Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq

I managed to catch the morning news today. Apart from the horrific brutal killings in Karachi and the usual conundrums of living in Pakistan, a much needed and welcome respite was provided by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Punjab. The headlines flashed, tickers went ticking with the news that the IG Punjab had issued […]

As children, we used to play a card game called ‘Snap’. The cards my brothers and I had were printed with ‘Mr Men’ figures; each player was dealt an equal number of cards; on his turn, he had to throw a single card, face up, onto a pile in the centre; if the pictures matched, […]

I am disturbed. I just saw a programme on television where a media team in Karachi confronted a man selling donkey meat. No, the selling of donkey meat does not disturb me as it is nothing new, but what he said to the media does. Upon being confronted on high moral grounds repeatedly by the […]

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is Pakistan; Mayday. My position is 30° 00’ N and 70° 00’ E; I am on fire and sinking fast with 18 million people onboard; I require immediate assistance. Over.” I am Pakistan: ‘Land of the pure’. My twin and I were born nearly 65 years ago; it was not an […]

As I asked a witness to take oath last week during evidence that I had been deputed to record, a fellow lawyer remarked that since it is mandatory on witnesses deposing before the court to take an oath, the judges presiding should also be required to take an oath, every time, stating that they have […]

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other […]

I found Him in the shining of the stars/I marked Him in the flowering of His fields/But in His ways with men I find Him not/I waged His wars, and now I pass and die/O me! for why is all around us here/As if some lesser god had made the world/But had not force to […]

Another feather in the cap of the federal government was the passage of the anti-women practices law that amended the Pakistan Penal Code. One such amendment was an addition of a new section, which specifically addresses the issue of female inheritance, or the lack thereof. Section 498-A has been added to the penal code. It […]

Sitting in Court Room No 1 at the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court last week, I was deeply amused by a case that was taken up by the honourable three-member bench. It was an appeal against ejectment, which had been filed on behalf of a tenant. Apparently, the landlord had asked the tenant to […]

It is said that a parent can feed and take care of children, regardless of the number, be they two or 10, but all the children put together cannot take care of even a single parent. There is no specific law that provides for the maintenance of elderly or infirm parents, grandparents and relatives in […]