Pakistan

Forced conversions

Source: Dawn Tabled last year by a PML-F lawmaker, Nand Kumar Goklani as a private bill, the Criminal Law (Protection of Minorities) Act, 2015 stipulates a sentence of between five years and life imprisonment for those found guilty of forcible conversion, along with a fine to be paid to the […]

Predators and prey

Source: Dawn THERE is a recurring theme running through Muslim mythology in the subcontinent that places the Mughal era at the pinnacle of India’s rich and varied past.Travellers to India in the 16th and 17th centuries returned with tales of dazzling riches. Indeed, compared to the display of wealth by […]

No safe place for Muslim reformers

Source: Dawn They can’t do it at home. Most of the Muslim world is a mess. Muslim majority nations are either ruled by nasty autocrats, military strongmen or flawed and fragile democrats. In many places, to speak up is to find yourself dead or in prison. If you are lucky, […]

Some of Pakistan’s finest military minds have been Ahmadi. Clerics need to stop abusing them

Source: http://nation.com.pk/blogs/24-Nov-2016/some-of-pakistan-s-finest-military-minds-have-been-ahmadi-clerics-need-to-stop-abusing-them November 24, 2016, 4:03 pm/ 1 Comment By Kashif Chaudhry When Donald Trump belittled a Muslim American Gold Star family, he received strong backlash from the civil society. The Democratic Party and the media came out in full support of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son captain Humayun Khan had been killed in […]

Shades of McCarthyism

Source: Dawn Tailpiece: the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong wrote a letter to the president of Pakistan about the hanging of two men who were subsequently acquitted by the Supreme Court. The director-general (C-II) at the president’s secretariat (Public) forwarded the letter “for appropriate action” to the secretary […]

Some more home truths

Source: Dawn Punjab is one province which has stayed with the tradition. It is one unit in the federation that has not got any break from rule by Gen Zia’s associates. Even when the unit was ruled by the PPP or its allies the chief minister, the man at the […]

Pakistan: Dr. Abdus Salam’s death anniversary passes by without mention

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/1238698/forgotten-legend-abdus-salams-death-anniversary-passes-without-mention/ By Rana Tanveer, Published: November 22, 2016 LAHORE: The 20th death anniversary of Pakistan’s first Nobel prize winner Dr Abdus Salam passed away without any significant mentions on Monday. The only event in his memory is scheduled at his alma mater, the Government College University (GCU) Lahore, and that too two […]