Seven years later, a liberal Pakistan remains a distant dream on January 4, 2018Today marks the seventh death anniversary of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. Taseer was killed by one of his bodyguards who later confessed to the crime and said he disagreed with Taseer’s opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy law. The murderer Mumtaz Qadri was executed in 2016. Thousands of Qadri supporters took to the streets against his […]
Trump’s tweet draws wide-ranging commentary on Twitter on January 2, 2018Lahore: US president Donald Trump’s tweet on Monday, accusing Pakistan of double-dealing on the issue of terrorism, drew a wide range of comments from the country’s politicians, journalists and popular Twitter users. In his tweet posted on Sunday night, the US president had said, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion […]
NAP remains unimplemented three years after APS attack on December 18, 2017Three years after the Army Public School (APS) attack, the National Action Plan (NAP), formulated by civil and military leadership to counter terrorism remains largely unimplemented. One of the main points of NAP was about crackdown on hate-speech. Analysts say the open practice of hate speech against minority communities witnessed during the Faizabad sit-in by […]
About time FATA is merged with KP on December 14, 2017Much has been said on how the government’s failure to implement reforms in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) will compromise the gains made in the military operations against terrorists. The delay is causing unrest in the region, but the stakeholders have remained unsuccessful in developing consensus on the issue and the matter is lingering on […]
#FindRaza trends on Twitter as users demand missing activist’s recovery on December 8, 2017Lahore: Pakistani twitter users on Thursday participated in an online campaign through #FindRaza hashtag to demand immediate steps to recover missing peace activist Raza Khan. Referring to a pattern well established in the recent past, many activists expressed concerns that Raza Khan could have been forcibly disappeared. Internet rights activist Nighat Dad? tweeted, “Where is […]
Twitterati condemn Imran Khan’s remarks against ‘liberals’ on November 30, 2017Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday said Pakistani liberals were ‘more dangerous than anyone else’ as they are always ‘thirsty for blood. The PTI chief’s remarks were strongly condemned by social media users who reminded him that religious fanatics and not liberals are a threat to the country’s stability. Twitter user Dr Nauman […]
Time to break the siege of Islamabad on November 24, 2017Sit-in by extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik continues in Islamabad at Faizabad Interchange, resulting in disturbance of life in the city. The authorities have been unable to act against the protesting leaders who are openly practicing hate speech and inciting violence against the minority communities. The newly-formed extremist groups emerged on the political arena in the by-election […]
With ‘little progress on earlier recommendations’, Pakistan set to face third UPR today on November 13, 2017Lahore: Pakistan’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is scheduled to take place on Monday (today). International and national rights watchdogs have urged the government to ‘meaningfully engage with the process to improve the human rights situation in the country’. In its statement released on the occasion, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has noted that the […]
‘Leftists today are divided along ethnic and sectarian lines’ on November 4, 2017Renowned feminist activist Nighat Said Khan delivered the keynote address at a conference in connection with 100 years of Soviet Revolution held at Lahore University of Management and Sciences (LUMS). She discussed the participation of women in leftist movements across the world and the status of women before and after the Soviet Revolution. She said […]
Celebrating 100 years of Russian revolution on November 4, 2017A panel discussion on 100 years of Soviet Revolution was held at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) on Friday. Panelists included feminist activist Nighat Said Khan, labour rights activist Karamat Ali, History professor at LUMS Anoosha Malik and Feminist Collective’s member Sarah Suhail Karamat Ali said that the impact of soviet union on labour […]