Muslim champions: A gold medal for ‘ghairat’
When the excited lot at Times Square was celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden, we in Pakistan were in a state of absolute shock and bewilderment. Like an uninvited guest at a party who’s been asked to say a few words on stage, we had no clue how to react. Why we didn’t celebrate A large fraction in the West expected us to celebrate the death of Bin Laden like New Yorkers. A friend in India tweeted that the moderate Pakistanis should come out of their houses to show their contentment on the death of the Saudi businessman turned al ...
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Beards are not just for terrorists
For years I lived any young adult’s dream; there was music, parties, banter, unorthodox festivities, substance abuse and a fair degree of foul play. Then things changed radically – it was nothing short of a revolution; I grew a beard. After extensively studying and reading about both Islam and other religions, I started to pray five times a day and even encourage friends and colleagues towards the path of salvation. I have finally chosen spirituality over (supposed) rationality and have given up on worldly desires to pursue those of an eternal life. Why did I grow a beard? For me it was simple: a ...
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Veena Malik is no fool!
Veena Malik’s appearance on Bigg Boss 4 and her current interview on Express News has been the subject of many a cushy drawing room debate. Liberals everywhere are incensed by the mufti sahab who did not even watch Bigg Boss and yet was quick to pass judgement on Malik. Fair enough. Malik’s supporters have rushed to Facebook to give her a big thumbs up and cheer their ‘hero’ on. Veena takes on mullah and wins, they scream. Now we all know that this was pretty much a setup. Kamran Shahid pitched Malik against a mufti and then called Ashmit Patel who made some ...
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Stop the free ride for mullahs
The current floods in Pakistan have confirmed what some have suspected for years – that the underlying polity in Pakistan is irrevocably inept and dysfunctional. That the citizens of Pakistan have suffered under a broken polity. There is renewed scrutiny and critical commentary on political and social discourse in Pakistan due to the floods. However, there is one area which forever escapes this new found spirit of critical enquiry in the Pakistani media, and that is the issues of religious authority and religious institutions. Ever since the so called ‘’media revolution’’ in Pakistan, everyone from chat show hosts to columnists ...
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