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The MF Husain Controversy: Identity, Intent and the Rise of Militant Fascism

The campaign against the iconic Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain, perhaps the most prominent living symbol of art under attack, is part of the political fight for India’s soul – secular democracy versus a ‘Hindu’ state.

This wonderful Doc…

Zakia met Sarwar after moving from Lahore to Karachi in 1961. The unconventional, long-limbed Allahabad-born doctor was known as the ‘hero of the January movement’.

Bring Back Jagannath Azad’s Pakistan Anthem

Jagannath Azad was working in Lahore when Mr Jinnah commissioned him for this task just three days before Independence. He complied, Mr Jinnah approved the lyrics, and the anthem went on air on Radio Pakistan Karachi the day Pakistan was born.

Pakistan India: Citizens Push for Peace

Mumbai-based veteran journalist Jatin Desai's proposal to ‘twin’ the press clubs of Karachi and Mumbai was positively received.

Arundhati ‘Pakistani’ and ‘Patriotic’ Right-wingers

“Shouldn’t Arundhati Roy come from Pakistan?� sarcastically asked a Delhi freelance journalist, commenting on the Facebook posting about a panel discussion, ‘Does Media Jingoism Fan India Pakistan Tensions?’

Long March - A Long View Analysis

Long-festering tensions between the PPP and PML-N came to a head with a Supreme Court ruling of Feb 25 barring Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from holding elected office.

Taliban Cloud Moves to Pakistan

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik recently took many by surprise with his belated public acknowledgement that the Mumbai attacks of Nov. 2008

The Nightmare Must End

Today, Pakistan bears the brunt of the Taliban fallout, thanks to short-sighted Pakistanis and Americans who thought routing the Taliban militarily in Afghanistan would ‘root out the evil’.

Obama Inauguration Brings Hope, Scepticism

The message of hope that he symbolised resonated with Pakistanis - though some shrugged it off as part of a system that is unlikely to change.

Civil Society Pleads for Peace

As tensions between Pakistan and India continue to see-saw, citizens in both countries are stepping up efforts for peace through initiatives

India-Pakistan: Hope for Prisoners Despite Ongoing Tensions

The announcement that India is in the process of repatriating 65 Pakistani nationals brings fresh hope to hundreds incarcerated in prisons across each other’s countries.

Pleas For Sanity as Sabres Rattle Over Mumbai Mayhem

Angry condemnations lead us nowhere; political demands may make vote-catching politicians rethink strategies, but we need to create space, think things out in the long term…

India-Pakistan: Empathy, grief in Pakistan for Mumbai mayhem

The Mumbai attacks, hitting in the midst of the fifth round of the ongoing composite dialogue between India and Pakistan, are likely to have wide-ranging repercussions for India and Pakistan relations

New US President Must Review Pakistan Policy

Tensions between the United States and Pakistan -- on the eve of the keenly-watched U.S. Presidential elections -- accompanying a visit by U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus

Balochistan Quake Survivors Await Relief

At least 200 people are believed to be dead so far, a number expected to rise as many remain trapped under collapsed houses in scattered hamlets.

Seeking a way out of the 'war on terror'

The calls by decision makers for political engagement rather than military means to end the ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan reflects a major change in US policy.

Rape Survivor Families Struggle Against Odds

Even the high-profile case of Mukhtaran Mai, gang-raped by locally influential people in 2002, is still pending before the Supreme Court.

A Weak Pakistan is a Threat to Neighbours

Thanks to past policies, Pakistanis are caught between a rock and a hard place - American military attacks on the border and suicide bombings and sectarian violence around the country...

The Marriott Bombing: ‘Pakistan’s 9/11’?

The message was clear: they can strike Pakistan’s capital, and they care nothing for democracy or for religion.

The Prejudices Pakistan’s New President Faces

Asif Ali Zardari's presidential nomination was widely condemned - but the fact is that he is now the democratically elected President of Pakistan.

There is no ‘honour’ in killing

Whether the women were buried alive or whether they were already dead when buried is not the point. They were murdered.

Musharraf's Resignation and Beyond

Musharraf’s departure is just one step in the process of democracy, for the continuation of which Pakistan and its allies will need all the patience they can muster.

