Press Freedom Day 2011 on May 2, 2011“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and one, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind” — John Stuart Mill, On Liberty. The utility of celebrating various […]
Dont let peace be defeated on April 4, 2011A piece of peace won and a bit of cricket lost at Mohali in India last week. Let us talk about the latter first because I know little about the game, unlike every Pakistani. I enjoy the game but feel that only experts have the right to analyse the performance of our players. But the […]
After 71 years on March 28, 2011Last week, the country officially celebrated the 71st anniversary of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution. This day is also known as Pakistan Day. The truth is that all the Muslim League documents (e.g. Allama Iqbal’s 1930 Allahabad address, Jinnah’s 14 points, the 1940 Lahore Resolution) had only asked for maximum autonomy for the Muslim majority provinces […]
Faizs unfinished agenda and the new generation II on March 14, 2011Last Tuesday, I briefly touched upon the relevance of Faiz’s poetry and lamented that his social agenda remains unfinished. Perhaps today he would have been more tormented at a time when freedom of expression is seriously endangered. It has been 27 years since he left the baton of social change in our hands, but, unfortunately, […]
Faizs unfinished agenda and the new generation II on March 14, 2011Last Tuesday, I briefly touched upon the relevance of Faiz’s poetry and lamented that his social agenda remains unfinished. Perhaps today he would have been more tormented at a time when freedom of expression is seriously endangered. It has been 27 years since he left the baton of social change in our hands, but, unfortunately, […]
Faiz Ahmed Faiz, sadly still relevant I on March 7, 2011Sadly, much of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry that reflected on the curbs on freedom of expression, political repression, social and economic inequality continues to be relevant in these tragic times in Pakistan. Why do I say ‘sadly’ when all the great works of art are known for their universality as they transcend geographical, religious, ethnic, […]
A pound of flesh from the US on February 28, 2011Will the multi-dimensional case of trigger-happy Raymond Davis be the game changer in Pakistan? Will the case of Salmaan Taseer’s killing by Mumtaz Qadri test the government’s will to implement the rule of law amidst religious frenzy? These questions are being debated in the media and by almost everybody. Much of the discussion is emotional. […]
Sindhi nationalism a perspective on February 14, 2011Interestingly, the two best books written on Sindh in the last few years have been the works of two writers who are ‘Sindhi by option’ and not by accident. I think this term — Sindhi by option — needs to be explained because it puts the political, social and economic role of the post-partition migrants […]
The simmering Bahawalpur province movement on February 7, 2011The demand to restore the status of a province to Bahawalpur division is gathering momentum, though a bit slowly. My take from a brief visit to three cities in Bahawalpur division was that the workers and local leaders of all the political parties have reached a consensus that they need a separate province. Perhaps the […]
A peep into rural Pakistan on January 31, 2011Getting out of mega-cities and visiting villages and rural towns is an opportunity every journalist, worth his/her salt, cannot miss. So when the Chairman of the Rural Media Network (RMN) Ehsan Ahmed Sehar invited me to Liaquatpur to train the journalists of the tehsil, I was unable to resist the offer. It is not just […]