An app for India Pakistan love, the patriotism question, and peace-mongering, regardless

Posted on February 21, 2015 by beenasarwar

20150218-AKA pageMy latest Personal Political post for Times of India blogs

I have for some time been in touch with a young Indian software engineer turned project manager turned ‘digital nomad’, Amrit Sharma. Last week in the Aman ki Asha page that I edit published weekly in The News, Pakistan, we featured a small report on a heart-warming initiative he has started (all the articles are online at the AKA website).

In August 2013, Amrit launched India Loves Pakistan for the joint commemoration of India and Pakistan’s Independence Days. The aim: “to add the human element into the India Pakistan relationship”.  Now he has launched an Android app called “India or Pakistan” through a self-funded tech startup. Continue reading →

Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The ‘good’ Taliban strike again

Posted on February 13, 2015 by beenasarwar
Alamdar Road, Quetta: Shia Hazara protestors sitting with coffins in the freezing cold.

Alamdar Road, Quetta (file photo): Shia Hazara protestors with coffins of those killed in a 2012 attack sit in the freezing cold to demand government action. #NeverForget

Another attack at a Shia Imambargah in Peshawar. More loss of innocent lives as the “good” Taliban strike again. The Pakistan military machine goes after the “bad” ones, while those who kill Shias and Ahmadis are allowed to function as they further outdated foreign policy objectives re India / Kashmir and Afghanistan. (see Pakistan Must Discard its ‘Good Taliban, Bad Taliban’ Narrative)

Pakistanis will keep protesting, the perpetrators will keep attacking. Continue reading →

Filed under: Progressive politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

#ChapelHillShooting All lives matter. “Terrorism, their’s and our’s”

Posted on February 12, 2015 by beenasarwar

Deah, Yosur, Razan#‎AllLivesMatter‬ My heart goes out to the family and friends of Deah, Yosur, and Razan, the beautiful young people whose lives were so cruelly snatched in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, ostensibly over a ‘parking dispute’.

It’s not front page or breaking news in the US mainstream media the way that racial killings or murders committed by Muslims make the news. Those defending the media in this case say that the murders were not motivated by Islamophobia, and that to highlight the religion of those involved is to create conflict. Continue reading →

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It all comes together: Kashmir Day, banned organisations, and a warped narrative

Posted on February 5, 2015 by beenasarwar
DIG Khalique Shaikh and PPP leader Sharmila Farooqi negotiating with protesters outside CM House, Karachi. PPI photo

DIG Khalique Shaikh and PPP leader Sharmila Farooqi negotiating with protesters outside CM House, Karachi. PPI photo

It all comes together. When the Sindh government agreed on Tuesday to the demands of the citizens observing a sit-in for over 30 hours in protest against the Shikarpur blast, probably everyone forgot about Kashmir Solidarity Day. It has been observed annually in Pakistan every February 5 since 1991 when the Nawaz Sharif government during its first stint in power demarcated it as a national holiday. Continue reading →

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Shikarpur survivors’ update, urgent call for blood, and my article on the bombing: a deliberate attack on Sindh’s tolerant Sufi culture

Posted on February 1, 2015 by beenasarwar
8-year old Samar Abbas in critical condition at AKUH: He has a blood clot in his brains, a broken jaw and a collapsed respiratory system. Photo: Anas Mallick

8-year old Samar Abbas in critical condition at AKUH: He has a blood clot in his brains, a broken jaw and a collapsed respiratory system. Photo: Anas Mallick

UPDATE Shikarpur blast: Over 60 were buried in Shikarpur, funeral prayers attended by an over 10,000-strong crowd. 15 survivors were airlifted to hospitals in Karachi, of whom two have passed away. Urgent need for blood at the Agha Khan University Hospital laboratory in Karachi, including for critically injured 8-year old Samar Abbas is in urgent need of O+ blood. Below, extracts from my article yesterday in Scroll also linked here: Bombing of Shikarpur mosque is a deliberate attack on Sindh’s tolerant Sufi culture

Continue reading →

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