On Malala and ‘Who are the Pakistani Taliban’
I was quoted in these pieces at CNN. Attack on Pakistani schoolgirl galvanizes anti-Taliban feeling “There is a groundswell of sympathy for her and…
Af-Pak: End this End Game
Image Credits: AFP/Stringer Published last month here Pakistan will have to focus on bilateral trust building: with US, Afghanistan and India. This sounds daunting…
The Music Doesn’t Stop in Peshawar
A story that I co-authored with Manzoor Ali, published here On June 18, celebrated Pashto singer Ghazala Javed and her father were murdered in…
No more escape routes
Pakistan’s military should review the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and how they were not always the kind of partners and proxies we had envisioned…
Taliban suicide bomber dressed as schoolboy kills 31 army cadets
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent, The Independent Pakistan’s army suffered a damaging blow after a suicide bomber believed to be in his teens and…
Is this Jinnah’s Pakistan?
The massacre of Ahmadis in Lahore has once again exposed the inner fissures of our society. As if treating them like second class citizens…
Lahore’s now the latest target of Taliban
Quoted in The New York Times Once again the terrorists have hit Lahore. But this time they have chosen the favourite target of the…
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…
How instability is garnered
My latest analysis published by The News We continue to bemoan the failure of democratic norms to take root in our governance culture. True,…
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…
Ah, the deal
Much has been made of this NYT article on the class inequalities in NWFP that are fuelling the Taliban movement. However, I would like…
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…
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…
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…
Mystical power
Philip Jenkins writes why Sufi Muslims, for centuries the most ferocious soldiers of Islam, could be our most valuable allies in the fight against…
Of saints and sinners
James Astill writing for The Economist says that the Islam of the Taliban is far removed from the popular Sufism practised by most South…
Buddha, the Taliban and Pakistan-
I have been working on this composition for quite a while. I was angered, rather revolted by what the Taliban were doing in the…
NATO Genocide in Afghanistan?
I hold no brief for the Taliban. They have enraged the world and brought much shame to Muslims and dare I say the great…
World’s first oil paintings found in Afghan caves
Bamiyan is no ordinary location. This was the place where the giant Buddhas that stood for centuries with their message of peace were destroyed…