Adil Najam Our repost of our ATP Mushaira post on Anwar Masood prompted reader Shahran Asim to send us this newer audio recording of Anwar Masood commenting on elections in Pakistan. I thought it was not only hilarious but also pertinent; and certainly worth sharing. Thanks, Shahran. [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Adil Najam I want to introduce this new (hopefully regular) feature at ATP. (Actually, if you press the ‘ATP Mushaira‘ category you will find that this is the second installment in this category; the first being our little Faiz Mela on Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s birthday.) Of course, poetry has been a regular and favorite subject [...]

Adil Najam Having to write regular posts of ATP can sometimes become a heavy burden. Not because of the workload. But because of the pain and hurt that can come with following the daily struggles for survival. Today, once again, too many did not survive those struggles. The News reports from Karachi: Death toll in [...]

Adil Najam For much of Pakistan’s history, Habib Jalib was a voice of rebellion. Often an angry voice, but always an honest voice. He wrote in the idiom of the people and the jalsa was as much a platform for his poetry as was the mushaira. He often wrote in the idiom of anger. But [...]

Adil Najam These are distressing times. But this is not a time to be depressed. This is a time, as Owais reminds us in his last post, to reaffirm our hopes for the future. True defeat would be to give up on those hopes. I have put up the splash image (on the front page) [...]