Outside Islamabad

A headline worth a thousand words

After years and years of being neglected by the US and the world, Kashmir made it to the front page

Rule of law or Law of the jungle?

the last few years, Pakistani masses have been watching and living a continuous marathon of violent films; and police officers have been pulled away from their primary duty of maintaining law and order & catching the bad guys, to primarily being security guards or the first line of defense in a suicide attack.

Tweeting for Pakistan

From her home in Brooklyn, NewYork, Natasha Jahangir reached-out to one of the world’s most famous actors, in a rather unusual way. She tweeted: “It’s so sad @TomCruise is ignoring his Pakistani fans. -Help raise awareness/donations for Pakistan. Please RT! #pkfloods.” By using Twitter’s @ or mention function, Jahangir ensured that her message would feature in a tab on Tom Cruise’s page.

And in disaster our media was born and in disaster it fails

Just like the earthquake in 2005, the army has been sent into the floods of Pakhtunkha to head rescue efforts. Why? Where are NDMA’s rescue workers? The federal government had put a hold on their Rs 300 mn budget for 2009-2010. They have been relying on donor money to carry out their training. Why didn’t our media catch it earlier? Why do we have to wait for a disaster to hold the powerful accountable

The ISI: America’s favorite scapegoat

The truth is the ISI is doing what spy agencies do; their actions are no different from the CIA.

The Virtual War comes home, again

I’ve never been a Vegas fan. Masked by grand shows and stars, the artificial magnanimity of the strip coupled with the pick-your-guilty-pleasure from our round-the-clock menu of booze, gambling and prostitution, seemed like a one-stop-shop to sell your soul.

To me, it made sense that the remote-control toy-operators that have killed over 900 people on Pakistani soil, were running their secret war right outside that very shop, from a base in Nevada. Little did I know, that they are also locking-into and annihilating targets 30-minutes away from my home in Houston, Texas

Michael Hastings, you are my hero

Michael Hasting, you are my hero. Not for bringing down General McChrystal. Not for shaking things up in the White House. But for doing your job

Tapping into the Tolerant Mind

Their politicians give them nothing but heart ache. Their mullahs nothing but hate. Who are Pakistanis supposed to turn to?

“I’d rather be an Ahmadi in New York, than in Lahore”

I was deeply upset and enraged. I was mad at Zia-ul-Haq for selling his soul and pulling out the red carpet for all wannabe Jihadis. I was mad at all of Pakistan’s successive governments for turning a blind eye as their country became a fertile ground for breeding terrorism in the name of Islam. And I was mad at all those Pakistanis who are in denial of these facts, who think the problem is external and do nothing about it. But most of all I was mad at Bhutto for wrongly declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims in

Retracing “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day”

A few friends and readers believe the contest was not an exercise in freedom of speech but just an excuse to insult Islam. And from what I understand through sources, most of the drawings that have resulted for the contest are indeed nothing more than demeaning and insulting to Islam and the Prophet. And for that I am deeply upset, hurt and sad