"We will eliminate the Jamaat from our area and impose the real Islam. You will see that we succeed this time," Sufi Ahmed (not his real name) told me as our jeep approached Dir/Malakand. Sufi Ahmed is a young and budding leader of the banned Tehreek-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) . . . Read More

ACCORDING to linguists, many languages of the world are on the verge of extinction due to a lack of government support for their development and increasing globalization, which causes a loss of ethnic identity . . . Read More

Every day, 23-year-old Mumtaz Khan covers his head with a dirty cloth to protect his identity and transports smuggled goods to Peshawar's main bus terminal for onward dispatch to the rest of the country . . . Read More

At the heart of Peshawar's walled city lies Gorgathree, a cluster of antiquated buildings on a raised mound. A vestige of the Mughal era, the monument is said to be the only extant serai in Peshawar Valley . . . Read More

There is very little authentic information available to the outside world about the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The remoteness of the area, and the political vacuum . . . Read More

The suspension of the basic membership of Farid Toofan, former provincial general secretary of Awami National Party does seem a mere storm in a tea cup, but it is likely to bring some hard facts to light that the party chief, Senator Asfandyar Wali Khan is likely to face strong opposition within his family. . . . Read More

Pakhtun women who abstain from openly expressing their feelings in public, are uninhibited while rendering a song or a "zaarah" (funerary lament). During such informal performances, a woman acts as a singer, poet, and director all at the same time . . . Read More

Pushpapura today is an overcrowded and dusty city and its expansion has been largely unplanned. But a group of journalists pledges to put things in order . . . Read More

Former provincial minister and ANP leader Farid Toofan, whose general secretary ship has caused rift in the party, Wednesday blamed invisible hands for the crisis in the nationalist party . . . Read More

NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah Tuesday inaugurated Mohmand Cadet College in Ghazi Baig, tehsil Haleemzai here the second of its nature in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). . . . Read More

The Awami National Party (ANP), already facing great electoral marginalisation, is confronted with severe crisis that may result in its fragmentation. This time, ANP President Asfandyar Wali and its NWFP chief Begum Nasim Wali seem at odds over the present discord and dissension in the party. . . . Read More

The Anti Kidnapping Force (AKF) had injured one of the six alleged kidnappers and arrested another after they went after the criminals in the case. Sai Khan, one of the six alleged kidnappers, escaped in wounded condition while Saidak who surrendered to the political authorities managed his flee from the lock up. . . . Read More