Farida Shaheed is the second Pakistani woman after Benazir Bhutto invited by the Harvard Radcliffe Institute to deliver the prestigious Rama S. Mehta lecture. Who was Rama S. Mehta and what was Benazir Bhutto’s connection with her?
Before the talk: Jackie Bhabha and Farida Shaheed. Photo: Beena Sarwar / Global Southasia
I wrote this article recently on the Harvard Radcliffe Rama Mehta talk published in Global Southasia, for which I had reached out to well known former U.S. diplomat, author, and politician Peter Galbraith for his comments. I didn’t hear from him in time, but sharing below his email the day after the piece was published, for the record.
On Thu, Oct 29, 2026 at 9:57 AM <Peter Galbraith> wrote:
Dear Beena,
My parents established this lecture to honor their friend and my mother’s co author, Rama Mehta.
While Benazir Bhutto was not the first to give the lecture, my father asked Radcliffe to invite her each year that she was in prison starting in 1981 or 1982. (Zia had imprisoned her in brutal conditions from March 1981.) My father’s purpose was simple: He wanted the Pakistani dictatorship to know that Benazir had prominent friends in the United States who cared about her well being and treatment.
This came at a time when the Reagan Administration prohibited US diplomats from having contact with the Bhutto family but also when the Reagan Administration needed congressional approval to make Pakistan the second largest recipient of US military assistance. Benazir’s fate had become an important issue in the congressional debate over US assistance.
Rama Mehta’s daughter Vijay Mehta was at Smith while we are at Harvard. She and Benazir spent New Year’s 1971 together in our farm in Vermont just days after the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War. They remained friends until Benazir’s death. Rama’s son Vikram was our classmate at Oxford (where Benazir and I went after Harvard) and also remained her friend. Interestingly Rama Mehta’s husband, Jagat Mehta, was a prominent Indian diplomat at the time and later Foreign Secretary.
It’s been a while since I posted anything to my blog or Substack. Been juggling a lot, plus working on a piece I began writing some days after attending the South Asia Literature and Arts (SALA) festival in the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago. While that percolates, I want to share three related stories — about the ‘let her fly’ concept from a wonderful book, girl gymnasts from an underprivileged area of Karachi, and how a little girl’s question helped change the gender balance in the Pakistan Air Force.
The educationist Ziauddin Yousafzai’s book ‘Let her Fly’ about his journey, which includes his famous daughter Malala — is, in my view, a must-read for anyone interested in education, gender rights, and bridge-building. One of the lessons in it is about how persisting with your own vision and holding on to your authentic self without aggression towards those who don’t agree with you or even those who attack you – something we try to embody at Southasia Peace and our syndicated features service Global Southasia.
It’s a book I’ve assigned my journalism students at Emerson, and last semester at IBA Karachi, since I first heard about it in 2018, when I heard Ziauddin Yousafzai speak at a class at Harvard that the professor kindly allowed me to sit in on.
Cambridge MA: My mother Zakia Sarwar with Toorpekai Yousafzai, 6 Dec. 2018, after Malala’ssession at the Institute of Politics.Photo by Beena Sarwar.
Appeal to India, Pakistan to release, repatriate incarcerated cross-border fisherpeople
Article 5 of the 2008 Consular Access Agreement requires repatriation within one month after nationality confirmation and sentence completion, yet 178 Indians remain imprisoned in Pakistan.
Fisherfolk suffer while governments bicker: (Clockwise from top left): Indian fisherman Jagdish Mangal died in Pakistani prison, 6 Aug. 2023; Pakistani fisherfolk arrested by Indian coastguard, Sept. 2021; Indian fisherfolk waiting to be repatriated at Lahore railway station, 2023; body of Pakistani fisherman Amir Hamza who died in Indian prison repatriated via Wagah border, 14 Sept. 2021; Indian fisherfolk being repatriated at Wagah, 15 Nov. 2012. Beena Sarwar archive photos.
ByBeena Sarwar/ Sapan News
BOSTON: As India and Pakistan get ready to mark their respective Independence Days, the families of imprisoned fisherpeople on either side of the border along with various organisations have jointly written to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan demanding “the immediate release and repatriation of all imprisoned fisherpeople who have completed their sentences and nationality verification” as a goodwill and humanitarian gesture.