Pakistan and the Death Penalty: Time to Call it Quits

Those who are awarded capital punishment are usually “the poorest of the poor.� Most of them are illiterate and have no resources or support.

Dancing on Broken Glass

President Pervez Musharraf’s appointment of businessman and media tycoon Salman Taseer as governor Punjab set off howls of protest from the PPP’s chief coalition partner PML-N

Benazir’s Legacy

How could Pakistan’s all-powerful president and chief of the army staff be dislodged -- other than through the political process?

Why not hang Surabjit Singh?

Whether it is for illegally crossing borders, overstaying visas or terrorism, Indians and Pakistanis arrested in each other's countries have poor consular and legal access.

Kashmir Liberated, Others Languish

Kashmir Singh spent 35 years in various Pakistani prisons before Ansar Burney, the caretaker minister of human rights found him and obtained a presidential pardon.

When the Will of the People Poses an 'Inconvenient' Truth

"What kind of democracy is it that puts the fate of the country in the hands of a Nawaz Sharif and an Asif Zardari? My lord! How weird!"

Voting For Change

Despite pre-poll manipulation and irregularities voters have rejected the politics of hate and religious extremism.

The Dirty Tricks Brigade Tries to Spoil a Party

Already stunned at the loss of their leader, the PPP is now reeling from the registration of tens of thousands of FIRs against its workers including charges of attempted murder.

Media: The more things change...

Where only one Najam Sethi was picked up under the Sharif regime, over the past eight years, dozens have been picked up and tortured by Pakistan’s secret agencies.

Resist, resist, resist: ‘The gift of a crisis’

General Musharraf’s announcement of an ‘emergency’ on Nov 3 stunned many among this otherwise complacent generation -- enough to finally act upon their convictions.

Pakistan: Media Under Siege

Police have attacked and arrested journalists demonstrating all over the country. Over a hundred journalists offered themselves for mass arrest in Karachi on Nov 20.

Pressures Mount on Pervez Musharraf

"The judges by not taking oath, the lawyers and civil society by resisting have shown the way. The media is standing by them. This is one battle the General is sure to lose"

Boots, Beards, Burqas and Bombs

The Lal Masjid operation has intensified Gen Musharraf’s problems - An Analysis.

Countering Our Very Own Frankenstein

According to media reports, pro-Taliban elements like the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Moham have already clashed with the military. The TNSM has reportedly seized all highways in the area, including the Silk Road leading to China.

Eyewitness: Karachi, May 12, 2007

A narrative of the events of “Black Saturday” and the “stop-the-blame-game” argument.

Alex

A tall, broad, handsome 21 year old who loved basketball, on the outside he was the same old Alex. But he had become someone he did not want to be.

Fight Hudood, Protect Women

Pervez Musharraf’s amendment of Pakistan’s Sharia laws represents only a partial victory against legislation that many have been fighting against for over two decades.

South Asian Earthquake: Don’t care… or don’t know?

The few reports trickling in from the earthquake zone remain blips in the overall media radar.

Pardon, didn’t mean to kill you...

Three frozen moments of grief, captured by wire photographs at different parts of the world in one day last week stand out... Anguished families in Brazil, Kashmir, and Iraq, captured by Reuters and AFP cameras and printed in newspapers on July 25 are tie

How Free is ’free?’

The Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's August 11, 1947 speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, in which he talked about freedom of religion, is no longer censored, as it was for years.

Advani in Karachi

'There are many people who leave an inerasable stamp on history. But there are a few who actually create history. Qaed-e-Azam Mohd Ali Jinnah was one such rare individual,' commented India’s opposition leader and Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal

A Personal Publication

In 1997, Gallerie was born. It had a conscience, and it 'strung art, poetry, cinema, essays, photography, short stories and ’life’ -- which would feature socio-political /human interest stories of communities in India and overseas.

Misogynist State

'Forcibly preventing participation in public events by women can act only to encourage extremism, and send out a message to orthodox elements that their actions are condoned by the state.'

