Issue 8: Language and Politics

Punjab, Curriculum and Heroes

Dulla Bhatti and Rani of Jhansi are amongst our most dazzling heroes. Why, then, do we know nothing about them?
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Why Are Women Verbally Abused?

From "bhenchod" to "maachod", most cuss words are about women. What words are we, as women, then supposed to use?
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Balochi, Urdu

Balochi and Urdu have a long and beautiful shared history. State oppression is destroying an exchange that has generated some of the best literature we have seen–in both languages.
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Women in Urdu Literature

Urdu writers are deviating from traditional gender roles. If literature is a reflection of its environment, that means Pakistan is far more complex than we may think.
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Trampled Rights in Balochistan

Enforced disappearances are now accompanied by widespread search operations and encounters, in an expanded and intensified state offensive in Balochistan.
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English/Urdu Bipolarity Syndrome in Pakistan

Feb 2015

Pakistan's media conglomerates know what sells in what language.
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A Critique of Language Snobs: Urdu and the Politics of Identity

A history of the extraordinary–and ludicrous–political battles for an authentic Urdu.
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