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Take that, India: Edhi and Pakistan don’t need your money
“You Indians, your country is the rape capital of the world.” “All the minorities should just move out of Pakistan.” “You people don’t even have access to toilets, what are you talking about?” “At...
View ArticleExcuse me VIPs, can you move your cameras and armed personnel so doctors can...
Did you know that essentially there are only two types of people in Pakistan? Let me introduce them to you. The first is the population in waiting. They are the ones who stand in lines, who grab a...
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People are dying, yet clerics say they are ‘happy’ to see attendance rise in...
It was déjà vu for anyone who lived through October 8, 2005, and not just the feeling that the ground was going to split open. Yet again, we have shown that at times when people come together,...
View ArticleIsmat Chughtai’s women: Women, yes – dreams, no
Ismat Chughtai is universally regarded as one of the four pillars of Urdu fiction in our time, apart from her contemporaries Saadat Hasan Manto, Krishan Chander and Rajinder Singh Bedi. This year is...
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Women will do anything it takes to look beautiful
“Aap moon haath dho kar fresh ho jayain. Mein chai laati hoon.” (You can freshen up. I’ll get you some tea.) The women uttering this on TV mostly look immaculately well put together, French nail tips...
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Karachi and the paralysis of imagination
You want to read about a vision of a just Karachi? The contract killer ($50 a hit) ripping up the road behind Disco Bakery on his Honda 200CC and the secret service colonel cracking skulls in a Clifton...
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Is religion more important than unity in Australia?
During my school days, students would queue in the main ground and proudly sing Pakistan’s national anthem during the morning assembly. Singing the national anthem brought everyone together, nurturing...
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Modi and Nawaz Sharif need to stop undermining cricket for political gains
During the Sri Lankan tour to Pakistan in 2009, the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore was fired upon by militants, injuring six Sri Lankan players and killing...
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Can a Tweet get you arrested in Pakistan? Yes, it can
Today, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a social media activist from Peshawar for posting a tweet on September 22nd, 2015. They placed upon him charges for violating the Electronic...
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Why were Karachi University girls beaten up for playing cricket?
News of young women playing cricket at Karachi University being beaten by religious thugs is not a great way to start your day. Members of the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) had warned the cricket-playing...
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What if gun control isn’t solely to blame for mass shootings in America?
With alarming regularity, shootings in America make the news across the planet, sometimes every other week. Horrific visuals of mayhem, tragedy, and pain fill our TV screens as we try to understand how...
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The scariest costume you can wear this Halloween is ‘racism’
A fake ‘Sheikh’ nose, blackface, and a Mexican sombrero? Let me guess: you’re going to that Halloween party tonight as a ‘Howling Racist’. Halloween has little relevance to the lives of most Pakistani...
View ArticlePakistan is a cesspool of humanitarian crises, but who cares? Imran and Reham...
Imran Khan is in the news again. He has definitely got the knack for it. Even those who are staunchly against him, people like me who are not Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) supporters in any way, turn...
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Shaandaar, or more like far from it, is a forgettable and sagging affair
Shaandaar is a romantic comedy revolving around the subject matter of matrimony and nuptials, combined with the concept of a destination wedding set in London. Think of it as a big, fat Greek Shaandaar...
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Will Maryam Nawaz invest Michelle Obama’s $70 million anywhere outside of...
This week we were treated to scenes of Maryam Nawaz Sharif standing with Michelle Obama as the First Lady announced an investment of $70 million as part of a new partnership between the United States...
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When did rape threats become a necessary technique for extracting confessions?
Early morning, Wednesday, October 28, 2015, will be forever etched on my mind and conscience as the day when my reserves of patience and equanimity were exhausted and emptied. My friend, the human...
View ArticleThree lessons to learn from Imran and Reham’s marriage and divorce
I wasn’t in Pakistan when Imran Khan and Reham Khan tied the knot, but this ‘news’ was big enough to infiltrate every conversation in Boston as well. All of a sudden, every Pakistani seemed to have an...
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Earthquake 200(1)5: Are Pakistanis mobilised best when calamities are of...
A 100 plus schools and almost 9,000 houses have been demolished in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) alone, and even official figures show that the death toll is bordering on 300 people. Calculating the number...
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Justin Trudeau, 43, is prime minister. Um, what have I done with my life?
Currently topping my lengthy list of “middle-class problems”– right up there with “depilate more assiduously” and “pay car insurance”– is the issue of how best to deal with the fact that Justin...
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10 things that didn’t go according to plan for Imran Khan
In case you live on a different planet, or because your Wi-Fi hasn’t been working, the famous cricketer turned politician turned youth’s so-called choice just filed for his second divorce with...
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