It has been well over a decade now that PACT Radio / Mahad’ad-Dawa (MDI) started setting up media centres in madrassahs in the Pashto speaking border areas. With some exceptions, the reaction to the location of media centres in madrassahs, veered between scepticism to downright hostility. ‘What has media got …
Read More »Listeners’ wish: reinstate the repeat show
The time that Da Pulay Poray drama is broadcast – 7.30 pm in the evening – is, on the whole, a good time. It is prime listening time. However, as the old saying goes, you cannot please all the people, all the time. That is why the broadcast of Da …
Read More »The role of festivals in forging national unity
One thing that is unique about Afghanistan is the different festivals, mostly held in spring, in different parts of the country. Of course, the most famous festival is that held over the Persian New Year – Nowrooz – in Mazar-e-Sharif. There are many more, one of them held in Jalalabad …
Read More »What happened to the repeat of drama?
Clearly, not everyone is able to listen to Da Pulay Poray drama at the prime broadcast time of 7.30 pm every evening. This is true particularly of female listeners, who tend to be very busy at 7.30 in the evening. Hence, those listeners who are unable to listen in at …
Read More »True bravery is far removed from the common perception.
فَمَنْ عُفِيَلَهُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ شَيْءٌ فَاتِّبَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَأَدَاءٌ إِلَيْهِ بِإِحْسَانٍۗ ذَٰلِكَ تَخْفِيفٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَرَحْمَةٌۗفَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَهُ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ. ‘If the offender is granted some remission from the heir of the slain person, the agreed penalty should be equitably exacted and should be discharged in a handsome manner.’ …
Read More »Traditional Solutions to Modern Problems
Now you may or may not be aware of it – you can be forgiven for being quite unaware of what is going on on the Western side of your national border – but the Eastern neighbors of Punjabis are Pashtoons, more commonly known as Pathans in India. Pathans have …
Read More »How Pashtoons became refugees in their own land
Back in the 1980s, a meeting was held among local people in Akora Khattak. Basically, the theme of the meeting was that with the influx of Afghan refugees we – the local community – have become a minority in our own town. As a minority, we are also eligible for …
Read More »Reconciliation of Patriotism and Piety
[:en] by: J.M.Butt I often had the pleasure of sitting with Abdul Ghani Khan, the elder son of Bacha Khan. He told me once how his father first put him into a madrassah, wishing to make him into a great Islamic scholar. “Then, when the religious scholars got rid of …
Read More »Drone attacks in Waziristan: FCR by USA
Prior to the 9/11 attacks, very few people knew about the tribal areas of north-western Pakistan, as very little news came out of the region and even less gained international attention. However, since the attacks, the tribal regions have been under the spotlight, not just of various international powers, but …
Read More »Mystery Missile Attacks Exact a Heavy Toll
It has been on record for the last three months that the border regions of Kunar province of Afghanistan are under missile attack. While it appears that these attacks are coming from the Pakistan side, this cannot be confirmed. Although the matter has become a huge issue for the government …
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