Category: Articles

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan It is an abomination to be deprived of freedom. Forced confinement on false pretexts is unnatural and triggers various responses. Some folks buckle under and surrender, others reconcile and accept it, and then there are those who get rejuvenated in their resolve to resist. I experienced these feelings during my…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Dushman maray te Khushi na kariye, sajnaa ve mar jaanaa” translates “do not rejoice death of an enemy, our dear ones will also pass away.” These are profound lyrics of Punjabi Sufi poet Mian Mohammad Buksh. It signifiestruth about the finite nature of life; futility of vendettas and reminds us…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan We all live our lives with the face we are born with. It’s a fact of life you cannot argue with. At times one succeeds in concealing shortcomings or enhance some features, temporarily through make-up aids. Developments in technology does give some long–term respites like hair transplants for baldness. Those…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan While talking to my buddy Hassan Nisar along with Afzal Ghauri we went on a nostalgic binge recapping our 60 years of friendship. Revisiting our memories of yesteryears when we met up in 1965 upon joiningGovernment College, Lyallpur. We reminisced about my first election for students’ union and friends who…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan Marie Antoinette was the last Queen of France. An Austrian princess, she married into French royalty. Her husband, King Louis XVI’s degenerative acts were the final straw triggering the French Revolution. Marie got married at the tender age of 14. She had always lived in luxury and wealth and had…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan Anyone who has witnessed PMA Kakul passing out parades would bear me out that it is an awesome experience. The uniformity of movements, the emotions generated by music in the background and the glamor of the marchpast is overwhelming. Having grown up in the garrison city of Abbottabad, the image…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Masi Barkate”, Aunt Barkate was a permanent fixture in our ancestral “dera” in Lyallpur. She was widowed at a young age with no offsprings and was woven into our joint family structure. She ran the staff with an iron fist and spoilt us to bits with “taaza Lassi”, fresh butter…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan We are a nation of 250 million living in a state of anxiety. Every day, survival is a challenge for an overwhelming majority. Spiraling inflation, constant fear of the midnight door knock, lack of hope for the future is ruining the Pakistani psyche. In this state of despondency and heightened…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Washington is a city of traffic lights; I hate this stop and start” said the young man, nicknamed Junior, while drivingme to the November 26th massacre Congressional Briefing. He had a point; the density of signals is mind boggling. The Capitol Hill with its imposing building and structures that surround…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan Washington is abuzz with anticipation for the upcoming Congressional briefing on the massacre of November 26th2024. These days I am in US and had an opportunity to interact with this brave lot leading the charge. Imran Khan after galvanizing the nation has also motivated the Overseas Pakistanis to rise to…