Nafisa Hoodbhoy was staff reporter for the English daily Dawn newspaper from 1984-2000. As the only woman reporter under Gen Zia in Karachi, Pakistan, she went on to write thousands of news reports and lead articles on the nation’s transition to democracy, alternately spear-headed by civilian leaders Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. During this period, she researched and featured in video films on women..... Read More
This website gives a glimpse into my motivation for writing ‘Aboard the Democracy Train’ – on why millions of people in Pakistan have been thwarted from bringing about meaningful change inside the country. As the only woman reporter in Pakistan’s leading newspaper, Dawn ....
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, July 19 — It was bad enough that the alleged rape took place in the sanctity of a mosque, and that the accused man was a mullah who invoked the familiar defense that it had been consensual sex. But the victim was only 10 years old. And there was more: The authorities said her family members openly planned …
MINGORA, July 4: A teenage girl, whose nose had been chopped off by her husband on May 16, wants the accused punished under the Qisas (retribution) laws. Talking to reporters here, Shahida, 18, said that was only seven years old when she was married to the accused, Sahibzada, after his sister married with her brother. She alleged that she had …
MIRPURKHAS, July 15 — In a country roiled by violent strife, the southern province of Sindh, celebrated as the “land of Sufis,” has long prized its reputation as a Pakistani bastion of tolerance and diversity. Glittering Sufi shrines dot the banks of the river Indus as it wends through the province. The faithful sing and dance at exuberant religious festivals. …
BANNU: The ongoing military operation may be making headway in clearing militant hideouts, but it has shattered the dream of one father of 36 children — to take a fourth wife. Gulzar Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the North Waziristan tribal area since the army moved in to clear longstanding bases of Taliban …
Kabul/Islamabad, July 17: Pakistani troops in Miran Shah, North Waziristan amid a government operation to clear the area in north-western Pakistan of extremists. Photograph: Rebecca Santana/AP Afghan officials have accused Pakistan of letting Afghan militants escape a complex crackdown on insurgent hideouts, after a massive truck bomb killed dozens of civilians in a crowded bazaar earlier this week. The vehicle …
In 2006, veteran US army officer and a military strategist Ralph Peters penned an article “Blood Borders” that was published in “Armed Forces Journal”. The article created ripples among concerned circles. Some of them debunked it as a sinister scheme of superpowers and some others delved for logic inside the re-drawn map of Middle East and parts of Africa and …
Personal laws that govern matters related to marriage, divorce, custody of children and inheritance have been an issue of great concern and debate in Pakistan. There have been demands for decades now for new legislation because personal laws did not exist for some religious minorities, whereas for others they were outdated and incompatible with standards of gender equality and justice. …
BANNU, July 6: Hundreds of Taliban fighters rushed to disguise themselves with new haircuts in the weeks before the launch of the North Waziristan operation, it has emerged, as refugees revealed details of life under the militants – and their taste for imported luxuries. Azam Khan was one of the top barbers in Miramshah until he, like nearly half a …
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