The PML-N’s New Template?

Mumtaz Qadri’s execution is an indication that something has changed in Pakistan, even if just at the state level, thanks to the callousness of the Taliban and perhaps a nudge from the army. But has the ideology of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) undergone a sea change as well?

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Pakistan’s history is not just about ‘glorious Muslims’

Graphic by Newslaundry

Pakistanis — particularly those who admire cities like Lahore, Multan, Taxila and Karachi — should understand that what they admire today represents the cumulative efforts of different communities and individuals over thousands of years, and not just those of “glorious Muslims”. Otherwise, a bunch of goons will always be available to destroy boards, steal statues and rampage through anniversary ceremonies.

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Why Pak TV channels were advised to black out the funeral of Salman Taseer’s assassin

Graphic by Newslaundry

On January 4, 2011, Salman Taseer, then the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, was shot dead by his own security guard, Mumtaz Qadri. Five years later, after Qadri was hanged, approximately 30,000 people gathered on the streets to pay their respects to a man they’d dubbed “shaheed” (martyr). If you were watching Pakistani television news, however, you’d never guess there was this groundswell.

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Portfolio: Lush reveries

The Banyan by Michelle Farooqi

Artist Michelle Farooqi’s exhibition titled A Walk in the Park might be considered an effort to escape the city’s tortuous concrete jungle, a symbol of mankind’s primeval search for paradise or an aesthetic manifestation of what she calls “active meditation” in the parks. The exhibition took place in Lahore’s Alhamra Art Centre recently and exhibited 18 of her landscapes done in pastels, either in Lahore’s Race Course Park or in Canada.

Afternoon under the Tree by Michelle Farooqi

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