The Friday Times

Blog Directory

Sunday, April 07, 2013 Nuggets from Social Media by Mohammad Shehzad Jaish Mohammad has posted a picture of Osama bin Laden saying that he is the greatest hero of Islam and users should 'Like' his picture. ... *read more*

Friday, April 05, 2013 An Evening with Bapsi Sidhwa by Noor Afsar Mirza Noor Afsar Mirza attended a writing workshop by Bapsi Sidhwa at LUMS and thoroughly enjoyed herself... *read more*

Monday, March 25, 2013 Who Speaks Punjabi? by Altaf Hussain Asad Altaf Hussain Asad reports on last month’s World Mother Language Day activities in Lahore and what needs to be done to rid Punjabis of their apathy for the language... *read more*

Sunday, March 24, 2013 Watching the Watchmen by Haider Changezi Haider Changezi turns watchdog on the state and its machinery and finds that their response to disasters is criminally nonchalant... *read more*

Sunday, March 17, 2013 What ails the state by Owais Arshad Much has been made about the Pakistani predilection for conspiracy. It is held up as damning proof of how irrationality is at the core of the national psyche, of how Pakistan is a nation of Lilliputian illiterates, whose odious middle class is perhaps the greatest threat to world peace since Hitler stormed the Reichstag. This is cited as sufficient reason as to why the country... *read more*

Friday, March 15, 2013 Peace Talks: Facts and Fiction by Asmatullah Khan Wazir A lot has so far been said and written by analysts about the peace talks offered by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in a video message released to the media on February 3. So far the crux of all commentaries is that TTP is not serious about any peace talks and it is only interested in buying some time to reorganize itself and in the process also wants to send out a message to those within its ranks and... *read more*

Friday, March 15, 2013 Doctor's hazard by Abdul Majeed Abid The negligence of a few doctors at Lahore's Services Hospital last week cost a pregnant woman her life. But what her relatives did afterwards was unconscionable, says Abdul Majeed Abid.... *read more*

Sunday, February 03, 2013 Bara massacre just more misery brought by Frontier Corps by Josh Shahryar On the night of January 14, a truck load of Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers stopped in the Alam Gudar area of Bara in Khyber Agency. They barged into several homes, using fire arms, including machine guns, to slaughter the residents, killing over a dozen. Then they simply boarded their truck and left the Pashtun tribesmen of Bara to pick up the bodies of their dead. The number of dead has been... *read more*

Friday, January 04, 2013 A response to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq's statement on Gilgit- Baltistan by Dr Zaeem Zia On behalf of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, I write this rebuttal to Lord Nazir Ahmad and Mir Waiz Omar Farooq for condemning the provincial status of Gilgit-Baltistan. Indeed it's an honor to have few of the elitist leaders of Kashmir to decide about the future of Gilgit-Baltistan. Let's not forget, however, that Mr. Ahmad has does not know nor has seen Gilgit-Baltistan, and cannot fathom how... *read more*

Wednesday, December 05, 2012 From Peers to Perverts by Soofia Asad I was 13 when I was molested by my uncle. He was a doctor. That was the last time I complained of any sickness to my parents. I was 22 when I went on my first internship at a foreign bank in Karachi. My first work experience in the corporate world was of a pervert boss who would pass sexual remarks at me in front of the entire floor. He did get some giggles. Until I... *read more*

Sunday, December 02, 2012 Liberals and Military Supremacy by Foqia Sadiq Khan Reform processes have winners and losers. Where losers are strong and powerful, they impose a heavy cost and do not let the reforms take place easily. General Kayani's strong statement on 5th November while talking to the group of officers at the GHQ need to be seen against the backdrop of the country’s most powerful institution resisting change. It marks the re-assertion of the military’s... *read more*

Friday, June 29, 2012 The joke is on the people of Pakistan by Sultan B. Mirza The Supreme Court's disqualification of YousafRazaGilani as prime minister has brought us to an unprecedented state of affairs in Pakistan's history. The court has no doubt played its part in dislodging prime ministers before, but in the past it was acting, almost without exception, at the behest of someone else - usually the army. This time, the court is acting on its own, without any... *read more*

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 The father the son and the ghost town by Tariq Bashir An upright and self-absorbed judge sentences a petty criminal and, while doing so in open court, passes remarks mainly in pique along the lines of "a thief's son will always be a thief". The convict vows to corrupt and spoil the judge's son to seek his own revenge for his hurt pride. As the plot thickens and leisurely moves forward spanning a few years and pits the son against the father in a... *read more*

Monday, May 14, 2012 Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari takes centre stage in Naudero by Tariq Bashir As has become an established norm, Asif Zardari and his comrades delivered their twice yearly message of belligerence in Naudero on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's death anniversary a few weeks ago. The spectacle consisted of histrionics usually associated with besieged South Asian politicians, outwardly defiant but deep down fearful of the rout awaiting them when they go to the voters for a fresh mandate.... *read more*

Sunday, May 06, 2012 All hail my sectarian God by Kiran Nazish In Pakistan a mosque is not the house of God, but the house of a sectarian God. Although Muslim sects across the world have their own separate mosques for the reasons of Imamat, procedure and methodology of prayers, no one is ever stopped from entering a place of worship or called a Kafir inside one just because they do not come from the same sect. Recently, I was told by a non-Sunni... *read more*

Sunday, April 22, 2012 Make Gilgit-Baltistan the fifth province of Pakistan by DrZaeem Zia The people of Gilgit-Baltistan have always been unequivocalin defending their association with Pakistan. Although the region is not a constitutional part of the country, it has never lagged behind any other province in terms of sacrifices for the sovereignty of the state. The people of Gilgit-Baltistan have never complained about their miseriesdespitehaving no right to cast votes,no... *read more*

Sunday, April 22, 2012 Wages of death by Mahmood Adeel The Harry Walker Agency represents prestigious world leaders including former American President Bill Clinton, Nobel Peace Laureate and former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, and Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan. They also represent Gen Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani dictator sought by this country's courts for his involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.read more

Sunday, April 22, 2012 Is parliament supreme? by Anees Iqbal Amidst contempt proceedings against the prime minister, the government continues to ridicule and drag Supreme Court in political fora, attempting to pressure it with slogans that carry little logical weight but serve to confuse the common man. The prime minister's recent speeches indicate that the government has decided to take Supreme Court head on. This is not a new phenomenon. The... *read more*

Sunday, April 22, 2012 Let's try something new by Amit Ranjan India and Pakistan will have to open informal channels of communication before expecting concrete improvements in mutual ties... *read more*

Sunday, April 22, 2012 A paradigm shift in American politics by Wasimul Haque A new wave of Christian fundamentalism is on the rise in American politics. The principle of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison, condoning a secularist state is under intense attack. In the twentieth century, when America was a rising and expanding imperial power, it believed in secular and liberal values. This is clearly evidenced by the famous... *read more*

Friday, March 09, 2012 Reflections on Khar's Oxford visit by Ayyaz Mallick The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Ms. HinaRabbaniKhar, was hosted on 20th February for a talk at the Oxford Union by the Oxford University Pakistan Society and the Oxford Union Society. As the ravishing, young female foreign minister of a country embedded in popular media imagination as a haven for all sorts of retrogressive elements, Ms. Khar's visit was bound to generate a lot of interest among... *read more*

Friday, March 09, 2012 Sindhi middle class politics by Javed Ahmed Qazi Sindhi politics are a paradox. When there is democracy, the political pendulum swings towards the PPP, and when there is dictatorship, people support ethnic politic parties. The ethnic parties that represent the middle class hardly ever win legislative assembly seats. But when they called strikes recently, the entire province came to a standstill. And that is a sign the middle class... *read more*

