Writing on the Wall

 The word Hijra has, ironically, become a curse in Pakistan which clearly shows the cruelty and obliviousness of a society. Moreover, transgenders are often cast away by their families in Pakistan and many were forced to become either beggars or sex workers owing to lack of acceptance and social status. Part of the transgender or  Hijra  community, social stigma, and discrimination make them outcasts in Pakistan’s highly conservative society. Today hijras, who include transgender and intersex people, are hard to miss. Dressed in glittering outfits, their faces heavily coated in cheap makeup, they sashay through crowded intersections knocking on car windows with the edge of a coin and offering blessings. They crash fancy weddings and birth ceremonies, singing bawdy songs and leaving with fistfuls of rupees. Many Hijras feel a sense of alienation, of being looked at as freaks. They complain about being heckled, harassed, and assaulted. Gurus help the young Hijras navigate some of th

 Muhammad Bin Qasim is a central figure in the history of Pakistan, invoked by the leaders of Pakistan Movement in the past and still quoted as the first Pakistani in our national curriculum today. The story of his conquest of Sindh as the origins of Islam in the sub-continent reifies the idea of Muslim foreignness to the land, cultures, religions, histories of the sub-continent. Pakistan then enters into the picture as the preserver of this alienness. The story of Muhammad Bin Qasim’s conquest, however, is rife with historical inaccuracies. Arab General Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered Sindh in 712 AD and became another invader termed a superhero for the emotional people of Pakistan. However, the facts surrounding this conquest, and the ill fate that followed for the conqueror is known to few among us. People today are divided on his adorned status some term him as a preacher and some say he was a predator. According to researcher and historian Dr Mubarak Ali, the war between Muhamad

  The commander of faithful Imam Ali said Value of a man depends upon his courage, his veracity depends upon his self-respect, and his chastity depends upon his sense of honor. General Qasim Suleimani possessed all these traits and perhaps this was the reason behind a severe propaganda campaign orchestrated by the West which he faced his entire life. The multi-million dollar smearing campaign marred the personality of the real Qasim Suleimani which was deliberately kept hidden from the world. In true letter and spirit, Qasim Suleimani lived like Ali (AS) and died like Hussain (AS). He changed the shape of the Syrian civil war and tightened Iran’s grip against the terrorists and tyrant regimes. He was behind hundreds of ISIS deaths in Iraq and planned movement against Israel’s oppression. And for two decades, his every move lit up the communications networks — and fed the obsessions — of intelligence operatives across the Middle East.  He was known as the two-edged sword of Sye