Published on Chowk.com on March 8th 2010 The topography of women’s empowerment in Pakistan is a treacherous terrain, harsh on the eyes. It is often marked by subjugation, lack of education and basic literacy, utter neglect of health; for instance, Pakistan has among the highest occurrence...
Published on Chowk.com on May 29th 2007 “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you.”-Mohammad Ali Jinnah “This is why I am not in favor of working women.” Said the Colonel and security incharge of one of Lahore’s largest office blocks. “Excuse...
I went to see a play on new year’s eve in Lahore, Pakistan. While in the Arabian peninsula a country called Iraq cried for its leader of decades, sent to the gallows in what the defense called a “brutal assault on truth,” a “politically motivated judgment” and a “breach of...
I am buried in an Ahmedi graveyard. My tombstone doesn’t have the first pillar of Islam engraved on it, because the Pakistani government doesn’t think I am Muslim. I know I am, but there is absolutely no point fighting the state for it now. When I...
Published on Chowk.com on May 9th 2008 What are the odds that I move into a house in the elite F/11 sector of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad and our land lord turns out to be a wife-beater – I in 4, according to the United Nations report...
Published on Chowk.com and The Friday Times on November 25th 2005 Out of all the tragedies this earthquake has brought, the loss of an educated and inspiring Junaid Jamshed is very dehumanizing. Losing a national hero to a world of cynicismWe’re a society in scarcity of worthy...
Published on Chowk.com on October 4th 2005 He is known to the world as a leader of the independence movement of India. He’s known as a frail man who led thousands to fight the British using the original method of non-violence. He’s a great story, but...
Published in Dawn Books and Authors on May 7, 2006 IN this anthology, a set of experts in the fields of population, sociology and other social sciences have superbly initiated the exploration and discovery of the often ignored topic of Muslim fertility. Why do most Muslim...
Published in Dawn Newspaper September 26, 2010 I recently attended a conference in Buenos Aires and I couldn`t help but be taken by the city`s grandeur, beauty and its `first world` feel as I commuted daily to the conference venue. Argentina`s struggle with democracy, international pressures and...
Published on December 11, 2005 by Dawn Books and Authors There were two types of Pakistani women that Americans got to see last month. One was empowered and educated, Asma Jehangir; the other was an illiterate victim who wanted due justice, Mukhtaran Mai. The stronger woman...