March for Peace

Indians and Pakistanis are allowed public access for cricket, but not if they are walking for peace

To Saneeya Hussain (August 13, 1954-April 20, 2005)

There are tears at your untimely departure, but no, we’re not just sitting about mourning gloomily. Our grief runs deep, but when we meet and share your memories, there is also laughter, especially as we recall yours.

No Retreat

A large number of girls braved the threats to participate in the Sargodha marathon on April 9, but were forced to run inside the stadium of a girls’ college -- defeating the very notion of a marathon as a long distance run.

A Space of One’s Own

Actually, a woman walking alone in public is also a rare enough sight (which explains my own initial hesitation) and why so many people asked how I felt about it. Even rarer is the sight of a woman cycling anywhere – as women of my mother’s ge

Country Visa, City Visa

Fuzon and the MHB performed in Mumbai Feb 27, at a fund-raiser for the tsunami victims. They could have made a spontaneous detour and performed at the Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy Convention in Delhi, Feb 25-28. They would have lov

The Ultimate Violation

What happened to Shazia should not happen to anybody. And those who want to suppress the case, hide the reality, protect the sinners who committed this act, have they ever thought that this could happen in their own house too, to their own daughter or wif

More on the Price of Love

They hailed from different ethnic communities, lived in different cities, and their family backgrounds were entirely different. But they met, became friends, and wanted to marry.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Asif Zardari

'Corruption,' pronounces Asif Ali Zardari, 'is a state of mind. A corrupt person wouldn't have sacrificed eight years of his life in prison. '

Report What?

Anis Haroon, the well known women’s rights and peace activist, relates a story about the time she visited Bangalore, India in 1989 to attend a South Asian women’s conference.

Let the People Meet

In Pakistan, the demand for Indian visas is as much as 1500 – per day – from around the country -

Lady Reporter

There is no simple answer to the question that people (mostly foreigners) often ask: how does it feel ‘to be a woman journalist in Pakistan’?

HREP: Bringing in the Little People

Initiated in Karachi almost ten years ago, HREP aims to foster education that contributes to peace and understanding. Their books are beautifully illustrated and produced, but cheaply priced, available in Urdu as well as English.

Jirga injustice

From an informal body meant to settle small claims, the ‘jirga’ in Pakistan has been allowed to emerge as a powerful extra-judicial force protecting the interests of the powerful.

To Margaret Hassan, It Matters

“They just don’t get it!” The thought jumps out as one follows the Great Presidential Debate in the USA, with John Kerry, George Bush and their respective supporters going on and on about the “war on terror”.

No Compromise on Murder

The heirs of the victim can forgive the murderer in the name of God without receiving any compensation or diyat (blood money), or compromise after receiving diyat.

The Commonality of ’Fundamentalisms’

Lalit Vachani documentary will resonate in Pakistan -- and other societies traumatized by ideologically-motivated violence -- due to the insight it gives into the minds of those involved in organizations that contribute to such violence.

The Dragon’s Teeth

There are many more like the man with the briefcase who walked into the Sialkot Imambargah. They did not develop their warped mindsets overnight -- nor will they be wiped out overnight by military means.

The Forgotten 54 and More

These men if still surviving have little time left for niceties now. They need to be brought home in whatever state they are. Even if there were human rights violations, releasing these men would send a gesture of goodwill and peace.

The FM Boom

So what does this mean for Pakistan? After all, most FM stations just dish out ‘ear candy’ - easy listening, music hits, recipes, chit chat... Just more commercialisation and encouragement of ‘the burger culture’, right? Maybe, but

The Price of Love

Hameed may not find it so easy to dispose of his daughter, who has refused to accept her fate lying down; before being locked up, she managed to contact some human rights activists.

Sister Act: Radio Free Speech in Bushland

I can’t help thinking that it is ironic that just as people rarely know of the dissent in Pakistan, so too there is little knowledge of the vibrant dissent within the United States

Kashmir: Everyone has lost in their own way

Four displaced women in Kashmir talk about their lives to Indian journalist and peace activist Sonia Jabbar in Autumn’s Final Country a devastating and sensitive film...

