Adil Najam

In an expected but important decision, the Supreme Court of Pakistan blocked the Hasba Bill that had earlier been passed by a majority in the MMA-led NWFP Provincial Assembly. This comes at the heels of the passage of the Women’s Rights Bill and is likely to further increase tensions within the MMA religious parties coalition (on what course of action to take) as well as between the Federal government and MMA.

The Hasba Bill which has been widely criticized by liberals in Pakistan and abroad as trying to introduce ‘Taliban style’ religious policing in NWFP. The Bill had earlier been rejected by the Supreme Court and was amended by the NWFP legislator and passed while most members of the opposition were not in the House. At the time opposition MPA Nighat Yasmeen Aurakzai of PML had called it the “Maulviâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s martial lawâ€Â?; the All Parties Minorities Alliance (APMA) had also described the bill similarly.

S.A.J Shirazi

Perched in between legendary Suleman Range on one side and mighty River Indus on the other, ruins of original Harand Fort are situated in the area commonly known as Pachaddh. The Fort has seen a lot in the past and looks as if hiding thousands of secrets besides its historical and archaeological importance.

The Fort was originally built opposite historic Chachar Pass in Suleman Range to guard against the invaders. The fading signs of the edifice are still there in the forms of derbies and bricks scattered around the old site.

Sikh Governor Sawan Mall used the material of the old fort to rebuilt the Fort on a new location in 1831. Present structure of the Fort – a valuable part of our heritage – is situated about 25 kilometres west of sleepy and rustic town Dajal in district Rajan Pur.

Owais Mughal

This photograph is from a pots and pans vendor in Jodia Bazar Karachi.

Jodia Bazar is a whole sale market where one can buy anything imaginable under the sky. I however, could never imagine that a consumer today has so much choice of sizes available while selecting a ‘pateeli’ (pot). I guess, all the better for food-lovers like us.
Looking at this photo a couplet comes to my mind which goes like this:

katoray pe katora;
beta baap se bhi gora

Photo copyrights Mr. Iqbal Khatri. Reproduced here with his permission. You can view more photos from Iqbal Khatri here.