Stratification of religions is a futile exercise. No single religion has a monopoly over violence. Violence has no religion. When you don't miss a chance to dump on Islam and Islamists as somehow more homicidal, you shouldn't be surprised of being labelled Islamophobe. When you walk like a duck.......

Many bloggers have stopped writing, and some have gone into hiding fearing for their life, according to a Dhaka-based blogger who did not want his name publicized due to security concerns. At least eight sites announced a blackout on the blogosphere in protest of the recent arrests and wider crackdown. One such site posted a notice that read: "Bangla Blogosphere begins blackout in protest against harassing and cracking down on bloggers."...

On April 8, the readers of the Urdu daily were shocked to see two press releases of the pro-Jamaat ideologue of Bengal published in the same daily. These press releases had already been published by another Urdu daily. But pro-Delawar fanatics were not satisfied. They wanted the press releases published in the same Urdu daily which published pro-Hasina editorials. It would be a befitting reply to the Pro-Hasina editor if a press release against him was published in his own newspaper. So, under threat or on the order of the owner of the newspaper who is a fruit merchant, the editor had to publish a press release in which he was called an ignoramus, an inexperienced and insane person who does not understand politics and does not know the truth. It might have been a huge embarrassment to a person working as an editor of an Urdu daily who had to publish something against himself, denigrating and ridiculing himself in his own newspaper. Never in the history of journalism has an editor been humiliated in this way. One should appreciate the fact that the editor has not committed suicide out of shame and humiliation….

“The negative phenomenon of Berlusconisation is largely characterised by providing the audience with mainly sensational information and low-quality programmes such as obscene soap operas, talk shows, private monopolies in the broadcasting industry, as well as permanent control over the media and blatant partisanship in the media.”...

The policy goes on to add: “...journalists do not take part in politics...No staff member may seek public office anywhere. Seeking or serving in public office violates the professional detachment expected of a journalist. Active participation by one of our staff can sow a suspicion of favouritism in political coverage.”Absent the existence of such guidelines for many journals in Pakistan it usually is the conduct and advice of the editor and his/her discretion that may serve as a benchmark for the younger generation to emulate....

It's not enormously difficult to see how such a climate would spawn record levels of anti-Muslim violence in the country. The de facto criminalisation of certain types of facial hair and other signifiers of Islamic piety is meanwhile aided and abetted by certain journalistic manoeuvres such as references to "bearded savages" and the like in the mainstream press. ....

The weekly asked the rabblerousing cleric that his outfit is known for chanting the slogan ‘Kafir, Kafir Shia Kafir (apostate, apostate, the Shia are apostate)’ in public rallies but does it not provoke the people to attack the Shia? Ludhianvi’s response was: “Kafir, Kafir Shia Kafir is just a slogan, like any other, such as Roti, Kapra aur Makaan (bread, clothing and shelter). It does not tell anyone to kill Shias....

This can come through high-level regular briefings where anchors are introduced to the many dimensions of a complex relationship and are made aware of the responsibilities that have to be attached to any reporting on India-Pakistan relations. Reporting cannot be without responsibility, particularly when instead of preaching peace, journalists today believe that advertisements come from waging war....

The ambivalence he spoke of was the various positions on the nature of the state expressed by Jinnah, sometimes speaking of secularism whilst others times saying that the Islamic Sharia would be the basis of the state. In sum, the panel sung from the same hymn sheet, arguing that Pakistan must be secular, such that there is a clear separation of religion from state but people are allowed to practice whatever beliefs they chose....

Assailed by jihadist attacks and the moral cudgels of religious conservatives, Lahore’s celebrated cultural vitality has waned somewhat in recent years. A famous kite-flying festival is no more; a performing arts festival vanished after being attacked; and music concerts take place in restricted circumstances. But last month, the city welcomed spring with a raucous new party — a celebration of books...

....Prior to KLF, I had been most excited about conducting a session with him and another formidable talent, Vishal Bhartwaj, the avant-garde Indian filmmaker. The last time I had met Gulzar ji was at Ghalib's birthday celebrations at Delhi, where I walked with him like a shamelessly smitten fan. Ameena Saiyid read out Gulzar ji's letter in which he had apologized for his absence by saying, "Mujh se naraaz na hona"....

 Unlike the Taliban, the intelligence agencies have put in place a system in which journalists seem to be causing their own death by dissenting from the norm. Therefore, the consistent pattern of dumping journalists’ body bags along the roadside in Balochistan is a consequence of certain laid-out conditions, which compel state agencies to eliminate dissenting voices....

For example, a show like Hum Sub Ummeed Se Hain by Dr Younis Butt is certainly able to leave a number of urbanites chuckling at the sight of politicians dancing to tweaked Bollywood tunes, or shown looting the ‘common man’, or being subservient to US dictates, but political satire this is not. Political satire is never populist. In fact it usually satirises populism.....

Many of the international stories this year focused on gender and sexuality: A French Muslim opened an LGBTQ-friendly mosque in Paris; transgender Muslims in Malaysia fought for expanded rights; Muslim clerics made it easier for women to obtain divorces in the Palestinian territories; UCLA law professor Khaled Abou El-Fadl commented on the tradition of female imams and women-led mosques in China; and there was considerable coverage of the experience of female athletes in the 2012 Olympics, as well as those pushing boundaries in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday there is another political protest planned. I will have to go to the office. I will have to pass through the rally. Bombs will be thrown and I will run in fear. Then Chhatra League or any other student wing of political parties will mistake me for being a member of the other party and hack me to death.