After 46 yrs, the healing touch: Pak pilot says sorry for mistake

Posted on August 10, 2011 by beenasarwar

NOTE: Qais Hussain has clarified that he did not ‘apologise’ for what he did. His note was a letter of condolence and an attempt to set the record straight. He has written to Indian Express with this clarification

Front page report in The Indian Express Aug 10, 2011: After 46 yrs, the healing touch: Pak pilot says sorry for mistake (also would have been nice if they’d credited me or Aman ki Asha). Excerpts:  Continue reading →

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

Pakistani pilot writes after 46 years to daughter of Indian pilot he shot down

Posted on August 9, 2011 by beenasarwar

Better late than never: Ex-PAF pilot Qais Hussain in Lahore, 2011. Photo by Naveed Riaz

Below: A report I did based on an email that Naveed Riaz in Lahore forwarded me, published on the front page of The News this morning with the Aman ki Asha logo. There has been a phenomenal response to this report, with most people lauding Qais Hussain’s courage in speaking out after all these years and writing what must have been a difficult letter. Here’s the link to my interview on PRI about it.

Pakistani pilot writes after 46 years to daughter of Indian pilot he shot down

By Beena Sarwar

Nearly half a century after shooting down an Indian civil aircraft under orders during the 1965 war with India, a Pakistan Air Force pilot has sent a condolence message to the daughter of the pilot of the aircraft he downed.

Qais Hussain, a rookie Flying Officer during the 1965 war, made this moving and humane gesture via email, expressing his condolences and providing details of the circumstances under which he shot down the Indian aircraft. The email is addressed to Farida Singh, daughter of the Indian Air Force pilot Jahangir “Jangoo” Engineer, one of the three famous Engineer brothers in the Indian Air Force. Continue reading →

Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments »

Thoughts on media, Mumbai, ‘terrorism’

Posted on July 14, 2011 by beenasarwar

The violence in Karachi today has overshadowed what happened in Mumbai yesterday. More on that later. Meanwhile, here’s a comment I posted to my facebook page (relevant to Karachi situation too?): Salam Mumbai. Hope the damage is contained. And – I understand the addiction to ‘breaking’ news, but wish we could do it differently. If there was no live TV, would terrorists put up such shows? …Death toll as reported this morning is 21. Even one is too much. I keep thinking of Sahir Ludhianvi’s universally relevant and humanitarian poem, ‘khoon apna ho ya paraya ho, Nasle aadam ka khoon hai aakhir…’ Here’s a response from Rakesh Sharma, a prominent documentary filmmaker from Mumbai: Continue reading →

Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Indian and Pakistani Citizens Condemn Serial Blasts in Mumbai

Posted on July 14, 2011 by beenasarwar

Press Release: Indian and Pakistan Citizens Condemn Serial Blasts in Mumbai

We the citizens of India and Pakistan strongly condemn the inhuman and dastardly serial blasts in Mumbai on 13th July 2011 in which 21 innocent people were killed and over 140 injured. We offer our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families and pray for quick and complete recovery of all those injured.

It is clear that these blasts are a well orchestrated heinous conspiracy to derail the resumption of the dialogue and peace process between India and Pakistan that was stalled following the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008. Continue reading →

Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Amna Chishty’s appeal to Governor Rajasthan re Dr Chishty

Posted on June 26, 2011 by beenasarwar

A rare family meeting at Hatundi, 2007: Dr Chishty with daughter Amna, her children and his nephew's children.

June 23, 2011

To,
Honorable Sh. Shivraj Patil
Governor of Rajasthan
Raj Bhawan, Civil Lines,
Jaipur, India

Subject: Case of Pakistani Prisoner Dr. Syed Mohammed Khaleel Chishty

This is regarding the mercy petition of my father Dr. Chishty who is presently in Ajmer prison hospital. Continue reading →

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

PUCL plea to Rajasthan Governor: Sign Dr Chishty’s mercy petition

Posted on June 24, 2011 by beenasarwar

There is an outpouring of gratitude in India for the role played by Pakistanis, led by Ansar Burney, in getting freed Indian sailors from Somali pirates. But from the Governor Rajasthan, on whose desk the mercy petition for Dr Khaleel Chishty sits waiting for his signature, there is deafening silence. Fed up of the constant wait and wanting to dispel any ideas that the Governors power’s were limited if there is an appeal in the high court, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) sent the following letter. Which is also apparently sitting on his desk. Continue reading →

Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Governor Rajasthan delays Dr Chishty’s release

Posted on June 23, 2011 by beenasarwar

Unable to walk on his own anymore, Dr Chishty is carried to court in Ajmer. Photo: Times of India

DR CHISHTY CASE UPDATE

Beena Sarwar

June 21: The expected release of an elderly Pakistani academic imprisoned in India for nearly two decades was delayed as the Governor of Rajasthan raised further queries instead of signing the mercy petition recommended to him by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan – flouting the constitutional provision that requires the Governor to act upon the advice of the Chief Minister, making his signature a mere formality. Continue reading →

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

‘Pro-jihadi, anti-India’ policy #fail

Posted on May 30, 2011 by beenasarwar

“’Pro-jihadi, anti-India’ policy #fail” – my column Personal Political published in Hardnews, India, and in The News on Sunday. Many in Pakistan have been saying this for a long time, and been attacked and branded as traitors, Indian agents and kafirs for going against ‘the establishment’. Now, for the first time, this argument is in the public domain, being discussed on live television. Recently, Asma Jahangir Chairperson Emeritus of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, lashed out at the Pakistan army’s self serving policies and demanded that they stay out of politics – in words that one would never have heard on television before. Her view reinforces what I wrote a few days earlier, below (predictably, efforts are afoot to portray her as ‘anti-national, pro-Hindu, pro-India’. These efforts too, will #fail). Continue reading →

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

Aman ki Asha and a daughter’s appeal

Posted on April 21, 2011 by beenasarwar

Ajmer, Jan 2011: Unable to walk, Dr Chishty is carried to the courtroom. Photo: TOI

In humanity’s name: Aman ki Asha has been campaigning for clemency towards cross-border prisoners – young boys who stray across by mistake or in search of ‘Bollywood’, fishermen who cross the maritime border, families who have committed minor transgressions, long-term prisoners incarcerated for years on either side, until their story is taken up by human rights activists and media…. See articles compiled at the Aman ki Asha website at the link ‘In humanity’s name‘. Four articles, including the one below, published today, available at this link.

A campaign is building up in India for the release of an elderly retired Pakistani professor detained for over 19 years

By Beena Sarwar Continue reading →

Filed under: Human rights, Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Dr Chishty: update from Kavita Srivastava, PUCL

Posted on April 17, 2011 by beenasarwar

Below, a heartening and hopeful account of Dr Chishty’s situation via email from Kavita Srivastava of People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), India, after meeting him at Ajmer prison hospital, addressed to Dr Chishty’s daughters and others involved in trying to provide him relief. The petition seeking pardon for Dr Chishty under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution has been sent to the President of India as well as the  Governor of Rajasthan, signed by Mahesh Bhat, Kuldeep Nayyar, Jatin Desai, Kavita Srivastava and Adml. Ramu Ramdas. It is encouraging that the Indian media is taking up the case with greater vigour.  Below, Kavita’s email, reproduced with permission.  Continue reading →

Filed under: Human rights, Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »