Flashback is an experimental feature looking back at the top articles on this date featured on The Express Tribune website.
May 1, 2011
Osama bin Laden killed
A helicopter crash was reported in Abbottabad late Sunday night. Initial reports had stated that a Pakistan Army helicopter had crashed after technical failure, but by morning the United States had officially announced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed during a secret raid by US covert forces on a compound in the garrison city.
Release of alleged blasphemers sparks riots in Gujranwala
Hundreds of people in Gujranwala, mostly residents of Azizabad Colony, on Saturday attacked a Christian seminary, a church as well as houses of Christians — including a pastor — after finding out that two Christians who had been accused of blasphemy have been released from protective custody by the police.
May 1, 2010
The cult of Imran Khan
“Imran Khan is the ultimate leader for our generation,” a friend of mine pronounced with finality at a small get together recently. She had heard him speak at a college lecture and had been converted in to a growing cult of Khan followers. “But why?” I asked. She told me he stood for youth and hope and was against corruption.
Inside Pakistan's adult film industry
It’s late at night and the room is dimly lit. The walls are decorated with paintings, posters of sportsmen and some birthday cards. There is silence. A boy and a girl are sitting hand in hand. In due time, the boy starts playing with the girl’s hair. She walks away from him and he follows her to the edge of the bed. The girl looks coyly up at him and says, “Please don’t.”
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God! The comments under the Imran Khan article! e.g. take one from one of our supposed "intellectuals" like Ayesha Ijaz Khan. Bet she is not feeling very clever now, is she? :-)
Ayesha Ijaz Khan Apr 30, 2010 - 5:40AM Faria—don’t worry about your apolitical clued out friends. Imran Khan’s political success can be gauged by the recent by-elections in several constituencies and by the Gilgit-Baltistan polls. Perhaps next time you have the same discussion with your friends, you can ask them why Imran Khan didn’t at least contest elections from one of the by-election constituencies himself? If you go on the PTI website (hopefully that is easy enough for the tweeting crowd), you will find them celebrating that one of their candidates made it to number 2 from the Lakki Marwat constituency and debating whether or not IK should have contested the by-elections himself, with the bulk of the opinion leaning against the idea, because “if he had lost, then that would have really been the end of the party”! So IK may be wooing a few apolitical youngsters here and there, but it is of no political consequence
@Ch Allah Daad: "Ducking" opportunity is PMLN buckling under Condi Rice's pressure to participate in the NRO elections after initially announcing a boycott. PTI stood for principle by not participating in fraudulent elections. You can demean the PTI leadership all you like, but this PTI-obsession displays is fear.
If you truly aren't afraid of the tsunami, why not just ignore it?
Imran's cult has increased to few thousand more, but his political stature is the same. After one year his representation in elected houses is still zero. There were many opportunities in by elections to change this figure, but he ducked whenever opportunity arose,.
@MAD: Not really, we can't all be so cynical as to accept "ground realities" of the entrenched status quo. Let young folks have hope and dream of a better day and work for it. If the generation before them would have done the same, Pakistan might have been in a much better place.
If you think things should go on as they have been for the last 25 years, then please, by all means work towards it. That's how democracy thrives. I'm sure whatever way forward you think is the way to go, you have Pakistan's best interests at heart.
But please allow others the same choice without looking down upon them. You might see them as naive or even foolish, but please afford them the courtesy that they, like you, want to see a better Pakistan.
Was reading comment on the Imran Khan article and wondering if most of those people were to read their comments now wouldnt be feel a wee bit foolish.