Atiya Batool Khan
I had the honor of meeting Ahmad Faraz 26 years ago in Washington. A local Urdu literary society, the Aligarh Alumni Association, had invited him to recite at a gathering they had organized in his honor - a Mushaira, or poetry reading. This was after he had left Pakistan under pressure from military [...]

Adil Najam
Most Pakistanis seem to like Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic Party candidate for President. However, for most, Senator Obama’s “Pakistan Connections” were limited to (a) his rather strong words about Pakistan, including about sending troops into Pakistan, and (b) his choice of Senator Joeseph Biden, who has a long and deep interest in foreign [...]

Adil Najam
A little over a month ago we had reported that the news of poet Ahmed Faraz’s death was unfounded and although struggling for his life, he was indeed alive. Today it is my sad duty to report that he struggles no more. Leganadry poet Ahmed Faraz died in Islamabad earlier today.
His legend will [...]

Adil Najam
UPDATE: Gen. Musharraf has just announced his resignantion during a nationally televised address. Read more here.
ORIGINAL POST:
Gen. Pervez Musharraf is slated to the address the nation in a televised address at 1PM PST today (Monday, August 18, 2008). Leading newspapers, such as The News and Dawn, are reporting that he is likely to announce [...]

Mast Qalandar (aka Aziz Akhmad)
Our primary school consisted of 20 odd students, both boys and girls, but mostly boys, ranging in age from 5 to 10, and one teacher. The school had no building. We just sat under a thatched canopy resting on wooden poles, covering an area of a large bedroom. The floor was [...]

Adil Najam
Following its spectacular success with the Independence Day tribute to Mehdi Hassan and his iconic song ‘Yeh watan tumhara hai’ (2006) and to Farida Khanum with the new song ‘Hum bolain mohabat ki zabaan‘ (2007), the telecom company Mobilink and filmstar Shaan (of Khuda Key Liye fame), who is the moving force and [...]

Adil Najam
Since yesterday the “I” word - impeachment - has begun to be thrown around a lot.
Some quarters seem to think that it just happen this time. Others suggest that it is more talk than action and the numbers needed to pull this are still not there.
Coming out of the “critical” Nawaz Sharif-Asif Zardari meetings [...]