Aasim Sajjad Akhtar Christmas is hardly a big occasion in Pakistan. More than two million Pakistani Christians celebrate it guardedly, with few from the Muslim majority joining them. Government officials issue cut-and-paste statements and put up a Christmas tree or two in public places, and then return to the business of lending legitimacy to majoritarianism. Indeed, Christians in this country …

Recent excavations in eastern Kazakhstan have led to important discoveries about the ancient Saka people. The excavations reveal that permafrost has preserved treasures for over 2,700 years. But changing climatic conditions are a risk to further revelations, writes Natalie Taylor in the thirdpole.net by Natalie Taylor A recreation of a horse’s ceremonial burial harness. Horses were central to Saka culture …

Ziauddin sahib has managed the nearly impossible: to maintain a blemish-free record throughout despite skirmishes with the high and mighty, including the once all-powerful General Pervez Musharraf

News Desk Islamabad: Pakistan’s youngest Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at Birmingham, the UK, the girls’ education activist announced in a tweet on her microblogging handler. Tweets by Malala “Today marks a precious day in my life”, she wrote in a Twitter post. Asser and I tied the knot to be partners for …

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has told the BBC that summits will not lead to action on climate goals unless the public demand changes too. In a wide-ranging interview ahead of the COP26 climate summit, she said the public needed to “uproot the system”. “The change is going to come when people are demanding change. So we can’t expect everything to …

By Aziz Ali Dad I just received sad news from Germany that Professor Dr Georg Buddruss an internationally acclaimed scholar on High Asia, linguist and specialist inIndian languages breathed his last in Mainz, Germany on August 13, 2021, at the age of 91. He was a great scholar of Nuristani and Dardic languages in northern Pakistan. Dr Buddruss was among …

A 2,500-kilometer road trip by Anzor Bukharsky, one of Central Asia’s most beloved photographers and cultural commentators, offers a rare glimpse into everyday life on the backstreets and byways of Uzbekistan. Two local girls walk near a 900-year-old minaret in the southern town of Minor, near the border with Afghanistan. A man rests during a scorching-hot day in the courtyard …

Karim Ahmed Khan, a young artist from GB, wins Arjumand Painting Award 2021   by Farman Ali Artists, members of jury, with Chief Guest Mian Iqbal Salahuddin, and founding Chairman of Gallery6 Dr Arjumand Faisel at the third national biennial Arjumand Painting award 2021 ceremony at Alhamra Art Gallery, Lahore on July 7. Photo: Usma Arjumand Art should be used …

Tajik-born singer representing Russia in this year's Eurovision Song Contest says her berth in the finals this weekend is "like a dream.” But she says the problems she and other immigrants face in Russia won't ever be far from her mind.

Emily Wilder had been targeted by extremist Zionist media outlets; News agency decision to fire Emily Wilder criticised after rightwing media highlight her previous activism in college.

In the remote mountain region of Chitral valley of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Kalash people, followers of a pre-Islamic religion, mark death as few on the planet do. With dance, drums, and gunfire, the colorful funeral ritual is an elaborate and expensive celebration of a loved one's life.

HAH Special Correspondent Islamabad: Shehroze Kashif has become the first youngest Pakistani climber and the fourth in the world to summit Mount Everest, the tallest peak of the world. According to media reports the 19 years old climber put his foot on the top of the 8849-meters high peak at 5:02am on Tuesday (11 May 2021) as a part of …

By Sher Zaman It was a chilly morning of March 2021 at the busy Gahkuch Bazaar. The bazaar here opens early at dawn and closes at dusk. Young Hidayatullah* has opened his general store in the heart of the bazaar. He was looking forward to a usual day before he would retire to his shared room with several other traders …

by Aasim Sajjad Akhtar When Mashal Khan was brutally lynched four years ago, the Tehrik-e-Labbaik-Pakistan (TLP) was still a relatively new and unknown force. As we remember Mashal today, the TLP has dramatically become Pakistan’s most powerful Islamist group, with unmatched mobilizational capacity. TLP activists block roads in various cities of Punjab, Sindh and KP to protest the detention of …

Raza Naeem’s tribute to Pakistan’s best-known Marxist, scholar, author and activist on his birth centenary marked on April 10. Stop all the clocks … let the mourners come.— W.H. Auden by Raza Naeem While the world-renowned Marxist sociologist does not need an introduction here in South Asia, my reflections here will chiefly consist of my memories of my lone meeting …