It was on this day last year, when a 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri killed the very man he was meant to protect. Twenty seven bullets to silence Salman Taseer and to make sure that the debate on misuse of blasphemy laws is shunned for good. It was this day last year that I realised that this might … Continue reading »
You would have to be exceptionally callous to be able to forget the image of a woman being shot in broad daylight; unarmed and seven month’s pregnant. She was amongst the five foreigners, who were shot in Kharotabad by security officials. Caught on tape, the video of the security personnel of Frontier Corps firing at unarmed … Continue reading »
First appeared in Dawn.com Today marks the celebration of human rights around the world, but for us there’s much to mourn and little to celebrate. The scourge of discrimination lies at the root of our most pressing problems, faced with prejudice we fall silent and complacent. In the conclusion of its State of Human Rights in 2010 annual … Continue reading »
As published in the Guardian on Friday, November 4th’2011 Militancy in Pakistan’s federally administered tribal areas (Fata) has triggered a different kind of ordeal; the resurgence of polio or infantile paralysis – a potentially fatal and paralysing disease that mostly affects children, pregnant women and the elderly. Being one of the four countries where polio is still … Continue reading »
A society that is indifferent to the plight of its own people is a society in ruins. When Raja Khan stood in front of the Parliament and lit himself on fire he hoped to invoke the few men and women in the corridors of power, so that they would pay heed to the plight of their people. … Continue reading »
First published on Dawn.com There is hardly anything more excruciating than glorifying war in the face of atrocities. In Pakistan, the news coverage from Swat valley remained dominated by figures, numbers of soldiers killed while successfully targeting scores of militants, while the eyewitness accounts from the streets of Mingora remained scarce. The daily morning sightings … Continue reading »
First publish on Dawn.com That reporting a rape is an arduous ordeal is a truth that resounds globally. When braving for police investigations, enumerating the ordeal in court and damaging stereotypical media representations become a norm then the argument for a pellucid approach becomes preemptory. In 2006, a much-heated debate on the Hudood Laws revealed … Continue reading »
First published in the Guardian – Comment is Free Belief Section. Pakistan’s Ehtram-e-Ramzan (respecting Ramadan) law makes eating, drinking and smoking in public places during the fasting hours of the holy month illegal. The punishment for any infringement can be three months in prison and a possible fine. It is a legacy of the Islamificaton policy pursued … Continue reading »
On Saturday evening a group of men attacked a mosque in Manghopir, they slapped the children, ransacked the mosque, kicked the shelves holding the Quran, smashed and broke the loud speakers and threatened and accused the children of disrupting a carol. How dare the mosque call for prayer while the children were singing carols? It’s … Continue reading »
Thank you for votes & your constant support.
Just a quick note to thank all my readers for the constant support. Bit late on this but honored to be nominated as best regional blog, as it is a symbol of support and recognition from my readers specially when updates on the blog have been painfully slow. Thank you, your feedback — both support and critique– are … Continue reading »
As published at Dawn.com 18/8/2011 Envisioning a future dystopia, in his book “1984”, George Orwell wrote about living in a security state carefully engineered by crude and repressive forms of control, dominated by constant surveillance. Orwell warned of a state that manifested thought control – one so strong that every thought and conversation were … Continue reading »