Report about Pakistani prisoner Amir Hamza’s death in Indian prison, by Shishir Arya, Times of India, 17 September 2021.
The letter also calls for accountability for continued detentions despite completion of prison sentences, which is in violation of the bilateral Agreement on Consular Access, 2008.
Section 5 of the Agreement categorically states: “Both Governments agree to release and repatriate persons within one month of confirmation of their national status and completion of sentences.”
“Unfortunately, this provision has not been implemented in letter and spirit,” says a press statement issued jointly on Friday by the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), the National Fishworkers Forum, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and families of Imprisoned Fisherpeople.
The letter urges both governments to implement mechanisms to prevent such delays in the future, and to pursue a ‘No Arrest Policy’ for fisherpeople who inadvertently cross the maritime boundary while pursuing their livelihoods. This is something that activists have long been calling for.
The number of arrests have declined significantly over the past couple of years — nearly 750 fisherfolk were imprisoned in jails across Pakistan and India in April 2023.
The statement suggests that this is because “fisherpeople avoid going towards the International Maritime Boundary Line to catch fish”.
According to the press statement there are “shocking” stories about Indian fisherpeople arrested by Pakistan and vice versa.
“Their prolonged incarceration deprives them and their family members of basic human rights and causes severe hardship to their families,” subjecting them to ” economic and emotional distress,” says the statement, urging that the arrest and detention of fisherpeople be viewed from a humanitarian perspective.
As many as 198 Indian fisherpeople are currently imprisoned in Pakistan, including 178 who have completed their sentences but continue to remain in custody, according to the data released in the statement.
Number of incarcerated Indian fisherpeople in Pakistan who have completed their sentences
Sentence completed on
Time spent in prison after having completed sentence
10
16 July 2021
5 years, 22 days
115
16 March 2022
4 years, 4 months, 22 days
21
17 November 2022
3 years, 8 months, 21 days
10
31 January 2023
3 years, 6 months, 7 days
22
18 July 2024
2 years, 20 days
Table compiled with data provided by the joint press release, 07 August 2026.
“Every year, an estimated four to five Indian fisherpeople die while imprisoned in Pakistan. In March last year, an Indian fisherperson also died by suicide in prison,” says the statement.
According to the latest prisoner exchange list released on 1 July this year, Pakistan holds 250 prisoners (52 civilian prisoners and 198 fishermen) “who are Indian or believed-to-be-Indian” as India’s Ministry of External Affairs put it in a media release.
Meanwhile, India holds 439 Pakistani “or believed-to-be-Pakistani prisoners, including 386 civilian prisoners and 53 fishermen,” to quote Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Clipping from Marathi paper ‘Sakal’ headlined: “In prison even after completion of sentences”, 14 July 2026
This language of ‘believed-to-be’ used by the bureaucracies on either side is a reflection of the need to verify identity before proceeding with repatriation or even consular access. The detained fisherfolk rarely carry identity documents while out fishing. Once arrested, verifying their identity is a cumbersome process that typically takes far longer than necessary, especially in this digital age..
Yet, despite their ongoing tensions, both countries have regularly exchanged prisoner lists twice a year, in January and July, since the practice began in 2008, following the constitution of a Joint Judicial Commission on Prisoners in 2007.
Comprising four retired justices from either side, the committee met twice a year and worked on expediting the release of cross-border prisoners.
However, it has not met since its last convention in October 2013 in India.
A heartfelt appeal: Joint letter to the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan from the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) India, and Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF)
A Sapan News syndicated report available for republication with due credit tosapannews.com
It was only as an adult long after 1971 that I learnt about the internment camps where Bengalis in then West Pakistan had been detained. My source was an essay titled ‘Crossing Borders on the Wings of Language’, by Hafiza Nilofar Khan, in Borderlines, Vol. 1 (2014), an anthology published by Voices Breaking Boundaries, my sister Sehba Sarwar’s nonprofit in Houston (now archived at the University of Houston).
