Author: Akif Khan
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In the name of father
Originally published in The Nation on August 12, 2018. Read the original. How can things be so relevant after long time? Ask Pakistan. The text of the founding father Jinnah’s one speech delivered three days before the foundation of the nascent country was not only the defining characteristic of democracy but a settling guideline for…
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Luck
It’s a common saying that luck did or didn’t favour me. You hear everyone blaming their luck all the time. But this concept of a supernatural force is nothing but a farce. There is no thing called luck. But yeah, there are chances and probabilities. It’s hard to understand that this can be the case.…
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All Pakistan Private Schools Association’s president writes book titled ‘I am not Malala’ – what could be more tragic?
Originally published in The Nation on November 13, 2015. Read the original. Just a couple of days ago, I saw this news of launch of a new book “I am not Malala – I am Pakistani, I am Muslim.” This was a rebuttal to the youngest Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai’s book “I am Malala.” This…
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Is the human race really “evolving”?
Originally published in The Nation on April 17, 2015. Read the original. Today, the whole day, I had been thinking about these two propositions. One: trust everyone before they openly offend you. Second: trust no one before they prove to be loyal to you. Everyone will agree that the first one seems foolish while the…
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Charlie Hebdo-conspiracy theories and our denials
Originally published in The Nation on January 15, 2015. Read the original. All the conspiracy theorists had been sitting idle for some time. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks, they found another exciting opportunity to make new conspiracy theories using their fringe science and photoshop. Moon landing or 9/11, this market of conspiracy theories is never…
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Between the lines
Originally published in The Nation on January 9, 2015. Read the original. Despite having different reasons, both conservatives and liberal democrats are opposed to the 21st amendment. This shows how the amendment is confused, hasty, ironical and discriminatory. Spare my audacity and let me explain how. “Why not and what, if not this?” is the…
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Why Pakistan needs secularism
(This piece was orginally published in The Nation and can be read here.) In Pakistan, liberals are often accused of working on the Western agendas and being covert agents of “enemies” of Pakistan. They are also thought to be the ones who malign Pakistan’s image by cherry-picking few mishaps in the country. Let us explore…
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Why Pakistan needs secularism
Originally published in The Nation on November 30, 2014. Read the original. In Pakistan, liberals are often accused of working on the Western agendas and being covert agents of “enemies” of Pakistan. They are also thought to be the ones who malign Pakistan’s image by cherry-picking few mishaps in the country. Let us explore the…
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Why is Waar a Poor Propaganda Flick
Being a movie buff, I could not ignore the hype of a Pakistani movie rated 9/10 on imdb.com. So, I bought this DVD of Waar as soon as I saw the poster of its availability on a local shop. Cutting the chase, there was I watching it while a similar Islamabad fiasco of Imran Khan…
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Pakistan: An interactive guide for Hollywood and Bollywood Movie Makers
IT is often very funny to see the international media, especially TV and Film Industry, portaying Pakistan as some country where women are covered in black overalls or shuttlecock burqas, people having beards and no moustaches with a checkered cloth over their shoulders, riding donkeys, wiping their behinds with stones, narrow streets, dusty roads, people…