April 7th 2009 There are so many ways for Americans to find themselves if they are lost: They can read Eyewitness to America, an anthology of people who were there when the US was created; they could go to Gettysburg or heck, just rent the TVC;...
Published in The Daily Times on November 10th 2010 Being elected to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has made Asma Jahangir the bearer of great expectations for all progressives and liberals in the country who, until now, were holding their breath, looking at events unfold...
Published in The Daily Times on June 5th 2010 Shackled by obscurantism dogging the masses with religious war and decrees, Pakistan is taking a sad turn away from its manifest destiny Historically, the latter-day self-styled champions of Islamic ideology in our country were almost entirely opposed to...
Published in The Daily Times on January 6th 2011 The execution of the Governor of Punjab in the capital has caused riot among the masses. The ruling party is upset, so are his opponents but there are those who are gladened. Vocal in their online comments...
Published in The Daily Times on November 1st 2011 Poets like Allama Iqbal identified the pulse of the disenfranchised Muslims in South Asia. Faiz Ahmed Faiz took that spirit to define more progressive causes for Pakistanis. Though not a poet, Imran Khan has captured that sense...
Published in Daily Times and Pakteahouse.com on January 22nd 2011 Outside the window, a Pakistani flag flutters, inside, a teacher asks a group of 6th-grader girls and boys, “Who can make a food chain?” A girl comes up to the board and uses a pen as...
Published in The Daily Times on March 11th 2011 Pakistan’s essence is derived from the self-determination of its people. If there is to be any restoration of national dignity, Pakistan must be led by the voices of Asiya Nasir, people who do not flee the country...
Published in the Daily Times on November 24th 2010 An estimated 17 percent of all families in Pakistan are associated with polygamy in their primary relationships. This means that as many as one-fifth of our population lives in an arrangement of compromise, most likely to take...
Published in The Daily Times on August 15th 2011 The reliance on a saviour mentality where Pakistan will be rescued by God will be the cause of an ultimate out-of-control Pakistan. The opposite was the philosophy given to us by Mohammed Ali Jinnah This year’s Pakistan Independence...
Published on Chowk.com on March 2nd 2011 How you meet a book is important. I was in a leading Karachi bookstore browsing the new books session when an attendant stacked new plastic clad books of Moni Mohsin’s Tender Hooks. I was reading Faiz Ahmed Faiz at the...