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 »
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 »
Edited Version published as a feature on Dawn.com As a move to recognise the indispensable power of the Internet to bring into focus a wide range of rights issues and human progress, a United Nations special report on ‘the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression’ declared Internet access as … 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 »
“What I can say is there is a 98 per cent chance he is dead,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik said in an official statement confirming Illyas Kashmiri’s death. Kashmiri, seen as one of the world’s most wanted militant, was reportedly killed in a drone strike earlier this week. Has nobody asked Mr. Malik the method of … Continue reading »
Please be patient while you read this, I am still reeling. Still paralyzed by anger and numb by grief. Please be patient while I pick up the right words to protest the brutal killing of Saleem Shahzad, a father, a husband, a brother, a son — a journalist. I am afraid that I might not … Continue reading »
Republished from Balochhal- written by Malik Siraj Akbar There is renewed anger across Balochistan over the dreadful assassination of one of the most popular icons of Balochi literature and civil society, Dr. Saba Dashtiyari. A professor of Islamic studies at the University of Balochistan, the fifty-eight-year old university educator was gunned down when he was … Continue reading »
“Wirsaay main humain yeh gham hai mila iss gham ko naya kya likhna? Zulmat ko Zia, sarsar ko saba banday ko khuda kya likhna, kya likhna?” “We have inherited this grief from the past, how can I write that this grief is a new one? Darkness called light, the hot desert … Continue reading »
I have a confession: I promised myself that I would not write any more on the OBL fiasco primarily because there have been some brilliant write-ups on the situation and secondly, overdosing on military jargon and conspiracy theories could be fatal. However, there is one thing that has stood out in this situation (and plenty … Continue reading »
“You will only be able to attack Christians over our dead bodies,” Ghulam Muhammad Doger, head of the Gujranwala police, warned the rioters in Azizabad Colony. They had gathered to protest the release of two Christian brothers who were initially accused of blasphemy but were released after the charges were proven false. In a rare … Continue reading »
