Love at Shara Zawia

Muneer and Emily had gone to Tangiers to register their marriage, as many foreigners who marry in Libya do.
Emily does not like to talk about these things.

Historian Amaresh Misra on South Asia

Left alone, South Asia would have evolved more smoothly into the Industrial age, says historian Amaresh Misra

Music: Muslim Madonna

Performing seated alongside notable ghazal maestros of the subcontinent was the eight years old Deepika Thathaal known by her stage name Deeyah.

Paper Trail

To produce five sheets of 8 x 11 inch paper we use the equivalent energy of an 80 watt bulb operating for an hour; but at a cost far greater than that of electricity.

Logotherapy: Humanism In Psychiatry

The heart has reasons that reason does not know ... A reflection on Victor Frankl’s “The Unheard Cry for Meaning”

I Spy Hindutva

Attempts have been made to 'saffronize' at both the ground level (by editing textbooks) and by challenging conclusions of scholars who have attempted to rewrite history.

Prisoner of Conscience

Mr. Afridi is imprisoned because of his peaceful expression of his beliefs. He is victim of an unfair trial.

Europe and the Film Culture

Despite the speculated aggressive reactions, the film “Fitna” was released on the Internet on March 27, 2008.

How to End Politics of Hate and Intolerance

The man behind the politics of intolerance and hate, symbol of discord rather than harmony as president of State, is responsible for present state of affairs.

The Vicious Circle of Violence

The birthday of The Prophet Muhammad is a good time to remember that he was a man of peace. But the intoxicating violence now makes it difficult to go back to the origins.

Kashmir Liberated, Others Languish

Kashmir Singh spent 35 years in various Pakistani prisons before Ansar Burney, the caretaker minister of human rights found him and obtained a presidential pardon.

Islam as a political weapon in Pakistan

Manipulative Politics through the Bhutto and Zia Regimes

Media: The more things change...

Where only one Najam Sethi was picked up under the Sharif regime, over the past eight years, dozens have been picked up and tortured by Pakistan’s secret agencies.

Freedom of Expression

Was the media really free in Pakistan prior to November 3 2007? Is the media right to claim that it was being responsible and professional.

Musharraf and The Media

With the imposition of martial law, all TV channels suddenly disappeared. BBC and CNN and Fox all were gone.

Communists and the Making of Pakistan

History of the last years of Punjab under the Raj

Opportunity Knocks But Once

The story goes into the mind/psyche of a surgeon. A competitive, aggressive, brilliant, trained professional mind.

The Durrani Family Saga

The poor in Pakistan must be given an alternate to the clergy to take them out from the spiral of ignobility in which they are caught.

Terminator 2

Episodes from my life with T2, my Boss - the General Manager of a bank in the Middle East.

Jinnah and the Islamic State – Setting the Record Straight

What did Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, want for the country he was destined to create in 1947?

Citizenship and Identity in Pakistan

Before the British colonised the subcontinent, the people of this region existed in overlapping sets of multiple identities, where contending sovereignty of identity groups was negotiated and power was shared at several levels. When the British came alon

A Profile In Courage

A recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award in Pakistan and the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s most prestigious human rights honour, she declined an offered post as the first female judge on the Pakistan Supreme Court, stating she thought she could effe

The Power of Positive Thinking

After almost thirteen years working at a large multinational engineering firm, he had attended a workshop conducted by a consulting firm. He was so impressed (and probably so tired of the corporate treadmill) that he immediately began learning more, event

Village of Women

Along the line of control in Kashmir, there is a village called Dard-nag. The hot springs here were famous for miraculous powers but even the healed complained that drinking of the waters gave them the unpleasant feeling of laughing when the heart was sad

A Lovers’ Quarrel with Airport Profiling

You wake up early one morning and as you are lying on your back desperately trying to re-enter that cute little dream you were thrown out of, you realize that today you have to head to Boston’s Logan airport to catch a flight to DC...

Understanding Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

Trying to understand Z. A. Bhutto is hard, and to understand that period of Pakistan’s history is harder still.

Gear-up for a Power Internship!

So, it’s very important to get an insight of the profession you want to choose in the future. In this regard internships — a short attachment with a progressive organization — could be a viable solution.