Friday, March 09, 2012 Religious extremism in Pakistan by Wasimul Haque It is ironic that when the nation is taking small steps towards democracy, the newly formed Difa-e-Pakistan Council, an assembly of ultra right wing politicians and ex-ISI chief Gen Hamid Gul, are out to derail the process. The councilclaims self righteousness in projecting itself as the defender of the state's identity through religious and militaristic nationalism.Reason has been... *read more*

Saturday, February 25, 2012 The real enemy of Pakistan by Amit Ranjan On 12 February 2012, two parallel gatherings were held in Karachi. One was the Karachi Literature Festival, in which Pakistani intellectuals discussed how they could make their country safer and deal with extremism - Pakistan's real enemy. Many Indian publishers were invited to the event and works by Indian authors were also discussed and sold. About 10 kilometres away, representatives... *read more*

Friday, February 10, 2012 Ayesha Siddiqa takes on Anatol and Hanif Kureshi offends prudes: Karachi Literature Festival 2012 by Shoaib Taimur I was quite excited when I got an invite to the launch dinner for the Karachi Literature Festival 2012. I knew I would get a chance to meet some of the literary superstars from the sub continent and beyond. I had missed out on the previous two iterations of the KLF. Somehow I knew that the KLF would be a raging success because after the controversial Jaipur Festival had set such a high bar that... *read more*

Friday, February 10, 2012 The new fateful triangle: Saudi Arabia, US and Israel by Wasim ul Haque, PhD Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest Jewish American scholars wrote a masterpiece named, "Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians" after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. This extra-ordinary book gives vivid details of the horrors of occupation of Palestinian lands by the Jewish state of Israel. Today, we witness a new alliance on the horizon being forged in the global... *read more*

Friday, February 10, 2012 Jaipur literature festival by Tahir Jahangir About 17,000 people had entered the festival grounds by late morning on Sunday, the 22nd of January, and more were arriving. The festival was being held in the Digi Palace hotel premises. Their big Durbar hall was the smallest of the talk venues. The front ground could accommodate a couple of thousand, sitting standing and perching on the roof of the hotel to get a view. There were two other talk... *read more*

Friday, February 10, 2012 Shia doctor becomes new target of sectarian violence by Hassan Naqvi Dr Jaffer Mohsin Rizvi, a doctor by profession and a Shia by faith, became a victim of the ongoing wave of ethnic and sectarian violence in Karachi last month. He was brutally killed in front of his house (A-614, block 12, FB Area) at 9:30am on January 28, by two unidentified man who were on a motorbike and were wearing Burqas. They asked him about an address when he was reading a... *read more*

Friday, January 13, 2012 Technology and Human Behavior by Hammad Siddiqui Revolution in telecoms and information technology has changed the way human behave. How many recall seven digit PTCL land-line phone numbers. At that time, key numbers to remember were, home, office, in-laws and couple of friends. There is no need to remember these numbers anymore or to have a telephone directory. PTCL perhaps have stopped printing directories! Instead, we keep contact numbers in... *read more*

Friday, January 13, 2012 Reshuffling a torn deck of cards: Can it solve the problem? by ShahramAzhar Radical transformation of Pakistani society requires a class alliance of the downtrodden, oppressed and exploited sections of society... *read more*

Friday, January 13, 2012 Javed Hashmi: big catch for PTI or inconsequential loss for PML-N? by Tariq Bashir Women young and old, many closely related to Muslim League-Nawaz leadership including wives and daughters sobbed uncontrollably for hours in a failed effort to convince the perennially maverick leader to reverse his bombshell of a decision to join Imran Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaf, a party cobbled together by the military establishment as per the teary eyed faithful. That maverick streak, although... *read more*

Friday, January 13, 2012 The waves of revolution recede by Waris Husain The laws of nature frequently offer enduring lessons that can be used to understand the ever-changing nature of global politics. One such example is that of a tidal wave which rushes everything in its path forward, and with just as much terrifying force, the wave recedes back to where it came from. The revolution of Egypt is nothing short of one of the greatest political tidal waves the world has... *read more*

