When Saadat Khan, 50, returned to Pakistan on March 9 from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, he was greeted in his village with a rousing welcome and a grand feast attended by more than 2,000 people, many of whom embraced him warmly. On March 18, less than 10 days later, Khan died at an isolation centre for coronavirus patients in …

CM announces lockdown for Gilgit-Baltistan HOME LOCKDOWN COMES INTO FORCE FROM MIDNIGHT————————————————–Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister announces enforcement of home lockdown plan in Gilgit-Baltistan to contain spread of Coronavirus. He urged people to follow health guidelines and strictly ensure physical distance which is the only way to avoid get infected. He said the relevant officials have elaborated the details of the lockdown. …

  More than 1,000 remain there as thousands more are released into impoverished Balochistan, reports The Guardian newspaper    It was the smell that was the worst. In this dusty camp on Pakistan’s border with Iran, which at one stage held more than 6,000 people, the stench of sweat, rubbish and human excrement hung in the air. There was no …

This issue of WWB is concerned with exploring new approaches to Urdu feminist writing. The field of Urdu writing generally, and Urdu feminist writing particularly, is so woefully unknown in English that our most urgent task is to bring attention to extremely important but underrecognized writers. There is simply so much to read and translate that has not been looked …

The key water-related issues faced by Pakistan are that of mismanagement and population growth more than water scarcity itself, argues Amir Hussain in his latest column published in The News. He suggests a strong network of researchers, policymakers, and communities in the Indus Basin region to mitigate the risks posed by climate change to the ecosystem.     by Amir Hussain …

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and her party supporters attend a protest march against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and a new citizenship law, in Kolkata, India, December 16, 2019. Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri Fiction in time of fake news. Below is the text of the 2020 Clark Lecture in English Literature instituted by Trinity College, Cambridge. We …

In Askari’s view, the West became victim to depravity in its quest for progress Raza Naeem on the modernism of Muhammad Hasan Askari (1919–1978)   In order to understand the depth and causes of Muhammad Hasan Askari’s disenchantment with modernity, Marxism and “the West”, it is necessary to go over the fundamental Marxian ideas that became so distasteful to him …

In this last installment of the three-part article based on correspondence between Hassan Mirza and Professor Noam Chomsky, the internationally-acclaimed linguist and social scientist speaks about the British colonial genocidal role in South Asia and Africa, the future of South Asia, religion, the catastrophic impact of climate change, and the US-Europe imperialist-induced migration crisis.   Religion and spirituality Hassan Mirza …

  By Farman Ali   Literati of the capital have called for the promotion and dissemination of the message of love and harmony derived from the everlasting work of literary giants like Shaikh Ayaz, Gul Khan Naseer and Ajmal Khattak. This message could be spread among the people through the translation of their work in all national languages. The message …

  News Desk   From the House of God Every idol will be removed We, the pure, the faithful Who were barred from His house Will be made kings Their crowns will be flung in the air And thrones will be smashed We shall bear witness Ali Madeeh Hashmi, the grandson of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, writes that when these lines …