Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Dancing girl in Karachi. Married local politician as fifth wife. Blinded and disfigured in acid attack. Husband suspected, but never prosecuted. Eleven years of surgery, 39 operations, to partially reconstruct face. Suicide
America's Afghan debacle is over. Time is coming to hand the country back to the Taliban. Best we can do is try to learn lessons about why Western intervention failed—and apply them to Pakistan, where we're also making a mess ($)
Pakistan's former cricket captain, Imran Khan, is his country's most popular political figure. He tapped a powerful new mood at a time when the old order was weak. His rise brings possibility of ground-breaking change. And danger
Pakistani writer on the city where she grew up. "If there’s one word used more often than others to characterise Karachi by those who love it, it’s 'resilience' — the ability to endure suffering without breaking"
![Insurgents attack the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan headquarters and the US Embassy in Kabul [Image 11 of 17] by DVIDSHUB](http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6192/6146857751_1cbcd7f927_s.jpg "Insurgents attack the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan headquarters and the US Embassy in Kabul [Image 11 of 17] by DVIDSHUB")
Gripping inside account of 20-hour siege on American embassy in Kabul, days after 10th anniversary of 9/11. "The fiction of common interests that has underpinned US-Pakistani relations is wearing thin"
What it's like when America's secret war, conducted by remote control, comes to your neighbourhood. "Then I heard the buzzing, far above our heads – like a bee, but heavier and unceasing, drifting in and out"
On Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. "Long history of fierce independence and lawlessness." Occupies less than 5% of country's land area; terrain made up of mountains, forests and caves. Natural redoubt for insurgents
!["The Star has fallen" - Times Newspaper 28.12.2007 by [Satbir]](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2138/2147731760_cf7e9235d4_s.jpg "\"The Star has fallen\" - Times Newspaper 28.12.2007 by [Satbir]")
Not good for Pakistan. Or America. Or anyone. "Pakistan knows everything. They control everything. I can't [expletive] on a tree in Kunar [province] without them watching. The Taliban are not Islam. The Taliban are Islamabad"
Excellent account of disastrously failing education system and an admirable grassroots project with a big aim: To eliminate obscurantism that results in social science textbooks extolling religious benefits of owning cows
Former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician is attracting vast crowds to his rallies. But who is he now and what, besides opposition to the president, does he stand for?
He's sexy, handsome, worldly. But his politics are something else altogether. He's an ally of Pakistan's military-Islamist deep state, a protege of former ISI chief Hamid Gul. Next year's elections could push him towards power
"What should we think – conspiracy, cock-up or thinly veiled chaos? Puzzling out the answers to that question has been central to my seven years reporting from Pakistan." And resolving Pakistan's problems has never been more urgent
Image by mdmission on Flickr