The ten-year-old Hafiza whose father is in the Pakistan Air Force and proud of her prowess in Urdu suddenly finds herself and her family in the situation that Lahore-based historian Ilyas Chatta details in his recently published book Citizens to Traitors: Bengali Internment in Pakistan 1971-1974 (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
It has been a decade since we lost Sabeen Mahmud to a targeted attack in Karachi and since we lost Shayan “Poppy” Afzal Khan to cancer. It is also 20 years since the pioneering environmental journalist Saneeya Hussain died in Brazil. Their peacemongering legacies live on.
Personal Political Beena Sarwar / Sapan News
On 24 April 2015, a valiant crusader for peace, social justice, creativity and human dignity was killed in Karachi. That tragedy ten years ago deprived a mother of her only child, and many of us of a dear friend.
Social entrepreneur Sabeen Mahmud, 40, was driving home with her mother Mahenaz next to her. A motorcyclist approached while they were stopped at a red light, and shot Sabeen at point blank range. She died on the spot.
Sabeen. Photo by Zaheer Alam Kidvai.
Mahenaz at Creative Karachi Festival 2016: Sabeen would hate for any of us to give up. Photo: Beena Sarwar
A poster with Sabeen’s photo at Creative Karachi Festival, 2016, Alliance Francaise. Photo: Beena Sarwar
Pakistan: Countrywide demonstrations for Sabeen, 2015
Protest for Sabeen in Delhi, 2015. File photo
I had known Sabeen since she was a teenager. We were comrades together in several peace initiatives – part of a large, cross-border tribe of ‘peacemongers’ as I call our community.
I began writing this piece some time ago, after watching Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ at a friend’s place in Chicago – appropriate because that’s where Dr. King did a lot of his activism. Today seemed like a good time to finish it.
There is more awareness about systemic racism, caste oppression, and gender rights than ever before but we have a long way to go to achieve the dream of equality, justice and human dignity embodied by Dr. Martin Luther King. Those who fear change will continue to fight it. The struggle continues
Personal Political By Beena Sarwar / Sapan News
The third Monday of January, which falls this year on the 20th, is a federal holiday in the U.S., in honour of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Born on 15 January 1929, Dr King was assassinated on 4 April 1968. A bill passed by Congress led to his birthday being commemorated as a federal holiday on the third Monday in January since 1986.
The U.S. Presidential Inauguration also takes place on 20 January. This will mark the third time ever for a president to take the oath of office on the holiday designated for Dr Martin Luther King – the earlier two were President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama.
Dr King’s children have urged supporters to hear what President Trump has to say, even if they do so later.
The ideals of equality, justice, human dignity, and peace that Dr King stood for remain relevant, opposed by those threatened by these concepts.
A photo of a photo from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta, Georgia, by Matt Lemmon.Continue reading →
Hello friends – I’m still in Boston, waiting for permission to visit India. The WISCOMP Saahas (courage) awards ceremony I wanted to attend on 16 December is over, but I am still like to go and visit my friends and family, and show my Sri Lanka documentary at various places including the Bangalore International Center, the IIC, Delhi, and in Chennai – police in all three cities have given clearance as far as I know.
Sharing the edited version of the WISCOMP awards ceremony below – they had taken it offline to edit out the Afghan and Bangladeshi activists who were kept anonymous. Don’t miss the inspirational speeches by the awardees and thoughtprovoking documentary on the courageous journalist Patricia Mukhim from India’s North-East (I love her singing in it and now I know where her love for plants and nature comes from).
Here is a report about the event in The Wire – I’m delighted they used a photo of featuring the wonderful community of Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) Peacemongers who joined my dear friend and colleague, journalist Mandira Nayar on stage after she accepted the award on my behalf from Dr Syeda Hameed, a Sapan founder member and advisor. It was wonderful and moving to see Aekta Kapoor, Ruchira Gupta (also a Saahas awardee), Parshu Narayan, Reema Amin, and the veteran peace activist O.P. Shah from Kolkata come together – thank you WISCOMP for inviting them.
Other wonderful members of our community were present but remained seated, like the inspirational activist Harsh Mander of Carvan-e-Mohabbat, poet and writer Sagari Chhabra, and journalist and activist Rita Manchanda.
