Syed Kamran Hashmi

Everything seemed to have been dragging the popularity of the MQM down for the past one year: corruption allegations on the party’s leaders, its association with violence, target killings, the land grabbing mafia, the murder investigation of Dr Imran Farooq and, of course, the money laundering scandal, as if MQM had been put in an […]

“Nawaz Sharif, I say loud and clear from this container that this sit-in will never halt until justice is served.” Vociferous and fiery Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), reiterated his stance for the 111th time on the 111th day of the protest in Islamabad to a small crowd that had been […]

In a matter of few days, a genuine parliament can accomplish what a military dictator cannot undertake in a lifetime: say no to an established financier, ignore the threats from powerful ‘friends,’ act upon the will of the people and protect the long-term interests of the country. Why? Because the members of the Assembly know […]

Although Saudi Arabia does not pose a direct threat to the integrity of Pakistan, in many ways we stand so close to be declared as a failed state because of the Kingdom’s ruthless agenda to transform our society into an Arab one and turn its accommodative attitude towards religion upside down. The rigid Islamic doctrine, […]

No sooner had the PPP proposed Senator Raza Rabbani as its candidate for the chairman of the upper house of parliament, Nawaz Sharif pulled back his party’s nominee and announced to support the left leaning politician from the opposition. With that, Senator Rabbani won his election uncontested. And also with that, Pakistani politics took another […]

Do you want to know what the religious minorities of Pakistan think of the imported version of Islam practiced and propagated by the country’s Sunni majority? Visit Youhanabad. Here, after the suicide bombings in two churches that killed 15 and injured 79 worshippers last week, the angry mob caught two people, who they claimed looked […]

“Mesmerised by their beauty, you can spend years just looking at them.” By blending the Quran, hadith and personal fantasy, this is how Maulana Tariq Jamil, a well-respected religious scholar, explained the charm of hoors (virgins) of paradise to his audience. “Unlike anything on earth that loses attraction over time, their beauty will grow and […]

After the release of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report regarding the Baldia Town incident that killed over 250 people in a private garment factory in 2012, the MQM has, once again, come under attack. Although every attribute of the report — its legality, reliability, veracity and its timing — can be questioned, yet the […]

Clerics despise scepticism. Maybe out of personal fear or as an excuse to avoid tough questions, they designate it as a slippery slope, a path that will drag every believer to the dead end of apostasy and atheism. So even if you do not question the religion itself or doubt its fundamentals but you somehow […]

A video in which a young boy recites a poem praising the religious spirit of the Taliban has recently (re)emerged in the social media. Although it may have been shot before Operation Zarb-e-Azab was launched, it still stays relevant today and raises some important concerns. The clip shows a large hall located inside a mosque […]