CM04: Pakistan?

Ziauddin Sardar questions the question mark that is always placed in front of Pakistan, Robin Yassin-Kassab asks why Pakistan has not imploded, Taimur Khan breaks bread with the gangsters and bookies of Karachi, Muhammad Idrees Ahmad revisits Peshawar, Mahvish Ahmad tracks down the separatist in Quetta, Ehsan Masood watches Pakistani television,  Merryl Wyn Davies deconstructs ‘imaginariums’ of Pakistan, Aamer Hussein discusses Pakistani modern classic fiction, Bina Shah asks if there is boom in Pakistani literature, Bilal Tanweer listens to ‘Coke Studio’, Muneeza Shamsie discovers the literary secrets of her family, Taymiya R. Zaman overcomes her fear of talking about Pakistan, Ali Maraj assesses Imran Khan, Shazia Mirza tells rude jokes in Lahore, and a fake novel by Ibn-e-Safi is spotted in Bahwalnagar.

Plus a new translation of an old short story by A R Khatoon, a new story by Yasir Shah, poems by Ghalib, John Siddique and Zehra Nigah, Atia Jilani’s Quranic art, photographs by Ayesha Malik, and ‘Ten Things We Love About Pakistan’

In this issue

CM4: Pakistan?

Ziauddin Sardar questions the question mark that is always placed in front of Pakistan, Robin Yassin-Kassab asks why Pakistan has not imploded, ...

That Question Mark by Ziauddin Sardar

Like the sword of Damocles, a perennial question mark hangs over Pakistan. Can Pakistan survive? Can it continue to endure the ‘war on ...

Karachi in Fragments by Taimur Khan

Shahid kept his pigeons in a coop on the roof of his home, nested some­where in the anthill labyrinth of Karachi’s oldest ...

Found in Translation by Aamer Hussein

As a boy in Karachi I was taken regularly, in the company of my sisters, to see films that starred Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, Doris Day and Debbie ...

Not Talking About Pakistan by Taymiya R Zaman

I drew a secret line around the borders of Pakistan and rarely stepped over it. In the fall of 2007, I began teaching Islamic history at a ...

Breaking News by Ehsan Masood

‘This is your daughter, isn’t she?’ The voice was direct; the question unam­biguous. ‘Is this your daughter; have ...

Quetta Divisions by Mahvish Ahmad

‘It’s too dangerous. I’ll have to send a driver.’ The voice on the other end of the mobile takes a breath. ‘I ...

Ten Things We Love About Pakistan

A country allegedly and perpetually at the edge of chaos. A nation shrouded in darkness...

Coke Studio by Bilal Tanweer

There are no billboards on the streets. For the last four years, a week or so before the new season of Coke Studio is launched, most of the ...