Dr Ahmad Arslan Some people have to be called saints despite their expressed iconoclasm. When Jean Paul Sartre wrote on Jean Genet, he called him Saint Genet. Helene Cixous’s commentary on Jacques Derrida is called “Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Jewish Saint”. The words Noam Chomsky chooses to describe his dear friend and comrade, Eqbal Ahmad were “Secular Sufi”. There is something about such creed of men which though may be Anarchists, Marxists or morally non-conformist writers with police records makes them saintly. Saints are strangers in the world of men, people who live in the material world but who shun all its relations. One such stranger in Pakistani politics is Haider Abbas Gardezi.. Kishwar Naheed in her column in Jang mentions him as the only intellectual who has applied … Read entire article »

By Naeem Sadiq  I am sad at the destruction of 200 schools in Swat.  But I am even more sad at the destruction of 15000 schools that have been turned into  ‘ghost schools’  in Pakistan. These schools continue to receive state funding and the teachers continue to receive monthly salaries.  The benefits of this on-going day-time robbery are  judiciously shared by the politicians and members of the Education department. Can I request that a list be prepared that gives the name of each school, the teachers on pay-roll, the funds received by each school, the responsible EDO (Education), the current use of the school building and the reason for closure of  the school.  This list be displayed on the internet and printed in national newspapers.   The people of Pakistan have a … Read entire article »