Author Archive

Dawn.com will host Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi on Tuesday, September 21, for a live blogging session with its readers. You can send in your questions or comments for the tennis star as he returns to the Dawn Blog after a record-breaking run at the US Open. Questions can be sent via the comments section of this forum or you can log on to Dawn.com for a live chat with Aisam on September 21 at 5.30pm PST.

Pakistan cricket is facing one of the darkest days in its history with the match-fixing revelations involving several members of the Pakistan cricket team. While the allegations have not yet been proven, the evidence on hand suggests all is not well in the Pakistan camp. Dawn.com’s sports desk will keep an eye on the developments as the day goes on. We also invite our readers to debate the imbroglio, its implications and what the future holds for...

The worst floods in Pakistan’s history have carved a swathe of devastation across the land, leaving death and despair in their wake. The floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains have caused widespread devastation in northwest Pakistan, killing some 1,500 people and affecting more than four million. In this desperate hour, we all need to rise to the challenge and reach out to our fellow Pakistanis who have lost everything and now face an...

Violence triggered by the murder of Raza Haider, a senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and member of the Sindh Assembly in Karachi on Monday claimed at least 35 lives, according to officials. Once again we saw Karachi burn last night as angry protestors took to the streets burning vehicles and gas stations. Gunfire could be heard in several locations as people stayed home in fear. Once again, we saw Karachi shutdown. Where were you when...

Pakistan saw at least two vital and easy dismissals drop out of their hands thanks to shoddy wicket-keeping from Kamran Akmal. Andrew Strauss’s straightforward caught-behind chance in the fifth over could have proved much costlier than it did. The second chance that he missed was one of the easiest stumping opportunities one can recall. Here, Paul Collingwood had walked such a long way down the crease that had Kamran caught the ball in the second...

An Air Blue passenger plane carrying 152 people crashed in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills on Wednesday morning. Although rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of the crash, due to the hilly terrain, teams travelling by road are having difficulty reaching the area. Dawn.com invites its readers to share whatever information and/or photographs you may have pertaining to today’s passenger plane crash. To view the passenger list, please click here....

Independence Day is exactly a month away and Dawn.com invites you to celebrate August 14 with us. Send us your images on celebrating independence, on what it means to have a country you can call home and what symbols – other than our national flag – represent our identity. You can be as creative and abstract as you want with your images or graphics. We welcome anything that celebrates Pakistan and the national spirit. Ten best images will be selected...

As the final result for the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination came through this week, a few questions came to mind: Can the bureaucrats act like civil servants? Do they think that when Pakistan is being considered the 5th most unstable country in the world, do they want to help change things? Why aren’t the top notch universities graduates adopting this field as their careers anymore? How can nepotism and corruption be eradicated from...

Karachi is currently experiencing torrential rains for the past several hours. What’s happening in your area? Do you have electricity? Are the phones still working? What are the conditions of roads and other infrastructure in your part of the city? Dawn.com invites its readers based in the city to share their experiences. Photo by Hasaan Haider/Dawn.com The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily...

The next so called pro-people budget is going to be presented on June 5. Do you think this could really provide some relief to the common people? In light of the stern conditions in the shape of value-added tax, elimination of subsidies and a considerable power tariff increase asked by the IMF and World Bank, how could this be of assistance to the masses? Who will bear the brunt of the overall price increase in the daily commodities in the consequence...