Pakistan-US strategic dialogue
The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, congratulated Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on her second Oscar win before continuing on to welcome Pakistan’s Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz…
To heal a wounded society
While we are distracted by cricket and by the potentially fateful match that is being played within the ranks of the MQM, though it also provides some comic relief, the…
In the name of honour
A few days ago, a tragic incident in Sahiwal shook the entire city, when a man killed two of his sisters in the name of honour. The accused, Muhammad Asif,…
Acid survivors and Facebook updates
How can I not love Orya Maqbool Jan, civil servant turned columnist and media celebrity, who makes me feel that Pakistan is not only equal to the somewhat developed but…
Undermining our own
As a nation badly in need of heroes, of role-models and of people to look up to, we do a terrible job of creating them. Instead, we deliberately knock them…
Holy fathers…the search for relevance
The assorted alliance of holy fathers – various religious outfits subscribing to their own brands of irrelevance – have held out a threat to the Punjab government to withdraw or…
In search of relevance
What led the religious forces to keep their reaction to Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging within bounds? Many believe it was the restrained media coverage of the funeral and news of the…
Ghairat, beghairtee and an Oscar award
The total runtime of the Oscar-winning documentary, ‘A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness’ is forty minutes. In forty short minutes, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy depicts a Pakistani society that…
Beyond the girl in the river
Two-time Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy just focused on one victim of an attempted honour killing and brought the attention of the whole world to the scourge of patriarchal terrorism in…
The Hollywoodisation of issues
One can be cynical of the chauvinism that comes with patriotism and nationalism and yet admit a joyous moment of pride when Pakistani women receive international acclaim for their accomplishments.…
