The following video has been making rounds on internet: social networking websites, blogs and twitter. I also received it through a couple of forwarded emails.

The video asks you to Stand up for the Champions. No. Not any football league, not the T20 champions. This time it seeks applause for Mujahideen, Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Usama Bin Laden and others. The video shows clips and images of Usama and others glorifying them as Muslim heroes fighting America or maghrib.
Reality Check: Champions and Music

Taliban banned Music in Pakistan for being haraam in Islam. ( …

I have been reading Asghar Khan’s “We’ve learnt nothing from History“. For those who don’t know, Asghar Khan was a fighter pilot and served as the head of PAF and later PIA. He was President of a political party named Pakistan Tehreek-e-Istaqlal which played a vital role in opposition to Bhutto. The passage that follows is an excerpt from this book which discusses Pakistan’s nuclear capability and provides a security and threat analysis in light of our nukes. This analysis, from an ex-head of PAF should be a must read …

The parable that follows was originally composed by the greatest of all Sufi poets, Jalal ad-Din Rumi (d. 1273) and recounted by Idris Shah, the Grand Shaykh of Sadarna.

A Persian, a Turk, and Arab and a Greek were traveling to a distant land when they began arguing over how to spend the single coin they posessed among themselves. All four craved food, but the Persian wanted to spend the coin on angur; the Turk, on uzum; the Arab, on inab; and the Greek, on stafil. The argument became heated as …

BREAKING NEWS : Lubna claims that Zaid Hamid has betrayed her.

Dear Readers,

I am going to present an exclusive interview with Lubna, an ex-ardent follower of Zaid Hamid. She tells her story of love for Hamid and claims that he betrayed her. You are going to witness some shocking insights into this love-affair!

Interviewer : So, Lubna. Can you please tell something about yourself and your life ?

Books don’t generate interest for the youth which has been fed emotional taka-tak of religion, nationalism, chauvinism and false history.

I am glad to have found this video on YouTube this morning.
Pakistan has been going through the current turmoil for years. Religious extremists with their suicide bombing and other modes of terror have attacked the very fabric of society and culture. Unfortunately, no artist from the mainstream had come forward to condemn them.
Abrar-ul-Haq, with his recent title Yaad Khuda Di from the unreleased album is probably the pioneer in taking on suicide bombing through music. But, he is not alone now.
Finding Heaven is a music video by a young Pakistani …

Zionist!
What if i say Zaid Hamid is a Zionist and he has an agenda against Pakistan. Do i need any proof when i say that? No certainly not, specially if i am Zaid Hamid. If i am him,I will just need to find a conspiracy.
So lets work on this, lets find a conspiracy. The conspiracy here is that why does he always bring up this word in everything he has to say? Why is he so against them? What is he trying to hide? He must be a Zionist himself …

Is Allama Iqbal relevant to us?
Given the current turmoil, which has made it abundantly clear that the people of Pakistan desire a truly representative democratic civilian order, the question above has become very relevant. Essentially — this begs four questions that ought to be answered to understand the relevance of Allama Iqbal to Pakistan today.
1. What were Iqbal’s views on democracy and how did they fit into the overall Iqbalian-Ijtehadi Islamic thought?
2. How and why did Iqbal become the national poet and philosopher of Pakistan?
3. What has been the nature …

By Fahd/Commoner
Many of Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s poems testify to his sincere interest in the teachings of socialism. He was drawn to socialism by the thought of unity and equality of mankind and the principle of the division of material goods according to the needs of the members of the society. On the other hand, Iqbal was unable to accept a materialistic view of the world and the scientific dialectical methods with which socialism was inevitably linked. In this he was influenced by his deep religious faith and undoubtedly also by …

Tired at work and fed-up of the so called “cyber-war”, it was a time for some fun. Good food helps but no fancy restaurant is my preference most of the times.
Lets explore dhaaba-delights of Lahore. Band Palastar ( بن پلستر  ) coming your way!
I Googled to see if there is anything about Band Palastar available online but closed down Google with disappointment. How can Lahori bloggers miss such cheap and delicious desi burger ? (No, its not really a burger, continue reading).
One of the most densely populated areas of Lahore, Sanda Road is home to …

By Jareer Ahsan

Image of the stickers in use during the campaign to get the hospital shut down.

I know I may get heavily criticized for writing this, but I can’t remain silent anymore. I recognize that the grief is immense and I cannot claim to possibly comprehend it. But I severely deplore the acts of vengeance against doctors being purported as justice. There is a huge difference between manslaughter and murder, the former done without the will to do so. Yet it was indeed criminal negligence on the part of accused …

There is another side of Iqbal which the majority is not aware of. This is because those who love to use Iqbal for their religio-political or other motives want to hide this. Just the way its convenient to call it ‘Iqbal ka Pakistan‘ and not ‘Jinnah ka Pakistan‘ because of his popular secular and liberal tendencies; similarly, there is a side of Iqbal which does not fit in the picture of Iqbal they have been portraying. Here is one example:

And here are the lyrics (in roman Urdu):
uTho meri duniya kay …

By Umayr Hassan
Thus, loving one’s country may entail not only fighting against state institutions (e.g. the government and army) but also fascist-militant organizations that seek to take over our diverse society and impose its own quasi-Arab culture.
I can appreciate, why you don’t want this to be yet another discussion about Zaid Hamid. It is indeed difficult to reasonably discuss a commentator disinclined to cite his sources. (I will underline, though, the constant parading of the “Syed” part of his name: his supposed ancestry does not already make him a better …