Interpretation of Islamic Extremism in Mass Media

Interpretation of Islamic Extremism by the western mass media

My Ride to Work

How and IT man spends his day

unexpected life

Romancing life with a cappuccino in hand!

Sometimes romancing life can be fun!

What Really is an Islamic State?

An individual is not considered a pious and a ‘good’ member of the community in his/her isolation and therefore cannot act outside that framework when in power. Hence temporal morality/immorality cannot be separated outside the frame

Another Life in Danger in Pakistan

I am writing these lines to draw your attention to the case of political activist Dr Safdar Sarki who has been arrested by security agencies in Karachi. Eyewitnesses have said that he was taken away blind-folded to an unknown location

Pakistan Bans Blogspot

I don’t know what appalls me more: the sheer idiocy of such a blanket ban; the horror that someone thinks they’ve just struck a blow for Islam; or this insidious thought that, in Pakistan, we have no rights, only privileges

Muslim Sensibilities and Freedom of Speech

In such an atmosphere, clash between democratic freedoms and religious fervor, between criticism and tender Muslim sensibilities is a reality

Have Muslims Become Caricatures?
Another point of view

Omar Marzauk, a Danish comedian, used to joke that he should have born a poodle, not a Muslim [in Denmark] “Dogs in this nation have their own burial grounds, and Muslims don’t,' he would say

Cartoons -- Freedom or Ridicule?

Protecting your ICT Software Rights

Are all of us thieves?

The Virgin Birth

Generally for the Muslims, the Immaculate Conception is considered sacrosanct, and to question it would be at the least irreverent if not downright blasphemous

A Wedding in West Mambalam

I received my share of cold fragrant droplets, skimming over my temples and slightly running down my cheeks before I lost sensation of them.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

What are NDEs? Are they the prelude to our life after death or the very last experience we have before oblivion? Is their an irrefutable scientific explanation?

Towards a shackled society, perhaps

The vague and ambiguous provision of “ensuring Islamic values at public places” is bound to open a Pandora’s box because it would be safe to assume that the person whom the NWFP government will appoint as ombudsman will share the MMAR

To sue or not to sue…

It has been a year since I was not allowed to board an Air Canada flight (AC-8087). I have had the case covered in the media and on Parliament Hill but to no avail.

Interview with the Vamp

Angelina Jolie recently visited Pakistan for the second time in her capacity as a UNHCR goodwill ambassador...

Moonchaser

Shaftain Sahib jumped off his sixth floor balcony onto a sabzi wala. The vendor, Salim, died right away ... Shaftain Sahib survived the fall only to attempt another suicide...

Another day!

It’s a Monday morning. The time must be close to 7 AM, I am still in bed, conscious enough to know that my alarm clock will beep any minute.

Pakistan’s Software Industry

Pakistan’s Nascent, often over/under-rated software industry (depending on how you look at it), maybe ready for a take-off. Provided we make the right choices. This article summarizes the findings of an Original Research Study and draws conclusions.

Dude, Where’s My Reference Point?

The edge to Harold is that he affirms to us the mainstream perception of the Asian Ivy League quota buster. It is almost as if the filmmakers are rubbing our noses in the very stereotype of the Asian takeover-a tyranny based on the work ethics America has

An Air Canada Flagging

Soon after our credit card payment was processed I was told that I was flagged and would not be allowed to board the Air Canada flight.

Cactus Gas

Rajan. That’s what my alcoholic father used to scream every time the pathetic man wanted his trembling drags tensely inhaled from dry Gold Leaf fags.

Dana

’it was nice knowing you’ remained stuck in my throat.

September 12

you toss my brothers in the water– sink or float? now tell me– what separates the sheep from the goats?

To Be Or Not To Be Home?

Then there is the equation with the husband. All the ladies that I spoke to put their husbands on hold till the weekend. 'Otherwise, the entire schedule goes haywire', said one. 'Can’t get up and get going early morn next day', chimed another. 'Who

Engineering One’s Passion into Profession

I hope those of you who are struck in the career fields they love to loathe will find this article a good forum to indulge in a bashing spree of our society’s stereotypical attitudes

Building Homes and Building Software

Only when people are living the design will the design come alive