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Dr Naazir MahmoodThe News International |
ABS Jafri’s first book that I read was ‘Here lies India’, containing his columns about the India-Pakistan War of 1965. During and after the war...
It was 1989. I was 25 years old and had just come back from Moscow – yes, the Soviet Union was still around. I started writing for the Urdu daily...
Saeeda Gazdar’s short stories are not all about politics and repression; some are full of nostalgia and recall the pre-partition days. Her story...
Those who believe in progressive ideas are leaving us in quick succession. Rahat Saeed – one of the founders of the Irtiqa literary journal and a...
The Sindh Rawadari March held on October 13, 2024, was a landmark event, highlighting the refusal of the people of Sindh to accept any intolerant...
In my previous column ‘Psychology of colonialism’ (Oct 1, 2024), there were discussions on how colonialism affected the psychology of colonized...
Psychology is a neglected discipline in Pakistan as not many people are aware of their psychological issues and tend to downplay their importance....
Joseph Conrad was an exceptionally talented writer who emerged as a novelist and storyteller in the late 19th century. Born in Poland and fluent in...
Historical novels can be a good source for understanding our past depending on who has written them and how. In modern world literature, there is a...
In Pakistan, you are more likely to come across autobiographies of retired civil and military bureaucrats than from political activists and leaders. A...
For students of history and politics, perhaps it is better to begin with defining the concepts of the left wing and the right wing as they apply to...
In response to my article ‘What is parallel cinema?’ published in these pages on July 22, I received many emails from students of film studies in...
How do you write about a person who remained an integral part of your life for over 60 years? Someone who guided and helped you at every turn of your...
The tradition of writing historical novels in Urdu is over a century old. From Abdul Halim Sharar and Rashidul Khairi to Aslam Rahi, M Aslam, and...
Last week, Pakistan lost its veteran labour unionist, Karamat Ali. The values embedded in him revolved around human rights, labour associations,...
The cost of ignorance in some societies is more than the value they put in acquiring knowledge. If you doubt this statement, just have a look at how...
The people of India have spoken; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won a third term, but this was a much tougher victory as compared to the...
I normally do not write on anything related to the corporate sector for two reasons. First, the corporate sector in Pakistan – or in any other...
When they are not in power, they want no restrictions on media. But when they take charge, they make efforts to muzzle electronic, print and social...
In Pakistan, it appears that nothing ever really gets settled about education. Be it the appointments of vice-chancellors (VCs) and pro-vice...
In war, one of the most affected segments of society is women. They endure the worst fears before the war, try to withstand the humiliation and...
A majority of poor women in Pakistan have a faint hope of living a better life. If they suffer from a disease that carries some stigma, their lives...
When Pakistan’s greatest war for freedom of expression was raging in the dark decade of General Ziaul Haq in the late 1970s, Ahfaz-ur-Rahman and...
The World Bank has sounded the alarm on the ‘historic reversal’ of development for poor countries. Nearly half of the world’s least-developed...
Peace activists come in a hundred and one varieties. Some are diehard peaceniks from their student days, others are new converts who spend their early...
It is a new day in a new Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP). Led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the SCP now appears to be making noble efforts to...
In Pakistan, history textbooks are not inclusive in the sense that they seldom mention non-Muslim freedom fighters. It seems that the writers of the...
In response to my previous article ‘What have we become?’ (March 4), I received many appreciation emails from my readers. Some asked for more...
From the murders of Mashal Khan, Priyantha Kumara, Rashid Rehman, Sabeen Mahmud, Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti to the targeting of localities...
The people of Gaza have nothing left: just night and fog —and a lot of blood. The perpetrators of this bloodshed are the descendants of those who...
Despite all the criticism for being an ‘elite’ show for ‘burger’ families, the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) organized by the Oxford...
Pakistan: The Reckoning Begins By Shahid Ur Rehman Sanjh Publications ISBN: 978-969-593-415-9 270pp. Mismanagement of resources was a primary...
The PML-N and the PPP have taken the right step by aligning together to form the next government. Though there are allegations of stolen mandate from...
The results of the general elections held on February 8 have once again shown that political engineering before or during elections does not help the...
The PML-N’s manifesto also promises safe, accessible and eco-friendly transport nationwide for every student. It seems that the party has not done...
Many of us keep lamenting that journalists of yore were much more courageous, fighting against dictatorships and rebelling against all sorts of...