We have seen over 300,000 Covid-related deaths this year in the USA alone, and the numbers are still rising as deniers refuse to take basic precautions like wearing masks. Asymptomatic carriers — no signs of illness — can be infected and infect others. The second wave is well under way…

Wrote this piece yesterday, published in Aman Ki Asha, about the annual joint Independence Day Celebrations by Indians and Pakistanis. The Aman Dosti Yatra (Peace Friendship March) is in Amritsar. Friends in Pakistan were prevented from going to the border but they held a seminar in Lahore. There’s a piece…

I wrote this piece about sexual harassment and abuse, published inThe News on Sunday. It was a difficult piece to write, took a lot of thought, time, and research, and forced me to introspect on uncomfortable ideas. The focus is Pakistan but the issues are universal. In the course of…

I wrote this piece for a web dossier being produced by Heinrich Boell Stiftung for UDHR 70th anniversary 2018 - Asma Jahangir — ein bedeutungsvolles Leben, ein inspirierendes Erbe. Posted to my blog, marking a year after Asma Jahangir passed on. Note: My essay about Asma in an anthology titled…

Posted on August 18, 2018 by beenasarwar | Edit August 17 this year marks 30 years since the mid-air explosion that killed the military dictator General Ziaul…

I wrote this after attending the opening of a powerful group exhibition of Pakistani and Indian artists in New York; published in The News on Sunday and Aman Ki Asha. The show is up until 28 July; must-see if you’re in the area. In New York, a unique India-Pakistan art exhibit Pale Sentinels: Metaphors for Dialogues Curated by Salima Hashmi June 28 — July 28, 2018 Aicon Gallery, 35 Great Jones St., New York

You can’t make this stuff up. The update to this story I wrote for The Wire is that M. Viqar Sharif crossed Wagah border last month and is reunited with his family in Hyderabad, trying to figure out how he can stay on beyond his 45-day visa. Suggestions, anyone? By…

Wrote this piece for Scroll last week about the Pashtun rights movement sweeping Pakistan — an issue I’ve been following and thought would be easier to write than it turned out to be. Published in Scroll on May 6, 2018: FIGHTING CENSORSHIP In Pakistan, a youth-led, social media-powered movement is gaining ground — despite a media blackout The revolution will not be televised in Pakistan…

Wrote something on a glimmer of hope regarding India Pakistan relations that needs to be built upon. Published in The News and in The Wire; original text posted to my blog, and below. The best news in some time is that India and Pakistan are rising above their differences and…