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Any discourse about the Muslim headscarf is anchored in what have become profoundly difficult questions of personal choice, or a lack thereof, and the corresponding scope of religious and personal freedom. The visibly Muslim woman is routinely pegged to one … Continue reading
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Shumaila Jaffery’s poignant piece on Aasia Bibi and Pakistan’s blasphemy laws for the BBC last week stirred within me an unexpected nostalgia. Its thoughtful narrative served as a reminder of many personal experiences living and growing up in Pakistan … Continue reading
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For religious minorities living in Pakistan, life remains increasingly precarious. In the case of Ahmadi Muslims, a minority sect in Islam deemed heretical by mainstream Muslims, this means that the mere proclamation of their identity as such is not only … Continue reading
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Boris Johnson’s article in the Telegraph last week referring to burka-wearing women as “letterboxes” and “bank robbers” has sparked a fierce debate over the burka. Much has been said, again, about its symbolism and why women wear it and whether … Continue reading
It was a summer afternoon in school on 14 April 1999 in Pakistan’s capital. I was a 16-year old GCE student, preparing to sit my exams that May. The school I attended was a small one, founded two years earlier … Continue reading
When Raphael Lemkin went in search of a word that would provide the archetype to define the most heinous of crimes against humanity, skeptics of language trivialised his efforts arguing that, “a word is a word is a word.” … Continue reading
As the gruesome scenes from Brussels emerged on Tuesday, they bore an uncanny resonance to feelings I brought home from my recent trip to Pakistan. Visiting the country I grew up in for the first time following the dreadful Peshawar … Continue reading
Can Britain be said to have become dangerously diverse since it opened its shores to migrants, particularly from Commonwealth countries, following the end of the Second World War? That appears to be the message implicit in the former racial equality … Continue reading
I remember singing along to an oft-recited Hindi poem as part of a 13-member peace delegation to India in the summer of 2001. One couplet always resonated with me deeply, reminiscing the loss of humanity, its words ran something like … Continue reading
These have been troubling times for adherents of the Islamic faith with the rising tide of extremism along with an increasing number of Muslim scholars and clerics attempting to monopolise a singular path to salvation. Most Muslim-majority countries … Continue reading
