Parveen Shakir (1952-1994) has defined the sensibilities of several generations and beyond. At the relatively young age of 42 years, Parveen Shakir died on…