Syed Mansoor Hussain

For those of us living in Lahore, this past week has been a bit more than peculiar. First we had a creeping, unannounced increase in load shedding. Gas ‘shedding’ was going on any way and the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations were already closed but then occurred the absolutely bizarre petrol shortage. The world has […]

As I write this column, I am continuously reminded of three birthdays that fall on this day, December 25, 2014. The first is of course Christmas, the second is of the founder of Pakistan and the third is of our Prime Minister (PM), Mian Nawaz Sharif. Mian sahib has today reached the official age of […]

Much of whatever could have been said about the massacre in Peshawar has been said. There have been large-scale terrorist attacks before with casualties in excess of many dozens but this is the first time that primarily children were attacked and killed. For once, even Taliban apologists are staying mum though they will slowly crawl […]

For many nights I have had the same dream. I see Imran Khan’s face while he is making one of his impassioned speeches about nothing much and then his face slowly morphs into that of Mian Nawaz Sharif, our Prime Minister (PM). No, this is not a nightmare, just an ordinary, repetitive dream and I […]

Thankfully, I suppose, for those of us who live in Lahore, Imran Khan decided not to close the city down on Thursday, December 4, 2014. But it did seem a little unfortunate for an opinion writer like me. I was all set to make this the subject of my column. So, what to write about […]

A 25-year-old Australian cricketer died the other day after he was hit on the head by a short ball during a cricket game. Any death, especially the untimely and unexpected death of a young person, is always sad, whatever the circumstances might be. Accidents will happen but however much we might call this injury — […]

Every so often I want to write something that is entirely brilliant and every so often I fail at it. Yes, I can take an interesting idea and build up on it but then the limitation of 1,200 words does put a damper on things. That is the limitation op-ed writers learn to live with. […]

Recently, I have started wondering whether we as a nation have finally become completely inured to violence. It is no consolation that violence at the individual or the group level is quite prevalent all over the world. Perhaps the sort of violence that has diminished the world over is that which is perpetrated by states […]

Last week was an emotional roller coaster. Pakistan’s cricket team overwhelmingly won a Test series against Australia after decades. Bravo! A suicide bomber killed dozens near the Wagah border and maimed and mutilated many more. Horrible. The Muharram processions all end peacefully. Great. A young Christian couple is burned to death by a mob accusing […]

The question that often vexed me was whether being a social liberal in Pakistan also translates into being a political liberal. The rise of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has answered my question. In the Pakistani context, a social liberal is a person who is often seen in the presence of non-mehram (unrelated) persons of the […]