Syed Abbas Raza

It is impossible to effectively address Pakistan’s myriad problems so long as security conditions continue to deteriorate. We are unable to control our own territory as armed militias and criminal gangs run amok in our cities, towns and villages.

Sectarian violence is growing unabated. Business is fearful and the economy in tatters. Many of those with resources are making plans to migrate. Meanwhile, terrorist organisations freely launch attacks at home and abroad, with the government unable to provide security even in the capital.

Since we have sunk to this point mostly during Gen Musharraf’s nine years in power, it is time to re-examine the fundamental security strategy of Pakistan.

Himayun Mirza

This is the story of how I had some of the best naans I have ever had in my life at the Taliban Food Center, a small local restaurant in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The name has got nothing at all to do with the Taliban as we know them in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.

The name may be worth a chuckle for some – even though it has nothing to do with what you are chuckling about. The food, however, is worth much more more. Its worth eating, worth enjoying and worth talking about!

Aziz Akhmad

Occasionally, we go back to the books and stories that we had first read years ago, in school or college. It can be fun – sometimes more than when we first read them.

When we re-read a book, we are not bothered about finding who does what to whom – we already know it. Rather, we pay attention to the language and other niceties of the writing. Plus, the additional education and exposure we may have acquired over the years provides a new perspective from which to look at the story. Also, while re-reading, we are more likely to read the author’s foreword, introduction or pesh lafz than we were when we first read the book. Personally, I always skipped the forewords.

Recently, when I revisited Saadat Hasan Manto’s Thanda Gosht (‘Cold Flesh,’ literally), a collection of stories so named because his famous (or infamous?) short story Thanda Gosht is part of the collection, I read the foreword first. It is a fascinating read.

It is titled Zehmat-i-Mehr-i-Darakhshan. A daunting name for most of us, but has a charming explanation once we understand its meaning and the context. In it, Manto describes, in great detail, his thoughts, feelings and tribulations when he migrated from Bombay to Pakistan, in 1948. He also tells the story of his obscenity trial, which is absorbing and educative, perhaps more educative today than it was when written, 60 years ago. Manto was probably the first writer tried for obscenity in Pakistan.