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About



Alyan Khan (b. 2002) is an independent writer, theater actor, youth activist, and the author of the book, “The Seven Venoms”. His work has appeared and printed in Express Tribune, Daily Times and International Policy Digest, among others.

Founded a youth organization devoted to awareness, advocacy & action, and runs an independent and non-partisan research platform for youth, he is also a contemporary artist and currently working on his second book — a novel. 

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From mosque confined Mullah to westernized Desi American: How Pakistan works today

  This article is a stub. You can help edit it .   Pakistan is labelled as the only nation founded on the basis of Islam today, a Muslim power, whose roots were strengthen during the Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent. In fact it would be fair to say that Pakistan was the result of, so to say, Muslims' extremism against the non-Muslim's opposition. Then why, if it should be only defined by its Islamic values today, the world sees Pakistan as a threat due to the very reason that helped its creation? The answer to that lies in the two form of extremism that exist in the nation today. Whenever we skip to a news channel or read a newspaper, we cannot help but believe that religion is the main threat to our nation today. Whether we see it from the eyes of westernize Pakistani calming Islam to be backward or stand in the shoes of a mullah accusing the majority of population to be deprived of true reality. The reason is always the one that initially helped its creation:...
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Murree Never Forgot

The Holy Trinity Church, 1860  - © Murree Archive As I walked the mall road, the center of all attention today but once restricted for the locals , I was stumbled upon a strange air — a feeling mixed with the colonial nostalgia and today's hustle and bustle, that was nowhere else to be found. Murree, other than few metropolitan cities, was the only town founded during the colonial era that became part of Pakistan after the partition. Shimla, another colonial town, became part of India after a small dent by Mr. Radcliffe on the map. But politics aside, the 'colonial charm' Murree holds, as referred by the local elites here who inherited the outsider's legacy after their departure, still hides deep in the woods, invisible to most eyes. The town has gone through a tremendous change in recent years, mostly after the partition when new settlers started to arrive and turn the beautiful town into a business hub . Though difficult, it is believed the town still ...
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Discovering Attock: The Grand Trunk Road

In Rudyard Kipling's famous novel Kim , the Grand Trunk Road is described as being “the backbone of all Hind”. The road has witnessed so much history. Along this short stretch, there is the Gandharan capital, a holy Sikh site, Moghul gardens, and the spot where Alexander crossed the Indus.  Centuries later, the hustle and bustle of now an industrial hub still echoes an untold story; we'll be witnessing a fraction of it – the Grand Turk Road to Attock.  Our journey begins with an unexpected phone call. The Government of Pakistan decided to promote the cultural side of Attock through a campaign titled, Discover Attock . All things aside, it was refreshing seeing the youth marking top seats and taking such initiatives. The answer was “ Definitely !”.  Invitees and photographers gathered at the A. D. C. Office [Asad Ullah; 2021], Hasan Abdal – a city in Attock, located 40 km northwest of the country's capital city, Islamabad. Hasan Abdal is an interesting spot with a collecti...
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Pakistani Artists: An endangered species

“ When we were colonial subjects, we could dream of freedom, but now that we were free, what would we dream of? Were we even free? ” Said Saadat Hassan Manto, an Urdu short story writer who loved his country, however poor and ignorant. Art is, essentially, an illusion of any kind. It is a mere ground where we feed our imagination, where we feel relief from the reality that we are bound to return back. It is, in other words, created in the dreams of a creator. Without whom, it's emergence is impossible.  I have always been fascinated by the artists, thinkers, and dreamers the Indian subcontinent produced before the independence, Manto himself being one of the most influential. After the cracking of India, the graph only fell and deepness in people, so to speak, started to drain. The love for art; lost. The drive for passion; missing. And most of all, the dreams themselves; which were nowhere to be found.  Why is it, that when we were most oppressed, we dr...
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The Game of Life: Your time starts now!

“ One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ” Said Helen Keller, a blind who taught the world how to see. Life is, for most people, a chessboard. A board where they are free to feed their imagination and think whatever they perceive their values are. Many consider themselves a pawn, while some knight, bishop or even a queen. They create their limits and that becomes, for them, a purpose of their life. A pawn member of the society thinks he will be sacrificed, no matter what, in order for the game to proceed. A knight may survive half of the game, while the queen will consider her the right wing of the king - the, or instance, national identity everyone fights for.  But all of that is, in reality, connected with a core, without which, it is all empty. All of the pieces, or members of a society, are fighting for one thing the king merely represents: their color, an identity, or perhaps something much less tangible. The opponent, for insta...
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