Mukta Lall, daughter of the poet Jagannath Azad, was also present but had to leave before my name was called. We’ve been been in communication with for years but never met. It was Mukta ji who provided me with a scan of her father’s Urdu poem that served as Pakistan’s first national anthem – well documented, although there is no official record.
Greetings to those observing Hanukah and salute to those participating in #ChanukahForCeasefire demonstrations around the United States. Thousands of Jews have been lighting candles at #ChanukahForCeasefire gatherings, coming together “to mourn, find hope, and fight on — for ceasefire, freedom for all held captive, and an end to siege on Gaza,” says IfNotNow, a movement of American Jews “organizing for equality, justice, and a thriving future for all: our neighbors, ourselves, Palestinians, and Israelis.” To find one near you, go to: https://innmvmt.org/chanukah.
Such actions, and those of thousands including high school students marching around the world to call for #ceasefirenow, provide hope in a world that feels heavy. It is unbearable to think of the thousands killed, maimed and displaced in conflict areas, especially children.
Public opinion worldwide is clearly for #CeasefireNow, calls being ignored by those who could stop the bombing that continues to claim lives. What can we do? Hold on to ourselves and do what we can, where we can, when we can. Inform ourselves, share information – double-check before sharing so we don’t pass on #fakenews — donate to causes, participate in public actions.
The day the popular Indian journalist Ravish Kumar spoke at Harvard, Oct. 2, happened to mark Gandhi Jayanti, Mahatama Gandhi’s birth anniversary. A day that social media users celebrated Gandhi-ji’s murder was and glorified his murderer on X, formerly Twitter, noted Kumar, talking in Hindi to students and community members filling the nearly 150-seater auditorium.
Ashutosh Varshney, Director of the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University; Ravish Kumar; Wall Street Journal columnist Sadanand Dhume; Brown University faculty Poulami Roychowdhury and Prerna Singh. Photo: Beena Sarwar
Students throng Ravish Kumar after his talk at Brown University.
Photo: Beena Sarwar
Standing ovation for Ravish Kumar after his talk at Harvard. Photo: Beena Sarwar
Discussion after the talk at Harvard. Not all questions were answered but as Ravish said, it’s important to ask them. Photo: Beena Sarwar
Talking to Ravish Kumar after the event, with Dr Deeba Husain from India. Photo: Rajeev Soneja
Ravish Kumar famously resigned from NDTV last November after its hostile takeover by Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Kumar still has a huge viewership on YouTube – his channel has garnered over 7 million subscribers so far – it is an insecure platform, as he knows. The recently released documentary While We Watched (available on PBS) features Kumar, but as he also acknowledges, there are many others standing for journalistic values and ethics in India.
An FIR (first investigation report) was lodged against NewsClick in August, the day after a poorly-sourced New York Times report alleging that it had received funding from a network spreading “Chinese propaganda”.
The detained journalists included junior employees – and if they were being detained “simply because you believe that NewsClick is getting Chinese funds then a very wrong precedent is being set,” to quote prominent TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai.
Newsclick founder and chief editor Prabir Purkayastha, and Amit Chakravarty, who heads the portal’s human resources section, were arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Since 2010, as many as 16 journalists have been charged under the UAPA, reports the Free Speech Collective, India, in a post that lists them, with details of those out on bail, the seven still behind bars, and others.
NewsClick founder and chief editor Prabir Purkayastha arrested. Photo credit: Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images, published by Amnesty International.
“In India, 16 journalists under UAPA ; seven behind bars” – image courtesy the Free Speech Collective, India
There is a huge pushback in India against these heavy handed tactics, which those in other countries are familiar with.
Below, the text of a joint letter by several journalists’ organisations to the Chief Justice of India:
A compilation of offerings from our Sapan network, including my latest venture Sapan News syndicated features. Together, we aim to further the narrative of regionalism, peace, and dialogue. What can you do? Read on
Visual: Aekta Kapoor/Sapan
Delighted to have acclaimed actor and director Sarmad Khoosat join us Sunday July 16 for Sapan’s first fundraiser, hosted by poet Dr Arvinder Chamak in Amritsar. Sarmad will be in conversation with the wonderful journalists Malinda Seneviratne in Colombo, Mandira Nayar in Delhi; and Lubna Jerar in Karachi.
