Rich, poor & terror
On any given night in Karachi, the sound of gunfire booms through the darkness. It is a familiar sound whose regularity lulls the city’s restless children to sleep. Gunfire accompanies…
Out of sync with the state
It is easy to criticise. We do so almost ceaselessly when we talk about corruption, crime and brutality in our society. What we say is true; perfectly true. But beyond…
A question of propriety
Since 1977, every government in Pakistan, civil and military alike, has miserably failed to tackle the issues of revenue leakages and illegal accumulation of wealth in a few hands. Every…
A thriving industry
Kidnapping for ransom took root in Karachi by way of interior Sindh in the late 1980s, where previously livestock used to be abducted and returned after the abductors were paid…
Two films and a thought
I saw two good films this week that offer hope for gritty journalism. Hansal Mehta`s Shahid (The witness) is the story of Shahid Azmi, a 32-year old Mumbai lawyer who…
Doctors’ dilemma
It was the end of a September day in Loralai, Balochistan. Dr Manaf Tareen, one of four trained cardiologists in the province, was finishing up at the hospital. His afternoon…
A six-month timeline is all we have
By mid-2014 what many Pakistanis have been crying themselves hoarse about will have happened: most of the Americans in Afghanistan will have gone and we will be alone with our…
Banned books and butchered bodies
Jinnah Road – Quetta’s main commercial hub – and its nearby areas boast nearly half-a-dozen bookstores, but not one has put Malala Yousafzai’s biography on sale. The reason: warnings –…
The enemy within
Few incidents of terrorism have caused such large-scale outpouring of grief, anger and shame as the massacre in the Peshawar church last Sunday. But will this outrage awaken the Pakistani…
Deflecting from the church attack
The Peshawar church bombing has once again exposed the disturbing attribute of deflection within the Pakistani discourse. If we are uncomfortable discussing it, we may want to consider the discomfort…
