menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Wrong end of the stick?

5 0
04.06.2025
Since moving to England, well over two years ago, I continue to find it difficult to explain Pakistan to westerners. They know Pakistan as a volatile nuclear state reeling from the combined impact of al Qaeda, terrorism, a dodgy army and a corrupt political leadership. The part of the country that is never mentioned whenever Pakistan is discussed is its people. There seems to be an underlying assumption that they are getting what they deserve. Take the furore over the government's attempts to amend the blasphemy law. Most people seem to be aware that this law was promulgated by a dictatorial general in pursuance of an agenda that gave us al Qaeda and the Taliban, years after his death. Many may also be aware of the fact that the democratic governments succeeding General Zia were, too, short lived to do much. But still, westerners generally find it impossible to understand why a law as comprehensively deficient in legal propriety as........

© The Express Tribune Blog