Best in print

A look at some of the best stories and headlines from print.

25.09.2011

Girl accused of blasphemy for spelling error

Muhammad Sadaqat

It was a minor error that led to blasphemy charges, expulsion and the looming threat of death. The story of Faryal, a Christian eighth-grader accused of blasphemy for erroneously writing ‘naat’ as ‘laanat’ encapsulated the madness that defined the issue of the blasphemy laws.

10.11.2011

In the name of ‘honour’: Brazen Shikarpur killings shake Hindu community

Sarfaraz Memon

A tale of a love affair that turned tragic. Three Hindu men were killed for intervening on behalf of two young men of their community who had been apprehended two weeks earlier and charged with criminally assaulting a Muslim girl. The real story, as told by area residents, was that Seema and Sandeep Kumar fell in love and were caught while they were meeting at the house of Sandeep’s friend, Nakash Kumar.

24.10.2011

Agriculture investments: The smart money is betting on the Pakistani farm

Farooq Tirmizi

The headlines may be screaming about violence and extremism but the smart money is betting, very quietly, on Pakistani agriculture, reports Farooq Tirmizi. The story explored a small but growing trend towards investing in the Pakistani agricultural sector, one of the largest in the world in terms of its production of several key commodities.

12.02.2011

Mullah Omar wants you

Rana Tanveer

The story reveals that a wide repertoire of banned Jihadi literature continues to be circulated widely in Punjab. It also highlights an interesting revelation: banned periodicals have actually become more visible during the present democratic government.

09.10.2011

Masked men enter girls’ school, thrash students

Azam Khan

The shocking story of sixty masked men entering a girls’ school in Rawalpindi and thrashing female students and teachers attracted a great deal of feedback from online readers. The article was particularly alarming because the police did not take any action against the miscreants as they manhandled the school’s occupants.

17.03.2012

Back from the Brink

Fazal Khaliq

The story focused on a topic which rarely makes headlines— the Swat telefilm industry. The article discusses that the conflict in the region had a debilitating effect on the region’s culture, arts and films, but now the entertainment industry is picking up and many artists have moved back to Swat. The in-depth piece had quotes from many associated with the industry including actors, DVD shop owners, film-makers and editors and also discussed how many artists felt let down by the government and NGOs.

Headlines

29.09.2011 No Bonn voyage for Pakistan

25.12.2011 Firdous throws in towel, takes it back, wipes tears

04.09.2011 Sentences passed: Teammates to inmates

24.09.2011 Wife proves quite ‘handi’ in kitchen for all the wrong reasons

08.03.2012 Bushra Zaidi, the woman who changed Karachi forever, by dying

20.08.2011 Cycle of violence: Mr Rehman Malik, meet Karachi’s wives and girlfriends

13.01.2012 ‘Djinns killed my children’

27.02.2012 Child sexual abuse: Paedophiles in holy garbs molest kids, betraying parents’ trust

23.06.2011 On the line: ‘Pay us Rs320 if you want your father’s body’

06.12.2011 Advanced learning: The bright-eyed future

20.03.2012 Kohistan massacre: The guardian angels who saved lives

25.02.2011 Newborn twins buried under bondage of brick kiln

30.08.2011 A death, a birth and the family mourns both

30.08.2011 Let’s get one thing straight, I’m not

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2012.