Christian Teen faces jail for Kaaba post

Christian Teen faces jail for Kaaba post

ISLAMABAD  – A Pakistani Christian teen has been charged with blasphemy over a ‘derogatory picture’ of Islam’s holiest place, according to an AFP report. Nabeel Chohan was arrested for liking and sharing on social media a disparaging photograph of the Kaaba, the building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that Muslims turn and pray to five times […]

Boy raped, murdered, police say Heart Attack!

Boy raped, murdered, police say Heart Attack!

How do the poor minorities fare in Pakistan? Can they expect justice from the local police? Here is an incident that will help you form your own opinion: A fourteen year old Pakistani boy was found murdered and hanging from a tree (after having been raped, say locals)  in a rural area of Pakistan. Interestingly, […]

Hilary Clinton: India is ‘indespensable’ to South Asia

Hilary Clinton: India is ‘indespensable’ to South Asia

India, said Hilary Clinton in one of her election speeches, is ‘indispensable’ in South Asia. Why does that statement scare some Americans (and a lot of the Chinese)? Read on. Peter Lee runs the China Matters blog. He writes on the intersection of US policy with Asian and world affairs. An extract of his analytical […]

Pak TV Channels fined for fabricated news, shouting matches…

Pak TV Channels fined for fabricated news, shouting matches…

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)’s Council of Complaints Saturday recommended Rs 5 Lakhs (Pakistan currency) fine each on as many as 13 television channels for running a report on wedding of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan without evidence. The council has also recommended that these channels would air apology and also recommended […]

ISIS is in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh ….

ISIS is in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh ….

To defeat ISIS, South Asian countries must look beyond their selfish and myopic interests The so-called Islamic State (IS) in appeared around 2014. Since then, policymakers and the strategic community in South Asia remain divided on whether the terrorist group poses a threat to the region or not. These differences can be attributed to two […]

Burkha craze: fuelled by Islamic politics?

Burkha craze: fuelled by Islamic politics?

Is the rise of Political Islam destroying South Asia’s pluralism? A couple of Pakistani historians indicate so. Read on: Feminists and the liberals are divided on whether the burqa, a garment that covers the entire body, or the niqab, the facial veil, represent personal freedom or suppression. While most experts agree that women, like men, […]

Divert Metro, says Lahore High Court

Divert Metro, says Lahore High Court

Pakistan’s first Metro rail, to be built in Lahore, has received a setback. The Lahore High Court on Friday (Aug 19) banned construction of the country’s first rapid mass transit system within 61 metres of historic buildings in the city of Lahore. Heritage campaigners had argued that the Chinese-funded metro project, most of which will […]

India protests, Pakistan denies promoting terror

India protests, Pakistan denies promoting  terror

India has launched a  formal protest to Pakistan for being responsible for cross-border terrorism. India’s Foreign Ministry said an arrested Pakistani national Bahadur Ali had confessed that he was “infiltrated into India” after being trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group and was ordered to attack security facilities in India. “The government of India strongly […]

Canine corpses line streets of Karachi

Canine corpses line streets of Karachi

KARACHI, Pakistan:  It was a macabre sight earlier this week, scores of dead dogs piled up on the streets! Animal activists will probably howl with pain at the sight. The fact is that ‘man’s best friend’ is responsible for 6,500 people being bitten just in one city in the past six months. Officials have poisoned […]

AIDS bomb ticking in Pakistan

AIDS bomb ticking in Pakistan

Pakistani media  have reported that Pakistan has the second largest number of HIV patients in South Asia. Pakistan has around 94,000 HIV positive patients, the second largest number in South Asia. According to the report of HIV /AIDs Control Program Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 157 children across the province were infected with HIV while Peshawar tops […]

This was a Life: Abdul Sattar Edhi

This was a Life: Abdul Sattar Edhi

A subdued Pakistan went into national mourning to bid farewell to a man who owned just two sets of clothes. Mr Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of Pakistan’s largest welfare organisation, died on Friday last week in Karachi aged 88. Mr Edhi, a sort of Pakistani ‘Mother Teresa’, was revered for setting up maternity wards, […]