Owais Mughal

This picture depicts the simple pleasures of youth, but also a sad reality.

Here are children playing cricket in a class room of an abandoned school, in Sector 4 of Korangi, Karachi. This photo appeared in the daily Dawn of September 14, 2008.

Adil Najam

Sometimes you see a headline that just stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder. I saw such a headline in The Daily Times today: “At Least 100 Rapes in Karachi a Day.“

The story is reporting a statement by Dr. Zulfiqar Siyal, Additional Police Surgeon (APS), Karachi, where he claims that on average, 100 women are raped in Karachi every 24 hours. It takes a little careful reading to realize that he is not saying that this is the number of actual rapes per day, but that he thinks that it must at least be this much and possibly more. In fact, he himself points out that the number of reported rapes are much less, because of the social stigma of reporting such a crime.

Raza Rumi

Days after the recent skirmishes at the Line of Control, when the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan was threatened, an alternative reconciliation was underway in Lahore. Music became the metaphor of shared ground between the two countries, challenging divides between them that can become violent.

Lahore hosted the legendary vocalist Shubha Mudgal for a few days. The crusade launched by Beyond Borders Television, a production house and sister company of The Friday Times and Good Times, is a unique development in Pakistan’s media world. It is Beyond Borders’ mission statement to produce programming for regional channels that promotes understanding between peoples. Undaunted by visa restrictions and overcoming official barriers, Beyond Borders organised Mudgal’s visit to Lahore to record a tripartite discussion between Mudgal, Tina Sani and Jugnu Mohsin, the compere.