Yasser Latif Hamdani

As a Pakistani, I consider myself a friend and well-wisher of the Republic of Turkey, one of the few places in the world where when I tell people that I am a Pakistani, the reaction is overwhelmingly positive. This friendship is rooted in history dating back to the Turkish War of Independence. Muslims of British […]

A lot of people get upset that I mention Jinnah every now and then in my articles for many different reasons. Consequently, the personal ridicule and abuse that I have faced is extraordinary. For some unknown reason, I get a flurry of emails from across the border full of abuses and attacks, even though my […]

As Pakistan has mercifully completed one complete democratic cycle and is now heading towards, hopefully, a second one, one hopes that some of those outstanding issues vis-à-vis identity, culture, religion and society will also be settled in light of the highest standards of human conduct of our times. The Joseph Colony incident reminds us that […]

The passing of Hugo Chavez met with a formidable flurry of responses from those who admired him and those hated him. Much like our own Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, most people can only either intensely love Chavez or hate him with an equal passion. For figures like Chavez and Bhutto there is seldom any middle ground. […]

The war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan has now entered its 12th year and the objectives are nowhere near achieved. Most people will agree that the world — especially our part of the world — is a much more dangerous place than it was in September 2001. The narrative of the clash of civilisations […]

A secular Pakistan is not a question of idealism. It is not even a question of countering misappropriation of the Pakistan idea. Nor is it merely about Jinnah’s vision. It is a question of foremost practical importance for this republic. Ask the people in Quetta. We are dealing with a sectarian monster in the form […]

There is much confusion about the term ‘secularism’ in Pakistan. It is assumed that state secularism means atheism and irreligious conduct. This confusion of secularism with atheism ignores the history of secularism. Atheism has nothing to do with secularism per se, as it deals with the idea that there is no divine, no supreme being […]

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) 2016 was passed in the National Assembly without quorum — at that time — with 30 members in attendance. The opposition parties present in the 30 members did not object to a lack of quorum because, according to one legislator, “we did not want to harm democracy.” Unknown […]

The people of the Indus Basin, who form the majority of Pakistanis, are by nature conservative and by that I do not mean that they are necessarily close minded. What I mean is that on a long enough timeline, they tend to reject extremism of all kinds and this is their greatest strength. This one […]

Imagine waging a grand struggle for something for 30 odd years and still being unable to make even a small incremental change towards your goal. Pakistan’s so-called feminist movement is a story of foibles, missed opportunities, humongous egos and personal enrichment. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, a woman’s testimony is considered half that of a man in […]