Sex is no laughing matter in Pakistan
SHAZIA MIRZA April 18, 2010 IN ALL the countries that I have travelled to to perform stand-up comedy – the US being a regular destination – I have never been held up or interrogated at customs. Or I hadn’t, until I arrived in Pakistan. I spent six hours at Lahore customs, as I did not have a visa in my British passport to enter the country. The people who organised my gig had mistakenly assumed that because my parents were born in Pakistan and I, too, am brown, they would automatically let me in. The customs officer asked: “Are you Pakistani?” Yes. “Where were you born?” England. “That makes you a foreigner.” He looked through my passport, which is filled with US visas. He said: “Are you a spy?” No, I’m a stand-up comedian. … Read entire article »
Bollywood,Reality TV and Indian secularism
Bradistan Calling Indian TV has seen numerous Bollywood reality shows, competition where common boys (and occasionally girls) have won places on movies by top directors. The Show that I want to talk about is Bollywood, blind-date and arranged (and staged) marriage all rolled into one big media circus. … Read entire article »
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Shoaib Akhtar's genital warts keep him off T20 Team Pakistan
hoaib Akhtar’s genital warts keep him off T20 Team Pakistan As injuries go, this one has to take the cake. And as for revelations and official press releases go, this one could be a sure nomination for the Oscar award for the best ‘visual’ effects, if not win it hands down! In a statement graphic enough to necessitate a ‘Parental Guidance’ certificate, the Pakistan Cricket Board revealed, “The medical board has reported that Shoaib Akhtar was suffering from genital viral warts and the wound needs further care and treatment for a minimum 10 days for the purpose of healing and to achieve skin cover.” For the uninitiated, I tried to dig it up in a medical dictionary, and it said, genital warts are a type of sexually transmitted disease (STD), also called a … Read entire article »
Ifti Nasim: Muslim and Gay?
By Bradistan Calling Ifti Nasim also known as Iftikhar Nasim is a pioneering Pakistani gay poet who now lives in the U.S. He has written many books of poetry in Urdu and English languages. He has also written prose in both languages. … Read entire article »
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Celebrating the Body: Sexuality over Spirituality*
Will we not be better off, if we bypass the priest and the therapist,and pray at the altar of the body and stop confusing it? By Saeed Ur Rehman All that gazes, seeks rapture in the other, dances, decorates itself to flaunt its untapped vitality, pulsates, throbs, runs in our veins, and yearns for eternity by multiplying itself is confused with one word: love. Love is an effect of biological vitality not its cause. We do not desire another human being because we feel love but rather we humans have assigned taming metaphors to what our flesh induces in us. By assigning abstract concepts to all that is life-giving, we, the metaphysical animals, have created an elaborate prison of metaphors for our healthy bodies. … Read entire article »
Into the Mirror – Mukhtaran Mai
EXCERPT: House Of Women The book explores tribal traditions and lifestyles in Pakistan and tries to reconstruct both sides of the story to unearth the truth behind the alleged gang-rape of a Pakistani village woman. November 2005, Mirwala ‘She was his bride!’ the old widow hollers in autumn sunshine, surrounded by rag-clothed grandchildren. Gold studding her bulbous nose, the matriarch of the house where Mukhtar says she was assaulted rocks, sobs, and pulls on the tattered corners of a thin purple floral shawl pyramiding her face, and wipes her raging tears. ‘We never took their girl! They are telling lies to you and everyone! To take a girl and do such things to her does not exist in Islam. Muslims and Islam know no activity like this.’ Taj Mai Mastoi, somewhere in her 60s, cries on … Read entire article »
On being a Pakistani man
Imaduddin Ahmed Another Independence Day has gone! Yes, we lost our more democratic half and there’s quite a bit of turmoil here and there, but we’e here and we can say “Up Yours India!” and that’s what counts, right? Well, besides being here, what do we Pakistanis have to show for ourselves? Two things that spring to mind are a few sporting achievements (a confidence booster for Pakistani male virility) and the Muslim-nuclear bomb, coupled with a few missiles – which means we’e good at erecting phallic tools that cause massive explosions (testimony to the fact that we’re not afraid of showing India how large our collective might is). One wonders what the state might have accomplished had our army-worshipping culture not been so preoccupied by male sexual insecurities. But it sheds a … Read entire article »
Sexually frustrated Pakistanis:There is a brothel where the brain should be
We are posting this provocative piece by Qandeel Sham, a regular contributor at the Pak Tea House. The views expressed here are Qandeel’s and the purpose of this series of posts is to examine the unspeakable problems of our society – sex or lack thereof, being one of them. As Qandeel puts it: “We keep our mouths shut; we’re good at pretence, all for the sake of social propriety…” Further contributions on this subject are welcome. I’m told by reliable sources that there are villages in Pakistan where Rs. 20-50 can buy you sex with a cow. You also have sheep, goat, dog, donkeys, etc. Others prefer their mammals more aquatic, and perhaps someone ought to inform WWF that zooerastia is the reason dolphins have become so endangered along the Indus River. I … Read entire article »
Sex at Pak Tea House – no brothels here
Raza Rumi Two esteemed bloggers, visitors at the Pak Tea House (PTH) complained that PTH through its laissez faire comment policy was turning into a brothel. A piece from an international publication on the booming sex trade in Pakistan was posted here. Now it is true that the term sex invites attention and clicks by the browsers. Google figures have time and again shown the enormous searches for the term ‘sex’ emanating from the Land of the Pure. It is therefore an issue that concerns Pakistan at its core: the hypocrisy relating to sexual desires and the frustrations that are part of the baggage. We in no way wanted to invite readers to leave their numbers, email and chat IDs for nocturnal secretive activities. But it happened. I have removed almost all the … Read entire article »
In Pakistan, a Sex Industry Has Begun to Boom
SEX IN DEPTH In Pakistan, a dark trade comes to light By William Sparrow BANGKOK – Prostitution in the Islamic nation of Pakistan, once relegated to dark alleys and small red-light districts, is now seeping into many neighborhoods of country’s urban centers. Reports indicate that since the period of civilian rule ended in 1977, times have changed and now the sex industry is bustling. Early military governments and religious groups sought to reform areas like the famous “Taxali Gate” district of Lahore by displacing prostitutes and their families in an effort to “reinvent” the neighborhood. While displacing the prostitutes might have temporarily made the once small red-light district a better neighborhood for a time, it did little to stop the now dispersed prostitutes from plying their trade. Reforming a neighborhood, instead of offering … Read entire article »
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