How much killing is too much?
The Pakistani flag is an emblem of freedom and independence for all Pakistanis. The star and the crescent symbolise light and progress respectively. The dark green represents Pakistan’s Muslim population, and since this is a majority, the green covers the greater amount of the flag. The white strip on the side represents the country’s minority groups. For a moment, dear reader, just imagine the green side overlapping and taking over the white until the entire flag is green. Bold and unimaginable isn’t it? However, this image isn’t far from the truth. It depicts what is happening right now in Pakistan, where every minority ...
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A lesson from Thaer Halahla’s hunger strike
This week, a Palestinian prisoner ended the 77th day of his peaceful hunger strike after Israeli authorities agreed to release him on June 5. Thaer Halahla was on the brink of death as the deal was secured. The father of one had been detained without charge for two years and has never even met his daughter – her existence is only known to him through a few pictures. Ironically, an Israeli spokesperson had stated: This is about hard-core activists, from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who through this protest are trying to instigate violence. Clearly this representative hasn’t heard of the term ‘non-violent resistance’ ...
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A grim reminder
People often ask me if it is too risky to be a reporter. “Not really”, I tell them, “but if you try to be too adventurous, you can get killed.” I didn’t think of reporting this way until I covered the massacre of May 12, 2007 — a day I will never forget for many reasons: bodies lying in pools of blood, ambulances transporting the wounded and dead, powerful display of firearms by political activists, no policemen for the rescue and escaping bullets. Had I not been adventurous, I would have missed out on what I now consider a lifetime ...
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Street harassment: The blame lies with you
When one talks about street harassment in Pakistan, an interesting question that is raised by most is, Whose fault is it exactly? In my quest to find some answers, and ask women about their views on this issue, I went to Jumma Bazar near Khayaban-e-Ittehad. It was an interesting and eye-opening experience to say the least. To begin with, it was difficult to convince women to talk in front of the camera. We literally had to chase after a few, be extra polite and add an ‘aunty please’ after every sentence to make them answer our questions. I asked them if they thought ...
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Ho Yaqeen: Bringing hope and positivity to Pakistan
“Turn every stone in Pakistan and you find a diamond,” said Sabina Khatri – one of the six central characters of Ho Yaqeen, a project that aims to promote a positive image of Pakistan. She sent chills down my spine. I listened keenly as she spoke at the premiere of HoYaqeen which was attended by the glitterati of Karachi. Pakistan’s first and only Oscar winner, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was also present at this event. What Sabina said stayed with me; working for a news organisation has made me feel despondent and desolate. As news of torture, rape, kidnapping, sectarian violence and bomb blasts pours ...
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PTI in Balochistan: Quetta loves Kaptaan
In this video, I explored the true sense of excitement that surrounded Imran Khan’s rally in Quetta. As one of the locals who attended the jalsa (rally) in person, I recorded scenes that show what this gathering means to the people of Balochistan. I interviewed men who travelled long distances to see their beloved leader, Imran Khan. The general sentiment around the rally reflected adoration, positivity and patriotism. One can gauge the amount of respect people in Balochistan have for Imran Khan by the fact that many people showed up to support him despite the flooded streets and traffic jams. “Rastay ...
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Gilgit-Baltistan: Paradise turned bloody
The bloodbath in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) has started yet again, as a severe wave of sectarianism has revisited the landlocked, but strategically key, part of the country. It began on February 28 when masked miscreants forced passengers travelling in four buses out at gunpoint and shot dead 16 of them in Hurban area of Kohistan. Since then, the law and order situation in G-B has worsened. On the morning of April 10, violence erupted again in the tense city of Gilgit when masked men riding on a motorcycle hurled a hand grenade on Sunni activists who were trying to force shopkeepers ...
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Bloody Karachi, bloody hell
And it has started again. The target killings, the burning buses, the protests, the funerals and the ‘peaceful’ mournings. They seem to stop for a week or two and start again in full fervour. Then the Shia Ulema Council, the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz or the Jamaat-e-Islami will protest – for Dr Aafia, Shia killings, target killings, extortion, Lyari gangsters, Sindh or some other damn thing. Sigh, sometimes it is just so damn exhausting. Sometimes, I wish Karachi had a superhero. Where is Sindh’s answer to Batman or Karachi’s own kryptonite man in red briefs? All we have are target ...
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Why must only the dead deserve attention?
In the past week of killings, arson and general mayhem witnessed in Karachi, many have raised a voice condemning the chaos that spread in the city following the murder of scores of its residents. Accusations and heated condemnations have been levelled, insinuations of gaining knowledge of the true perpetrators of these atrocities exchanged, and the general call for the ever-elusive ‘change’ raised in what has now become an abhorrently futile repetition of finger-pointing and ‘I told you so’s’. I, on the other hand, refuse to put up a false pretence of caring ...
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Lizards and target killers
Up until the numerous innocent murders last week, I used to be afraid of the occasional common household gecko, or chupkali, that I would see on the walls of my home. Immediately, I would call for the housekeeper to come upstairs and remove this creature, either by ushering it outside or by simply killing it. But I wish not for the lizard to be killed anymore. It does not harm me. In fact, it eliminates the mosquitoes in my environment which might carry dengue fever or malaria. In a city where living things, be they human or reptilian, so frequently lose ...
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