Nowhere man: An accidental Pakistani seeks Indian citizenship

Posted on May 26, 2018 by beenasarwar

viqar sharifUPDATE: Reunited with his family in India on 23 May, M. Viqar Sharif is now trying to figure out how he can stay there. Suggestions? Email: editor@amankiasha.com. This story Meet the Nowhere Man, an Accidental Pakistani Seeking Indian Citizenship was first published in The Wire on 21 May 2018.

Nowhere man: An accidental Pakistani with Indian family seeks Indian citizenshi

By Beena Sarwar

In a wonderful gift at the advent of Ramzan, on 17 May, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad granted a visit visa to Muhammad Viqar Sharif, 47, an accidental Pakistani stuck in a boys’ hostel in Islamabad since February.

His entire family is in Hyderabad, India, including 74-year old mother, wife and four children, all Indian citizens. His father and grandparents are buried there. His wife and children have never been to Pakistan.

“Pakistan is a beautiful place. All it’s missing is my six family members,” he told me.

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Filed under: Pakistan-India | 1 Comment »

Once spy vs spy, former chiefs of RAW and ISI co-author a book

Posted on May 25, 2018 by beenasarwar
A S DULAT AIRPORT

Former RAW chief A.S. Dulat on arrival at Karachi airport for the Aman Ki Asha seminar “Re-engagement for Peace”, March 2011.

A short preview published in Aman Ki Asha the other day about the just published Spy Chronicles co-authored by former heads of India and Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.

In March 2011, Pakistan had an unusual visitor. Among the Indian delegates of a ground-breaking seminar titled “Re-Engagement for Peace” in Karachi was A. S. Dulat, former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

The delegates were participating in the second in a series of three closed-door ‘strategic seminars’ organised by Maj. Gen. (rtd.) Mahmud Ali Durrani in conjunction with the peace platform Aman Ki Asha jointly launched by the Jang Group of Pakistan and the Times of India in 2010.

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Youth-led, social media-powered movement in Pakistan gains ground – despite media blackout

Posted on May 8, 2018 by beenasarwar

Woman at a PTM rally clutch photos of missing loved ones. Photo: courtesy Taqra Qabaili Khwenday (brave tribal sisters) via Amna Durrani

When Scroll asked me to write something on the Pashtun movement sweeping through Pakistan, I thought it would be an easy assignment because I’ve been following the issue. But writing this piece was much more difficult and took a lot longer than I expected. Here’s my piece contextualising the issue trying to explain to a non-initiated audience what this is all about, published in Scroll on May 6, 2018 under the head: FIGHTING CENSORSHIP. 

In Pakistan, a youth-led, social media-powered movement is gaining ground – despite a media blackout

The revolution will not be televised in Pakistan. Unless it has the blessings of the powers-that-be. This has been proved time and again in the past, under a system ruled directly by the military for more than half the country’s 71-year history. The current censorship may be the worst-ever. Continue reading →

Filed under: democratic political process, Human rights, Peace, Progressive politics | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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