Syed Kamran Hashmi

Entering a five-star luxury hotel in Washington DC on the long fourth of July weekend, the Independence Day of the US, if you spot hundreds of well-dressed Pakistani families chatting in the lobby or roaming in the hallway, you do not have to ask who these people are and what is going on. Instead, you […]

I have never met a person in my life more confused than an ‘enlightened moderate’. Apparently sane and educated, he will talk about liberal values and tolerance in religion. The recent developments in Pakistani society regarding the persecution of minorities also bothers him, lack of their freedom to practice their religion concerns him and the […]

When a bomb was found under Hamid Mir’s car a few weeks ago, I thought it was a message that would never become a reality. Unfortunately, I was wrong and Hamid Mir was right. He lies in a bed today, weak and injured, struggling to survive the assassination attempt. After the attack, there is no […]

It all started with a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in which the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif, expressed his displeasure on the behalf of officers and soldiers over the undue criticism of the Pakistan army. Afterwards, some television channels, out of nowhere, picked up an old ‘sizzling’ speech […]

From Maulana Samiul Haq to Imran Khan, all conservatives portray Pakistani liberals as bloodthirsty hounds who, in order to please their Lord, the US, are eager to endorse the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians in North Waziristan (NW) through an army operation once again. The right leaning political parties have repeated their stance for so […]

As a rule, travelling abroad is a safe and pleasurable endeavour, especially if the tourist is a young, westbound, Pakistani male who is on his own. First, it is important to know that the Pakistani definition of the west is a little different and by no means can it be confused with a geographical position […]

After intense negotiations, a friend of mine was offered Rs 2,000 for his column each week if the organisation determined the quality of his material as being exceptional, its message clear, its facts verifiable, its style unique, its language outstanding. Yes, in a country where the minimum wage is Rs 7,000 for a minimally trained […]

If you are one of those liberals who out of their own ignorance like to trivialise the complex issue of terrorism as a matter of taking a decisive military action in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) against the jihadi organisations and criminal groups, then I must disagree with you as I believe the root of the […]

Eighty four percent of Pakistanis responded in favour of sharia law, according to an opinion poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre last year. This is an alarming number for most people across the world, including our neighbours to the north (China) and the east (India). With sharia law, the picture that comes to everyone’s […]

When a friend of mine moved to the US last year, he was not pleased to meet a segment of the Pakistani community living in Indiana. He was of the opinion that his old friends, people who he had known for decades and had grown up with, had embraced the values of their adopted homeland […]