Author Soniah Kamal (An Isolated Incident) is out with a new novel, Unmarriageable: Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan. Here’s a quick summary: A scandal and vicious rumor concerning the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat…
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If, as Imran Khan claims, his party — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — is victorious in the Pakistani general election, the women of that nation may face a disastrous era of gender discrimination and repression. The clues that Khan’s ascent bodes poorly for Pakistani women can be found in the…
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Ramadan of 2018 came to a close two weeks ago and the holy month reminded me of a tragedy—a wholly preventable one—that took place during Ramadan of 2015. Three years ago about 1,000 Pakistanis died during Ramadan. They died because piety was thrust upon these impoverished day-wage workers. You see, Pakistani dictator…
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Asma Jehangir was nothing short of a superhero for Pakistani women who wanted someone with grit and an indomitable spirit to stand up to “The Man.” Be it the military overstepping its mandate, a popular autocrat’s absolute power or the trampling of minority rights, Jehangir was ever ready to push…
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Reprinted from the Islamic Monthly. One would have thought that a 15-year-old girl shot in the head for speaking out in favor of education for girls would be hailed as a hero. Unfortunately, there is no dearth of people who have scathingly criticized Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai makes many Pakistanis proud…
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December 1999: A man sent a letter to the Lahore Police confessing to the murder of a hundred children. Following an unsuccessful manhunt (the largest in Pakistan’s history) the man surrendered himself at the offices of Pakistan’s best known newspaper. Between 1985 and 1999, Javed Iqbal Mughal had abducted, sodomized and murdered…
Read MoreLike so many others, I was delighted when Mahershala Ali’s nabbed the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor this year. The fact that we had mutual friends, and that he belonged to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was just a happy coincidence. Despite my joy, I waited for the backlash I knew…
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Many people have seen the photograph of 18-year-old Arshad Khan, the Afghan Pashtun* worker at an Islamabad tea stand whose photo has gone viral globally. When the image of this tea vendor who had neither a name nor a story attached to him appeared on my social media timeline, I immediately…
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In death, Qandeel Baloch has left a mark on Pakistani society. The Internet star, who rose to fame by posting scantily clad videos of herself, the so-called Pakistani Kim Kardashian, was drugged and strangled to death by her brother earlier this year. He murdered her as punishment for her increasingly bold…
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When a group of talented female musicians came together in Pakistan to play in the Nescafe Basement Series, Season 4, their performance was unlike anything an audience in Pakistan–or globally–had ever seen. Covering John Newman’s ‘Love Me Again’, this talented ensemble included a violinist, pianist, and guitarists perfectly complemented by musicians…
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