Here is an interesting story from the 1953 student movement, about how they contacted colleagues and supporters in other parts of the country in an age when communication was far slower and more expensive than it is now. Continue reading
Filed under: Student politics | Tagged: 1950s student movement, all pakistan students convention, Dr M Sarwar, DSF, ICB, katrak hall | Leave a comment »
Prof. M. Nauman
The cause of progressive politics in Pakistan suffered two major losses over the past week, with the passing away of veteran journalist M.B. Naqvi, 81, on November 7th, and Prof. M. Nauman, 58, on Nov 15th.
M.B.Naqvi
I know they would both have been present at the event planned for Jan 9-10 in Karachi to honour and take forward the legacy of the 1950’s student movement – and they remain with us in spirit and through their ideas, work and commitment. See the Dr Sarwar blog for more on both.
Three-year old Diya with mother Shaheen and father Pervez's photo (courtesy Fauzia Minallah)
Honour Pervez Masih: a janitor at the International Islamic University, killed when he stopped a suicide attacker (reportedly in women’s clothes) from entering the cafeteria for female students on Nov 16th. His heroic stand saved the lives of more than 300 students. Many to remember him as a hero — but his mother told a CNN reporter, `My hero is dead’.
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Filed under: Pakistan | Tagged: Fauzia Minallah, Islamic University blast, M B Naqvi, Pervez Masih, Prof Nauman | 4 Comments »
Let the democratic process continue…. A must-read: I.A. Rehman’s article in Dawn, Nov 12, 2009, ‘The Locus of power’
Extract: “All elected prime ministers, from Mr Bhutto to Mr Nawaz Sharif, tried with varying degrees of earnestness, to get rid of the halter around their necks and all of them came to grief. Now that it is possible to think of democratic advancement the reasons for their failure must be thoroughly examined and adequately addressed.”
by SYED SHAHID HUSAIN Continue reading
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: A Q Khan, Asif Ali Zardari, corruption, democracy, kickbacks, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, musharraf, NAB, Pakistan, submarine deal | 6 Comments »
See article below, posted with this comment by Shaheryar Azhar, Moderator, The Forum: “What is amazing is that people like Kamran Khan, Shaheen Sehbai and then politicos like PMLN (and PPP to be sure as in 1999) and everyone in between have such low opinion and regard for democracy that for all kinds of invented reasons they are ready to sacrifice it at a drop of a hat. They are or unwittingly become instruments of the Army. No one has the mental toughness to ask the difficult questions or patience to let the political process sort out the incompetent and the corrupt overtime. Irony of irony is that, in turn, each of them have themselves been a victim of the same establishment whose line they now toe. What accounts for this short-sightedness? Are they too self-absorbed, too bereft of core beliefs, too egotistically driven, too lacking in wisdom to see the circus of repeating rings! This is a great article by Sadiq Saleem because he is raising the logical issues – one can already see an alternative narrative developing here, which can, one hopes, lead one day to the true practice of the Charter of Democracy.”
Filed under: 'War on terror' | Tagged: Charter of Democracy, Husain Haqqani, media responsibility, PPP, Sadiq Saleem, Shaheryar Azhar, terrorist attacks | 2 Comments »
Oct 22, 2009: Slightly amended version of my column for Hardnews, November 2009 issue
PERSONAL POLITICAL
Beena Sarwar
My 13-year old daughter and her friends were thrilled when the government announced a nation-wide closure of schools for the rest of the week. Their joy dimmed when they learned why: suicide bombers at Islamabad’s co-ed Islamic University had killed several students. Amidst fears that more educational institutes would be targeted, armed forces-run schools were already closed.
Pakistan is at war. The entire country is the battleground. The series of bomb blasts gained momentum as expected, in the run-up to Oct 17 when the army launched its ground offensive in South Waziristan. During the first two weeks of October, militant attacks killed over 150 people, including some 40 on a deadly Thursday in Lahore, Kohat and Peshawar.
Filed under: 'War on terror' | Tagged: army action south waziristan, CIA Afghan war, Dr Eqbal Ahmad, Islamic University blast, militant attacks pakistan, musharraf u-turn, pakistan schools closure, saffron brigade, Taliban | 1 Comment »
I wrote this essay for Nukta Art in September, for its November issue which has just been published
Beena Sarwar
Communalism Combat cover, March 2009: Fighting back
The campaign against the iconic Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain, perhaps the most prominent living symbol of art under attack, is part of the political fight for India’s soul – secular democracy versus a ‘Hindu’ state.
Several interrelated issues arise from this situation, linked with intent, identity, politics, religion, the role of the state, and of course the nature of ‘art’ itself. The illogical controversy has unfortunately been allowed to overshadow the artist’s phenomenal, critically acclaimed work itself both in India and abroad.
Filed under: Communalism | Tagged: BJP, Communalism Combat, Deeksha Nath, Epic India, Gulam Sheikh, M F Husain, Peabody Essex Museum, Ram Rahman, Sahmat, Salil Tripathi, Sri Ram Sena | 6 Comments »
This article, published in The News on Sunday, Footloose page, Nov 1, 2009 , is an expanded version of my previous report for IPS on the Kabul trialogue
Kabul looks battered. Dusty brown hills form the backdrop wherever the eye turns. Yet it is a city struggling to regain its former glory
By Beena Sarwar
Locals cycle past the ancient wall of Kabul
It was once known as the city of flowers, said Zahira Khattak, the ANP activist who grew up in Kabul. Now, the only flowers visible in the city provide splashes of colour through the all-pervasive dust at a few isolated roundabouts — and at the splendid, renovated Bagh-e-Babar (Babar’s Garden) on the city outskirts, the last resting place of the first Mughal emperor.
The city still looks battered — but often that’s because old buildings are being knocked down to make way for high-rises. Some gracious old buildings still stand tall in the midst of the dust and rubble. A series of upmarket high-rise apartment blocks emerge from the dust on the road from the airport. Air-conditioned shopping malls and boutique restaurants cater to the crowds of expatriate workers resident in Kabul, and the Afghani rupee has a better value than the Pakistani rupee. Noisy, unruly traffic bumps non-stop over the unpaved streets. Traffic lights are conspicuous by their absence. There are security barriers everywhere and few women are visible on the streets. The markets close early, but this city is nowhere close to giving up.
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Filed under: Afghanistan | Tagged: Afrasiab Khattak, Aneesa Zeb, Bagh-e-Babar, Bushra Gohar, Dr Alema, Ghazal Srinivas, Hazrat Bahauddin Zakaria, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, Jyoti Malhotra, Kabul, Killid media, Nafisa Shah, Najiba Ayubi, Nargis Nehan, Pakistan India peace march 2006, Pakistan Women Parliamentary Caucus, peace jirga, Renuka Mishra, Shukriya Barakzai, Tajik women concert, women parliamentarians Pakistan Afghanistan, women peace trialogue, Zahira Khattak | 3 Comments »
Journeys to democracy 