Megalomaniac

I visited the Auschwitz concentration camp earlier this month with a group of Pakistanis. We have all read about the Nazis and the horrors of the Holocaust but none of us were prepared for the feelings that swept us when we set foot in Auschwitz. It had an eerie feeling to it and it felt as if the air was heavy with grief. When we visited the gas chambers and prison cells, one could literally feel the pain and terror on one’s skin. The visit was a sombre affair. When we left, I could not shake off the fear for a very long time. It also reminded me of the way members of the Shia community, especially the Hazara Shias in Balochistan, were being target-killed in Pakistan by the banned sectarian outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). On Wednesday morning, leader of LeJ Malik Ishaq was killed by the police in a gunfight when allegedly Ishaq’s supporters attacked a police convoy in order to free him near Muzaffargarh. Ishaq’s two sons, his deputy and 11 others militants were also killed in the g...

Lying is a normal human trait. Those of us who claim they never lie are also lying. We all lie...but most of our lies are harmless and just a tactic to save ourselves from getting into trouble. However, one should always draw a line when lies become vicious and/or malicious. Unfortunately, some people think it is okay to malign someone through a lie as long as it serves their purpose, not realising that it is criminal to do so. Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan is a glaring example of such criminal acts. He has repeatedly lied about various things but one of his most criminal lies was about renowned journalist and former caretaker Chief Minister Punjab, Mr Najam Sethi. For the last 18 months, Imran Khan and his cronies have been peddling a lie, without a shred of evidence, on every platform from TV interviews to dharna stage to political rallies, etc that there is an audio tape where Mr Sethi is allegedly talking to Mian Nawaz Sharif on election night and saying someth...