Malala calls on Muslims to respect Islam’s true message
Source: Arab News SHARJAH: Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, giving a speech Wednesday in the UAE, urged Muslims to respect the “true message of Islam” and unite against […]
Devaluing ‘honour’
Source: Dawn BY AFIYA S. ZIA THE 2016 Amendment to Offences in the Name/ Pretext of Honour Act has had mixed reactions. Some celebrate the reforms while others consider these to be a mere ‘smokescreen’. For decades, legal and rights activists have campaigned against this specialised form of murder of women […]
Elevate Gen Raheel to field marshal’s rank
Source:ET In the appeal, Sardar Adnan Saleem, through his counsel Raja Saimul Haq Satti, said that such an elevation is an emergent need in the present circumstances. He has made the federation through the cabinet division secretary, the prime minister through the secretary of the PM Secretariat and defence ministry […]
Storm in a teacup?
Source: Dawn THE corps commanders have spoken. They have expressed concern over the “feeding of a false and fabricated story” that appeared in Dawn on Oct 6 as a breach of national security. At the same time, the government “as a gesture of goodwill” has removed the travel ban on […]
Video: The untold story of Pakistan’s blasphemy law
Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws Chapter 1 – Origin Story of 295C from Pakistans Blasphemy Laws on Vimeo. Source: Dawn BY ARAFAT MAZHAR A few days ago, a video of erstwhile pop icon […]
India clips ‘spy’ pigeon’s wings over fears it will fly back to Pakistan
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1198895/india-clips-spy-pigeons-wings-fears-will-fly-back-pakistan/ Indian police have clipped the wings of a “Pakistani pigeon” they claim to have arrested from Bamial village in Punjab province nearly two weeks ago over suspicion of ‘spying’. “The wings of the pigeon have been clipped to ensure the suspected spy does not fly back to Pakistan,” The Telegraph […]
Supreme Court adjourns hearing of Asia Bibi case
Source: Dawn News AFP | NASIR IQBAL The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned a hearing of the final appeal against the execution of Asia Bibi, accused for blasphemy. Police and troops had been stationed across Islamabad as the apex court readied to hear the appeal of Bibi who has been […]
The Guardian view on blasphemy in Pakistan: a dark moment for religious freedom approaches
theguardian — The killing and jailing of people on accusations of insulting Islam is shameful. Pakistan’s supreme court should spare the life of Asia Bibi and curb future convictions Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court. ‘Her freedom would send a powerful […]
Heart of darkness: Shia resistance and revival in Pakistan
Source: Dawn Ahsan Mahboob stares at the sky. It is the colour of molten silver — dark and mournful. Out of the grey firmament drop flakes of white snow, light as leaves, ominous as bad tidings. In the predawn twilight of November, Quetta’s Alamdar Road looks like a frozen lake, […]
Pakistan passes anti-honour killings and anti-rape bills
Dawn: by Muhammad Bilal — ISLAMABAD: A joint session of the Parliament unanimously approved anti-honour killing and anti-rape bills moved by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar on Thursday. The legislation on honour killings will introduce strict punishment for the convicts making it tougher than the ordinary murder cases. Under the new […]
Pakistan Trades Fire With India in Kashmir Over Accusations of Fresh ‘Unprovoked’ Attack
Source: Time By Munir Ahmed / AP Pakistan’s Prime Minister blamed India for the rising tensions between the two countries but said he wanted to resolve the Kashmir dispute through talks (ISLAMABAD) — Pakistan’smilitary on Wednesday accused India of another “unprovoked” attack in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, saying it […]
Pakistan Stiffens Penalty for ‘Honor’ Killings
Source: Time Parliament closed a loophole that allowed “honor” killers to go free (ISLAMABAD) — Pakistani lawmakers have passed a law that stiffens the penalty for convicted “honor” killers and […]
I still volunteer in the aid and development sectors But Now?
Source: ET We — and I still volunteer in the aid and development sectorsperiodically — are the unarmed soldiers on the frontlines these days. Most of us make informed decisions about going into harm’s way. Polio vaccinators are more likely driven to the job by poverty rather than the humanitarian […]
London’s first mosque – archive
4 October 1926: After the opening ceremony the Imam called the faithful to prayer from the minarets high over the roofs of suburbia 1935: The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (far left) on a visit to London’s Fazl mosque, the first purpose-built mosque in the capital. Photograph: Alamy/Stock From our […]
Breaking: General Raheel COAS Pakistan gets extension!
Reliable source has confirmed that services of COAS (Chief of Army Staff) have been extended for one year and CGS (Chief of General Staff), who has been vice chief and will […]
“I had to:” Inside the mind of an ‘honor’ killer in Pakistan
Source: Associated Press By KATHY GANNON In this photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, Mubeen Rajhu, who killed his sister Tasneem sits at… Read more LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — […]
When custodians of law turn into an unruly mob (Only for Ahmadiyya)
Source: ET One such event was witnessed in the city a few days back. A group of lawyers, under the leadership of Lahore High Court Bar Association President Rana Zia Abdur Rehman and LHCBA Secretary Anas Ghazi, and enraged clerics from different seminaries barged in the office of Pakistan Electronic […]
Complex US-Pakistan relations
MUHAMMAD WAQAS | Published — Monday 3 October 2016 Muhammad Waqas On the bilateral relations front, it is not just Pakistan’s simmering tensions with India that is making the headlines. Pakistan’s long and complicated relationship with the US is also back in the news. In a recent move, two […]
Pak ex-nationals want drone attack on terror camps
Source: TOI Former Pakistan nationals who are now Indian citizens are upbeat over theArmy‘s successful strikes on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. “Pakistan was my mother country , but it is now infested with terrorist groups and camps. I am happy with the surgical […]
Pak bans Bollywood films as Kashmir tensions rise
Oct 02, 2016 – Shafqat Ali With Agency Inputs | Indian films have been banned in cinemas across Pakistan as tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi over recent scuffles in the disputed Kashmir region spilled into the world of Bollywood. “It is deeply regrettable that a film trade body, the […]