D Asghar

If the words associated with the English alphabet were revised in my land of birth, Pakistan, then A will no longer stand for ‘apple’; it would probably definitely be by ‘absurdity’. You may ask why that is. Well, if you go by the recent request by the ‘torchbearers’ of our faith, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), to […]

Where do I start? So much to cover but I am afraid I need to stick to certain space limitations, so brevity will be the best policy as usual. I am glad that my words are safe as expected, and another revolutionary disturbance has disappeared from Islamabad. I am amazed at the people who in […]

When a fellow writer on Twitter retweeted a remark as satire, it just resonated with me and perhaps with many others, very loud and clear. In the wake of shameful killings of many Shias in Quetta, it said, “Remember Pakistan was created to protect the interests of Muslims of the subcontinent.” Very sadly, looking at […]

When the new ‘pied piper’ from Canada landed in Pakistan and created a frenzy, I simply said that it was a good show. I was unable to stand the two-hour plus address at the Minar-e-Pakistan, but whatever excerpts I was able to tolerate, I wanted to thank him for my hearty laughter. I pointed out […]

The recent ‘revelations’ of a former general have created a firestorm, and the entire talk show circuit has picked up the issue of the Kargil war as the ‘latest sensation’. There are people repeating and regurgitating everything that any reasonable person knew from the get-go. This scribe with zero background in military strategy is on […]

I often wonder why we are so enraged most of the times. Why are people so disappointed, depressed and often so negative about everything they face in their lives? I don’t know much about psychiatry, but I do believe all of us bring our fears with us. Our lives are mostly spent conditioning ourselves to […]

People who are brave and patient enough to tolerate my viewpoint here every week know my position fairly well when it comes to our ‘all-in-one’, former ‘commando’/general/chief executive/president Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf is being dubbed as a daredevil as despite all legal odds against him he has landed in Pakistan. Never mind that the commando made […]

Come to think of it, the word ‘change’ is now being used, misused and shall I say abused to such an extent that it has really lost its significance. There is this hype that is being built, this narrative being peddled on the traditional and the social media that change is on its way. Or […]

When Allama Iqbal dreamt of the unity of Muslims to protect the sanctity of the Holy Kaaba, he was not thinking of the ongoing suicide blasts of today. United we are for sure, in different factions with only one cause in mind: how to eliminate or annihilate the other. It is with a false hope […]

When I came to the US, and went for the Friday prayers, I use to cringe at a certain prayer that the imams led after the service. It was about God helping the ‘Fidayeen’ of Palestine. I knew those were suicide bombers who went into Israel and caused havoc among the civilians. The people on […]