Re-thinking Kashmir

The documentary Crossing The Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India

Some Mother’s Son

There is strength and inspiration to be drawn from those who use their pain, not to cause further destruction, but to heal and move ahead. One such woman is Visaka Dharmadasa, whose young son Achinte went missing in September, 1998 when the LTTE attacked

Our ’Zamir’

Zamir in Urdu means conscience, and that is what Zamir Niazi, that great chronicler of media freedoms and censorships, was to so many of us – our conscience.

Managing to Get By

The proportion of people living below the poverty line in 2003, meanwhile, expanded to 38.1 per cent, as compared to 30 per cent

Feeling Good

Leaders – self-styled or elected – must accept responsibility for the actions of those they lead. Secondly, a government is responsible to all its citizens and not just a privileged few... Pakistanis look forward to the day when they too are a

Breaking the Silence

Such torture is routine in the prisons and police stations across Pakistan, but our authorities too continue to doggedly ignore reports about such abuse... The question is, will it take graphic photographs to make our authorities address the issue?

Loudspeaker Victory

Most people suffer the loudspeaker menace in silence.

More Cobwebs

As in other countries, textbooks in Pakistan too, should be written by professionals in order to expand and sharpen young minds – and not to brainwash or dull them.

Musharrafising a monarchy?

The reference to Pakistan’s president goes further with allegations that the king (Gyanendra of Nepal) will push a “guided democracy” even if he gives in to political demands for elections.

Civilisation That Isn’t

What leads people to not just kill another human being, but to inflict pain and torture before killing, and then mutilate the bodies afterwards?

Jehad and The Curriculum

Pakistan’s so-called religious parties are up in arms at the rumour that references to Jehad are to be removed from Pakistani textbooks – biology, for example.

Criminals -- or Victims of an Unjust System?

If the President really wants to help women in prison, he would do well to repeal the Hudood Ordinances. This would have a far greater impact than limited remissions and pardons.

India-Pakistan: Friends on Visa

When people from India and Pakistan meet, peace seems the most favoured option.

Pakistan’s Hudood Laws: Extremely Misused

Two decades of a lack of public debate has contributed to the continuing misconceptions about these laws. People often assume that they are Islamic, and therefore justified.

Bombay, personally

A visit to Karachi’s vibrant, charismatic, long lost twin

The Yearning for Peace

Finally, some 600 Pakistanis were granted visas. Even so, this was the largest ever delegation to visit the other country.

Build Bridges, Not Bombs

This year, there was an unusual addition to the crowds thronging Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar on August 14. As the sun set, a small group (women of assorted ages, plus two visiting Nepali teachers) arrived with peace placards and candles

Sobho: the struggle continues

I still believe in the revolution, in a society that provides justice for all

The Politics of Rape

Why the Meerwala Jatoi panchayat thought they would get away with it

A Classical Revival?

Set up in the early 1970s during the ZA Bhutto years the PIA Arts Academy was meant to promote Pakistani dance and music, and introduce this aspect of our culture to countries serviced by PIA

The Pattern of Violence

if the man at the helm sees the larger picture

Follow the People to Peace

The future is there for all to see.

Remembering Mushtaq Gazdar

In the memory of Mushtaq Gazdar

No More Hiroshimas Anywhere, Ever

Fat Boy and Thin Man, created atomic hell on August 6 and August 9, 1945

The People’s Initiative

Exposure to ordinary people serves as a powerful perception changer ...

Boundaries or Bridges?

We didn’t find the Pakistan we were looking for

Pakistan: Rapprochement with India ‘unstoppable’

One thing is clear: people want peace with India

Getting Ready for ‘Bus Diplomacy’

Vajpayee and Sharif get creative. First bombs then bus rides.

A Matter of Principle

Anatomy of the governments vendetta against a leading newspaper in Pakistan

The Price of Journalism

Another day in the life of a Chief Editor

Pakistan: Pressure on the Press

Executing orders from the top

What Price Sharif Propaganda?

The marriage of Bollywood and Pakistani politics. What will the kids look like?

From Zharkent to Laguna Pueblo

We are still suffering from the radiation effects of tests done by China and Russia

Human Rights Groups Slam Sharif

Women are often the first victims of such moves

Beena Sarwar

• Articles on Chowk: 101
• First article: Sep 14, 1998
• Latest article: Nov 3, 2009
• Times read on Chowk: 1711362