Friday, December 16, 2011 7 billion and counting by Ayeda Iftikhar A growing-yet-aging population is a ticking bomb, says Ayeda Iftikhar... *read more*

Friday, December 16, 2011 New media mind meet by Faisal Kapadia Yesterday the who's who of social media in Pakistan as well as representatives from all the major print outlets and broadcast media got together for a book/report launch. The book is titled "New Media vs Old Politics", a 69-page research project undertaken by Marcus Michaelsen, a PhD candidate at the University of Erfurt (Germany). The report, launched by a German political foundation,... *read more*

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 Zardari Blackberry and Sherry by Tariq Bashir When it comes to AsifZardari's survival skills in the face of perpetual machinations and the historically disdainful approach of ourgenerals towards our political leaders, he has very few rivals in living memory. One could imagine the scene on the evening of May the 2nd, 2011 in the Presidency where a coterie of advisors, ministers and hangers on must have congratulated him on the good news, some... *read more*

Friday, December 02, 2011 Blog awards - Fk's win list by Faisal Kapadia It's that time of the year again. Tis the season of the blog awards in Pakistan, a tradition that began in 2010 with CIO &Google partnering to host the first blog awards of this nation. No they aren't some hokey pokey geeky awards given in the shape of graphics in an email to people no one knows about.This is the Pakbloggers version of the Oscars, we love it, we hate it, we want it, we fight over... *read more*

Saturday, November 19, 2011 Textual harassment by Saad Sarfraz Sheikh Just when I thought getting killed for telling the truth in Pakistan was scary enough, the Pakistan Telecommunication (PTA) had the audacity to shock and stun us with a carefully selected list of 1,500 filtered words that shall never see the backlit light of the day on your cellphone. The PTA should be renamed Pakistan Termination Authority due to its efforts to ban Facebook,... *read more*

Friday, November 11, 2011 A fanciful mind - Part II by Aamer Hussein The flash fictions of Hijab Imtiaz Ali. Translated from the Urdu by Aamer Hussein ... *read more*

Saturday, November 12, 2011 Murder in Faisalabad by Tariq Bashir Three identical incidents of armed robbery have taken place in the space of four months involving wealthy businessmen the last one resulting in a murder. Could the murder have been averted by investigating the first two incidents on the right lines by the police?... *read more*

Saturday, November 12, 2011 Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Imran Khan's political ambitions by Tariq Bashir From the moment you drive into the hospital premises it feels like entering into a very efficiently and professionally run organization, right from the security guards to nursing staff up to the consultant doctors quite detached from the bitter reality in the world outside. Shaukat Khanum(SK) the brainchild of Imran Khan unlike decrepit state funded hospitals-majority of those looking... *read more*

Friday, October 21, 2011 Waris Shah in America by Waris Husain Imagine if one bright shining morning, Waris Shah, one of the greatest Sufi poets, was resurrected and came to life. If he was left in Pakistan, he would likely launch a campaign against the Wahabi mullahs that have taken hold of popular discourse and fatwas would be issued against him within hours. His life would likely be in danger and the state would do little to protect him. However, if Waris... *read more*

Monday, October 17, 2011 A fanciful mind by Aamer Hussein The flash fictions of Hijab Imtiaz Ali Translated from the Urdu by Aamer Hussein... *read more*

Friday, October 07, 2011 Rabwah: an oasis of tranquility amidst raging storms by Tariq Bashir A part of the city caught fire or, more probably, was set on fire and under cover of the fire, a mob started targeting a religious minority killing a few big names of the community. Terrified of impending death at the hands of the baying crowd, the remainder took refuge in a building where the ruler was under a legal obligation to protect their lives only to be butchered on coming out even though... *read more*

Thursday, September 22, 2011 The Pun-jabi narrative by Rana Hamza Ijaz Ever since I can recall, Punjab has been the local US for the "non-Punjabi" Pakistanis. For many nationalists Punjab has been the bane of their existence. Nothing that goes wrong in this country is without Punjabi involvement. The feeling is so strong that I am sure that most people outside Punjab use the term "Jo kara raha hay Punjab kara raha hay!" more than blaming Amreeka.... *read more*

