Tag: New Statesman

  • The secret war in Balochistan

    In the aftermath of the bomb attacks in Quetta, I wrote a piece for the New Statesman explaining the situation in Balochistan, the lawless province in Pakistan’s south-west. Balochistan is…

  • Pakistan’s political theatre

    On 15 January, Tahir ul Qadri’s “long march” reached Islamabad and camped outside Parliament. While it stopped short of the 1m people he’d promised, a good 30,000 or so turned…

  • Religious minorities and the mob mentality

    I wrote a piece for the New Statesman about a series of violent acts against religious minority communities: Taken together, these ostensibly unrelated incidents provide a disturbing snapshot of the…

  • Recent dispatches from Karachi

    Pakistan has been reeling from the shooting of 14 year old schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai. The day after she was shot by the Taliban, I wrote a piece for the…

  • Imran Khan’s peace march

    Last weekend saw Imran Khan’s much-publicised march into Waziristan to protest against US drone strikes in the area. As the rally got underway, I wrote a piece for the New…

  • Blasphemy law and religious minorities

    I arrived in Karachi this week, where I’ll be reporting from until the end of the year. I’ve spent the majority of the last few days adjusting to the 35…

  • Paralympics, defectors, and… virginity cream

    Just for clarity, the title of this post refers to three topics I’ve covered separately, rather than all at once (although that sounds like a great, if unlikely, piece). Thought…

  • Sex and morality

    Activists in India protest after three ministers in Karnataka were caught watching porn.

  • Policing the Olympics

    Just a quick post to flag up a few things I’ve been working on over the past week or so. In typical British fashion, we complained intensely about the Olympics…