The Politics of Immorality – Usman Zafar

Last week, two parliamentarians resigned from their posts after their educational qualifications were called into question. Below, Usman Zafar, an Islamabad-based producer for Express 24/7 discusses this development, commenting on the state of Pakistan’s current leadership: Pakistan Peoples Party leader Jamshed Dasti, a prominent member of the National Assembly, is known for his vocal opinions [...]

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Rehabilitating Pakistan’s Child Soldiers

Below is my reaction piece to a Washington Post article on rehabilitating child militants in Pakistan. The article was first published on Foreign Policy’s AfPak Channel: On Sunday, the Washington Post covered the progress of a new boarding school established to rehabilitate and deradicalize former child militants in Swat Valley, Pakistan. The army-sponsored center currently [...]

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U.S.-Pakistan’s Strategic Dialogue – In Pictures.

Strategic Dialogue. Sustained partnership. Long-term commitment. If I hear those terms used in three consecutive sentences again, I may have an aneurysm. It would not be an exaggeration to say that we have all been over-saturated with news of Wednesday’s high-level talks between the United States and Pakistan. Prior to the dialogue, Islamabad presented a [...]

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(Not) The Grinch Who Stole Pakistan Day

Today is Pakistan Day. Although we celebrate our Independence Day on August 14, today commemorates March 23, 1940 -  when the Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution. Dubbed “the cornerstone of Pakistan’s independence,” the resolution cemented the idea of Pakistan as a separate Muslim homeland. This concept has been the source of constant ideological wrangling [...]

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Out of the Headlines – An Update on the IDP Situation

Last summer, the plight of Pakistan’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) garnered constant news attention. However, once the government announced the phased return home of these people last July (beginning with IDPs from Malakand province), the coverage all but came to a halt. The IDP situation was just not news worthy anymore. But the sad reality [...]

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Another Angle in the Qadri Fatwa Debate – Tariq Tufail

Last week, Dawn published an article I wrote about Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri‘s 600-page fatwa against terrorism. The issue in general has generated a lot of debate. Below, Tariq Tufail, who is based in Karachi, presents a different perspective on the topic: Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, a Pakistani Sunni scholar has issued a fatwa against terrorism. While [...]

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Pakistan’s Blame Game & The Punjabi Militant Nexus

The below piece on the recent Lahore bombings and the Punjabi militant nexus was first published on Foreign Policy‘s AfPak Channel, where I’m excited and honored to be a new contributor: The last week has been tough for Pakistan. A series of attacks occurred throughout the country, including a siege of the World Vision International [...]

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Making Tahir ul Qadri’s Fatwa Effective

Today, at least 39 people were killed and 95 were wounded in twin suicide blasts in Lahore, the second attack in the city this week. A senior official told Dawn News, “The bombers walked up to Pakistani army vehicles in the densely populated R A Bazaar area of Lahore, blowing themselves up as people sat [...]

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Mesh Lakhani on VOA Urdu!

Last week, VOA Urdu aired an interview on GEO Television with my younger brother, Mesh (short for Meshal), an aspiring singer/songwriter who recently launched his own music publishing company, Franklin’s Row. In the below video, Mesh discusses why he writes and sings English (versus Urdu) songs, as well as his desire to improve perceptions of [...]

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The Fair & Lovely Standard – Maria Saadat

Last week, I came across a really interesting post at Feministing.com. Entitled, “Jessica Simpson and the Price of Beauty,” the piece discussed Jessica Simpson‘s upcoming docu-series The Price of Beauty, as well as the unfair standards of beauty placed upon women around the world. While Simpson’s series will undoubtedly have its flaws (Feministing noted it [...]

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