The Islamist Confusion of Branding Religion as Political System
By: Ali Al-Amin In order to dismantle the tyranny and violence issuing from the Islamist system of the Arab world today, there should be focus on researching the essence of Islamic culture, not religion. One day as a child, the great poet Muhammad Iqbal was reciting verses from the Holy Quran, when his father entered […]
A Woman Can Lead Friday Prayers
BY: Syeda Hameed I was a member of the National Commission of Women in 1998 when I met Daud Sharifa, who was building a mosque for women at Puddokotai, Tamil Nadu, since women were denied entry into mosques there. Last week, I read reports that a woman in Mallapuram district led the Friday prayers, which […]
AJK-GB democratic deficit, way out
By: Manzoor Gilani Parts of princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) under the administrative control of Pakistan are neither its constitutional part nor autonomous to be called as ‘local authority’ as mandated by UNCIP. Despite that they are controlled by the Government of Pakistan […]
VALLABHBHAI PATEL – A LEGACY APPROPRIATED AND DISTORTED
BY:Neha Dabhade Historical figures are complex and shaped by the context they lived out of. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is no exception. Vallabhbhai Patel popularly known as the “indomitable iron man” of India is credited with unifying India when India was a cluster of numerous princely states at the time of independence and Patel was the […]
Interpreting G-B council’s dissolution
By: Masud Ahmed Khan Gilgit-Baltistan is strategically important not only for Pakistan but also for China, India and the United States. The territory — bordering Afghanistan and China in the north, Khyber-Pakhtunkwa in the west and Indian-administered Kashmir in the east — is as important today as it was in 1880 during the strategic rivalry […]
The anatomy of another riot
Kasganj is a metaphor for the emerging everydayness of riot-induced violence
BY: Shiv Visvanathan Every riot today produces a set of staged narratives which are eerie to watch and strange to listen to. A riot is no longer an act of production where the narrative focusses on causes but an act of consumption where a variety of narratives create a quilt patch we call history. The […]
What schools should also teach
Zehra Kamal Alam THE Zainab rape-murder case in Kasur has jolted the nation into thinking seriously about a highly prevalent but hushed-up issue. There is an increased sense of urgency and greater receptivity among parents, teachers and adult caregivers to the idea of providing children with information that can help to protect them from potentially […]
