Posted on September 27, 2012 by beenasarwar
This blog post is not about the violence and mayhem let loose in Pakistan to protest the anti-Islam film made by some fanatics. The destruction caused by the protestors in the name of love for the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) last Friday was televised for the world to see. This post is about what some people, mostly youth, are doing to counter such madness.
Horrified at the destruction and violence, some youngsters decided to actually DO something beyond sitting around and complaining about the protestors and their criminal activities: “The idea is simple, just get out on the streets and roads, use whatever resources you can to clean up the mess created by these riots. This is a national thing, and it would be great if people in every city of Pakistan join in!” Continue reading →
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Filed under: Blasphemy Laws, Peace | Tagged: #projectcleanupforpeace, #rebuildmardanchurch, Activism, anti-Islam film, Mardan church, Pakistan | 2 Comments »
Posted on September 20, 2012 by beenasarwar
Largest exhibition of Pakistani contemporary art on display Sept. 24 at National Art Gallery, Islamabad at 5 p.m. to celebrate 30 years of Rohtas Gallery. Sixty five artists will exhibit more than 165 works in a testimony to Pakistan’s contemporary artists and an amazing journey through their growth and contribution to art over three decades.
Rohtas Gallery opened in 1981 when a repressive military dictator ruled Pakistan. Rohtas Gallery defied constraints and offered space and inspiration to Pakistan’s artists who wanted to challenge contemporary thought and encourage others to do the same through their work.
This exhibition on Sept. 24 celebrates Rohtas Gallery and Pakistan’s artists and their amazing journey together.Like this:
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Filed under: Human rights, Pakistan, Peace | Tagged: Activism, art, dissent, Gen. Zia, Pakistan | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 14, 2012 by beenasarwar
Residents watch the rescue operation in the garment factory in Karachi. Photo via CNN
Protests are scheduled all over Pakistan on Saturday, against the horrific factory fire that claimed nearly 300 lives in Karachi and 25 in Lahore due to criminal negligence of the factory owners whose primary interest lies in making money — they exploit workers, ignore safety standards that the government, equally criminally, did not enforce. Details of the protests below. Online petitions calling for the government to take action: Avaaz and International Workers Solidarity Petition Continue reading →
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Filed under: Human rights | Tagged: karachi factory fire, labour rights, lahore factory fire, Pakistan, worker safety | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 6, 2012 by beenasarwar
1993 – May 11: Salamat Masih, a 14-year-old Christian boy, was named as the main accused in a case lodged by the imam of the mosque at Ratta Dhotran, district Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan. It was alleged that Salamat had written derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (SW) on the mosque walls and thrown slips of paper with similar language written on them into the mosque. Salamat’s father Rehmat Masih and uncle Manzoor Masih were co-accused. Manzoor Masih and Salamat Masih were illiterate. A sessions court sentenced them to death but the high court later acquitted them. Manzoor Masih was shot dead during the hearings, and the High Court Judge, Arif Iqbal Bhatti, who acquitted them, was also later shot dead. Salamat Masih and Rehmat Masih had to flee the country.
For a list of more cases see Incidents of minors in Pakistan accused of ‘blasphemy’ at the Citizens for Democracy blog
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Filed under: Blasphemy Laws | Tagged: blasphemy, cfd, Pakistan, rimsha, salamat masih | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 1, 2012 by beenasarwar
The people of Pakistan and India, people of Indian and Pakistani origin around the world, and friends of India and Pakistan, are fed up of the visa restrictions that prevent them from visiting families in the other country. There isn’t even a tourist visa protocol between these two biggest neighbours of South Asia. People in the region want the right to travel and to trade, to walk along coastlines and roads that represent their collective past, to seek and spread harmony across a subcontinent not divided by politics and propaganda. In this modern age of interdependence, it is a tragedy that the citizens of India and Pakistan are left peering over a border made indomitable and intimidating. There is little space for the hand of friendship to be extended across this border. This must change. Sign the Aman ki Asha Milne Do petition at Change.org . Let’s get a thousand signatures in time to present to the Foreign Ministers when they meet in Islamabad on September 8 2012.
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Filed under: Pakistan-India, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
This blog post is not about the violence and mayhem let loose in Pakistan to protest the anti-Islam film made by some fanatics. The destruction caused by the protestors in the name of love for the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) last Friday was televised for the world to see. This post is about what some people, mostly youth, are doing to counter such madness.
Journeys to democracy 