By Niala Mohammad The shuttlecock burqa– and chaddar-wearing Pashtun women that once populated the streets of Khyber-Pukthunkhwa are now lost amidst a sea of women donning Arabian-styled abayas all over the city of Peshawar. These traditional forms of “pardah,” or “veils,” have been traded in for a more conservative alternative, popularly known in the region as “thorra burqa” (black […]
A Pakistani Christian Couldn’t Have Cross On Her Christmas Cake
Posted May 21st, 2014 at 6:59 pm (UTC+0)
By Wagma Jalawan Ambreen speaks the local language, Pashto, fluently. She wears the local dress and by all looks and appearances she isn’t any different from other women in her native city of Peshawar, in Pakistan’s northwest. But her Christian faith sets her apart _ too far apart from the rest. She says her Muslim […]
Bangladeshi, Egyptian Islamists Facing Doom, Pakistani Islamists Bloom
Posted May 19th, 2014 at 6:54 pm (UTC+0)
By Iftikhar Hussain Two populous Muslim nations, geographically far apart, did one thing in common, perhaps coincidently, and it was to rein in Islamic groups recently. General Abdel Fatah el-Sisi took on the powerful Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the government of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Haseena banned the Jamate Islami party and Bangladeshi courts […]
Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws Coming After Media?
Posted May 19th, 2014 at 1:23 am (UTC+0)
By Nafees Takar For Pakistan’s leading media house, Jang group, the litany of troubles in recent weeks has not only grown but the troubles have become grave that may even prove to be mortal. After a tense stand off with the powerful military, intense opposition by fellow media groups, comes a blasphemy charge against Geo […]
Polio Isolates Pakistan and Cripples Pashtun Kids
Posted May 15th, 2014 at 8:39 pm (UTC+0)
by Behroz Khan She is cursing her fate and those religious clerics who misguided her not to vaccinate her son Qasim Omar for Polio. But, the damage done is irreversible. Mrs Omar is now crying over spilled milk. Mrs. Omar has eleven children, and Qasim, her youngest child who is paralyzed while the rest of […]
Stirring Up a Hornet’s Nest with Carlotta Gall
Posted May 13th, 2014 at 4:24 pm (UTC+0)
by Niala Mohammad Whether you agree with Carlotta Gall or believe that her claims are parallel to a script from a Bollywood movie, Carlotta Gall is not fazed. Carlotta herself says she is ready for the media and Pakistani government to “totally trash” her but first she wants to put her book, The Wrong Enemy: […]
Hello world!
Posted May 1st, 2014 at 8:36 pm (UTC+0)
Voice of America Blogs The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are […]
