News Stories
Darul Amman!-A Mysterious Place
Quetta: It always had been my desire to visit Darual Amman (shelter home) as there is a sort of mystery attached to it because of the way it operates in Pakistan; it has been made difficult for ordinary people to visit it. Despite my long desire I could not enter into it though it was …
Ustad Amanat Ali Khan (1931-September 1974)
His mellifluous voice was appropriate for performing light and light classical music, a talent well used to ride the tide of fame in the 1960’s music scene, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan was among the stars of Patiala Gharana. He was awarded the Pride of Performance honour by the government of Pakistan in 2009. Prized for …
Muzzling the media
Free media is a prerequisite for any democratic country but the media in Pakistan is facing the worst kind of censorship. I joined journalism back in 2005. There was censorship back then as well, which got worse during emergency but even then we could fight back to a certain extent. But now there is another …
Kite flying: Allow people to be happy for few days
There was a time when there were 62 cinema halls in Lahore and similarly many in all other big and small towns. Till 1965 Indian films were also imported officially. After 1965 war Indian films were banned. Then came the era of VCR and there was an influx of Indian films available on rent very …
The real beauty and the societal beast
Lahore: She is different but she is unable to understand that why she has been chosen to be unlike others. “When I was a kid, I used to think that one morning I will wake up tall like my other siblings and my disease will be cured, I will also drive car, go to office …
Afghan Refugees’ citizenship: A catch-22 situation for the government
Quetta: Deep in thought that he will be having a Pakistani National Identity Card just like others who cross the border gate in Chaman toward Spin Boldak for earning bread on a daily basis, Hikmatullah, 18, is a clerk on the other side of the border who crosses the Durand Line every day and arrives …
Street schools saved lives
Karachi: Entering Karachi’s oldest and most densely populated neighbourhood, Lyari, requires a lot from a pedestrian. Jumping over small heaps of rubbish, leaping over potholes, and dodging cars travelling the wrong way on the district’s narrow streets makes finally reaching one’s destination feel like a small prize. Lyari is full of people and noise. The …
Shift in Bride Price
Peshawar: Aftab Mullagori stands in a sea of glittering and shimmering dresses trying to decide which one to select for his sister who is marrying soon. Gorra Bazaar one of the oldest markets in Peshawar and the shopkeeper is trying to convince Aftab that just one dress is not enough. He pushes Aftab to select …
Will IK build Jinnah’s Pakistan, or kneel before bigotry?
Islamabad: I didn’t know the man from Adam. In fact, the first time I heard about him was when a highly charged Imran Khan, in one of his typical emotional public outbursts during election campaign days, praised him profusely and posed the rhetorical question of why he shouldn’t appoint an accomplished economist like Atif Mian …
It’s all about energy, stupid!
Islamabad: As all our attention is focused on Asad Umer’s economic wizardry which will lead us to the proverbial Camelot that he and Prime Minister Imran Khan have promised us all along, something is amiss here. Of course, the economic challenges are indeed daunting: turning around public sector enterprises like the Steel Mills and PIA …