Thursday, September 22, 2011 Altaf Hussain: desperate times by Tariq Bashir If someone asked me how I rated Altaf Hussain's epic press conference on the scale of one to ten, my spontaneous answer would be, ten out of ten for entertainment value but... I think I'll reserve my judgment on substance. His rather elongated "helllllllooooo" and throaty sounds in between which people mistook for burps - a state usually caused by having a plateful of homemade spicy haleem - was... *read more*

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 'Tum waise ke waise ho...' by Aamir Faraz Aamir Faraz pays tribute to Punjabi poet Munnoo Bhai... *read more*

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 Jinnah's Pakistan by Ziyad Faisal To limit ourselves to an imagined version of what Mr Jinnah wanted would mean limiting our political vision and perhaps the very frontiers of our political morality... *read more*

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 A failure above all by Rana Hamza Ijaz As long as the option of non-democratic alternatives remains, democracy would continue to be in danger... *read more*

Friday, August 12, 2011 Race riots? by Tariq Bashir The recent riots in England may not have been race riots in the strict sense of the word, but the root causes can be traced back to similar factors... *read more*

Friday, August 12, 2011 War over water? by Amit Ranjan Some provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty may need to be renegotiated, but it is in the best interest of India and Pakistan not to scrap the 1960 water sharing deal... *read more*

Friday, August 12, 2011 Why is Pakistan courting Iran? by Kiran Nazish Zardari's two trips to Tehran raise speculation of a new relationship that might worry America... *read more*

Friday, July 29, 2011 The Indian Media and HRK by Mira Sethi Hina Rabbani Khar landed in New Delhi airport on July 26, her oversized designer sunglasses shielding what quickly became the most talked-about face in the Indian capital. Within hours of her arrival in Delhi, the Indian media went out of its way to fawn over her beauty and fashion sense. "Pak Puts On Its Best Face," said The Times of India, the largest-selling English-language daily, while Hindi... *read more*

Friday, July 29, 2011 What about the Foreign Minister? by Shahid Saeed Shahid Saeed on the selection of Hina Rabbani Khar... *read more*

Friday, July 29, 2011 Salmaan Taseer: the future waits by Tariq Basheer Wide, dazzling shafts of light had been "enlightening" his mind for quite a few months now. There was neither real motivation nor substantial financial benefit in being part of the elite police force designed to protect the political elites who, he was convinced, were thoroughly corrupt and dishonest anyway. Mumtaz Hussain Qadri's life was going nowhere. Turning to religion and nursing a great... *read more*

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 Aik Choti Si Kitab by Fahmida Riaz Marx ka Manshoor - itna purana aik kitabcha, har baar kyoon neya sa lagta hai?... *read more*

Friday, July 22, 2011 What is Liberal Islam? by Awais Aftab "The claim of the present generation of Muslim liberals to reinterpret the foundational legal principles, in the light of their own experience and the altered conditions of modern life is, in my opinion, perfectly justified." - Allama Muhammad Iqbal... *read more*

Friday, July 15, 2011 Blood for words by Harris Khalique Let me begin with a somewhat basic introduction to Karachi in order to set the context. Karachi is the biggest city of Pakistan. It sprawls over 2500 square kilometres with an estimated population of 18 million. It comprises the country's main ports, the largest industrial base, the principal banking and financial institutions, the key airport and the most significant media and entertainment... *read more*

Friday, July 15, 2011 No, Pakistan by Anthony Permal Anthony Permal on being a Pakistani Christian... *read more*

Friday, July 08, 2011 Why did the Taliban attack the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul? by Saeed Naqvi The dramatic attack on Kabul's Hotel Inter-Continental earlier this week ties in somewhat convolutedly with the arrest in Karachi in February 2010 of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar... *read more*

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