Alarm bells ringing
IMAGES of the Iranian and Pakistani leaders inaugurating a power transmission line that will bring 100 megawatts of electricity from across the border to the Balochistan port city of Gwadar, triggered memories…
Quest for justice
THERE comes a time in the life of nations when citizens start to feel that the social contract between them and the state is on the verge of collapse. What…
The Iranian story
A FEW days after the triumphant arrival of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran in February 1979, four Pakistani students were having a meal in a suburban restaurant when they were surrounded…
Mehrjui and Iranian cinema ( Part – II )
In Mehrjui’s film ‘Gaav’, Masht Hassan – a peasant in an isolated village – has a close relationship with his cow, which is his only possession and the sole cow…
The profundity of feedback loop
Since time immemorial, decision-making has been based on a number of factors, the most important being the feedback loop. Decision-making governs every aspect of life - from birth to death…
Other Women’s Days
IT was January 1979. The Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, had just left his country but Imam Khomeini had not yet arrived in Iran. It was a moment of…
In love with torture
Banging people’s head and bodies against a wall again and again, keeping them without clothes most of the time, depriving them of sleep, force feeding them through their rectum and…
Missing continuity
Two of the Middle East’s non-Arab countries enjoy a priceless advantage which Pakistan lacks. Republics have replaced monarchies in Turkey and Iran, but that doesn’t mean the two states lack…
Thick, black clouds
The recent acts of violence have reminded me of my column, ‘Mass graves’ (April 30, 2012). In that I had pointed out that mass graves were the result of either…
