Clik here to view.
Was he a human or a donkey?
For the past few days now, every night on my way home from work, I’ve been seeing an injured donkey lying in the corner of a dirty street near my house. One of its front legs is broken and I am sure it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Go ahead, beat up the woman, they do it in Indian movies too!
The incident, in which a female bus conductor in India was beaten up, on June 6, only proves that the country has learnt from history that it has learnt nothing from history. Even after the global hue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can access to a toilet prevent rape?
The recent spate of rapes in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India has left everyone horrified. Along with the typical reactions from politicians and international agencies that accompany such heinous...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Book Review: ‘Servants of the Goddess, the modern-day devadasis’
Imagine being paraded in a procession of singing men and women on a high slab with nothing on your body except neem leaves as soon as you hit puberty, and being ‘deflowered’ when you don’t even know...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Forced conversions in Pakistan: “Eeshwar kaun hai, Allah bol Allah!”
Scuffles and screams rang through the dark night. They were three and they were burly. They had her in a firm grip with her mouth gagged with a rough cloth. It was probably 11 or 12 o’clock at night....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Global patriarchy and women of a lesser God
I came across a story today that left me disturbed to the bone; a 24-year-old married woman, mother of two, hailing from a small town in Madhya Pradesh, India, was punished and made to do the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where is India’s ‘landmark judgment’ on honour killing today?
In the spring of 2005, at the exotic valley of Karora village in Northern Haryana, when the sun had bid farewell and the full-moon accompanying with cluster of stars appeared in the darkness of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Indians need to stop living with their parents
Ever wondered why small town bumpkins in India are smarter than their big city counterparts? (Oh yes, they are). It’s because unlike the Indian city dwellers that shack up with their parents late into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sorry Karan Johar, but Dhadak lacks the rawness and simplicity of Sairat
The much-awaited trailer of Dhadak, starring Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter dropped on the Internet a few days ago, and gathered responses and reactions from people that reached a feverish and...
View ArticleWith Zidane back on the sidelines, will Real Madrid make the most of the...
For much of the 2018-19 season, Real Madrid’s campaign has been driven by pessimism and trepidation. From mediocre performances on the field to a lack of purpose off it, the Los Blancos found...
View ArticleWhy is the US making a mountain out of the Masood Azhar molehill?
The United States has introduced a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution to blacklist Masood Azhar as an international terrorist. Azhar is the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (banned in Pakistan...
View ArticleKnock knock! Annabelle is coming home and things are about to get real scary
Following the Marvel path, The Conjuring universe has grown steadily over the last six years through both, the increasing returns that most films in the franchise have delivered and in stature through...
View ArticleIndia’s ‘Operation Isolation’ and the soft power of sports
“Our message is stronger than ever. Please stop the fighting. Please stop the killing. Please drop your guns.” Juan Antonio Samaranch, President International Olympic Committee speaking at the Winter...
View ArticleWhen khudkushi became her only freedom
The sky was a pool of black ink, dusted with stars at midnight. Arsh looked out from the window — she saw many little streets sprawled out below. She had only known these streets from inside the walls...
View ArticleIran and Iraq may not be tourist hot spots, but they offer a spiritual...
I was recently invited to a trip to Iran and Iraq by a group of close friends from Lahore, and as I had never been to these states before, I decided to take the opportunity to visit the shrines...
View ArticleRawalpindi: A chaotic labyrinth, caught between heritage and heresy
In the post-modern world, the topography of the city has undergone a drastic shift. Rapid urbanisation and growing job opportunities have resulted in many cities in the developing world being swamped...
View ArticleRaw and poignant, A Place for Us beautifully sheds light on familial love
It had been some time since I cried while reading a book. And A Place for Us changed that. Fatima Farheen Mirza’s dazzling debut novel tells the story of a South Asian Muslim family living in America....
View ArticleSea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini: A father’s lament of the barbarity we call...
“My dear Marwan, I look at your profile, In the glow of this three-quarter moon, my boy, Your eyelashes like calligraphy, Closed in guileless sleep. I said to you, ‘Hold my hand. Nothing bad will...
View ArticleIs Pakistan’s N-CPEC+ vision finally beginning to take shape?
Pakistan’s unique geostrategic location at the crossroads of East, South, West, and Central Asia enables it to function as the “Zipper of Eurasia”, as I wrote over half a decade ago in September 2015...
View ArticleFighting climate change through the courtroom
Climate change is a ‘hot’ button issue in Pakistan. Both literally and figuratively. Summer 2022’s disastrous floods submerged almost a third of the country under water, affecting 33 million people,...
View Article