Adil Najam
I have often wondered - and seriously - if Pakistanis read?

No, not whether they can read. Illiteracy being what it is in Pakistan, there are many - too many - who obviously cannot. But this question does not pertain to them. This is about those who could read if
they chose to do so. But [...]

Mast Qalandar
People often describe Islamabad as a city without a soul. Actually, Islamabad’s soul is not to be found in the city itself, but on the fringes of the city. In the little hamlets and hills.

Fauzia Minallah, an Islamabad based artist, has recently published a delightful coffee-table book titled ‘Glimpses into Islamabad’s Soul’. She describes [...]

Owais Mughal
This photo was taken on April 22, 1955 and it shows American actress Ava Gardner at Lahore Railway Station. She was in Lahore for the filming of Hollywood Movie ‘Bhowani Junction‘. When Ava came to Lahore, there was only one reasonable hotel in Lahore. It is still there - Falletis. The suite in which [...]

Adil Najam
The much-anticipated, and now posthumus, new book by Benazir Bhotto - Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West - is to be released soon and excerpts were printed today in the Sunday Times (London).
I have read the excerpts but have not read the book yet. I am very eager to read the book and just [...]

Raza Rumi
Decades of imperialism have left Afghanistan and its people devastated. But the fall of the Taliban, and the much touted “liberation” of Afghanistan, has produced a new spate of novels, films and other artistic media dealing with the “Afghan victim.”
And when I say “Afghan victim,” I mean a nauseating overdose of burqa-oppression, Taliban brutality [...]

Adil Najam
I saw Charlie Wilson’s War, the movie featuring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, today.
Long-time readers of this blog know that I am a huge fan of the book by the same name on which movie is based. I enjoyed the movie… a lot. Judging by their reactions and response so did most of the [...]