Below, text of my interview with Viewpoint Online about the Hamid Mirsaga, that began with the murderous attack on one of Pakistan’s top journalists and television talk show hosts, who has angered Pakistan’s ideological security establishment with his stands on 1971, regional peace (including with India), and most recently, Balochistan. Besides speaking openly about the distorted history we are taught about this issue in Pakistan, he even walked in support with the Baloch Long March activists. Also read these excellent analyses: Sahar Habib Ghazi on Pakistani spies, Mir, and the missing people of Balochistan, and Jugnu Mohsin – Rumi and Mir. The character assassination on Hamid Mir now reminds me of the campaigns that followed the attack on Raza Rumi that killed his driver, and even before that, against Malala Yusufzai when she was shot.And this measured speech by Shaheen Qureshiat a recent SAFMA meeting (video, Urdu). Continue reading →
Arif Hasan speaking at the syposium: Architecture with ethics. Photo: Beena Sarwar.
Perween Rehman, photo by Steve Inskeep, NPR
An abbreviated version of my article on the symposium held at MIT to commemorate Perween Rehman and her legacy was published in The News on Sunday last weekend, titled Commitment personified. Below, the full text with additional links and photos:
Audience members at the MIT symposium on OPP and Perween Rahman, included Miloon Kothari. Photo: Beena Sarwar.
Speakers at a symposium in the Boston area last week, on “The Orangi Pilot Project and Legacy of Architect Perween Rehman” paid tribute to the late architect and OPP director, as “a woman, architect and social activist”. They also discussed parallels between the issues faced by the urban poor in and elsewhere. Hosted by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the symposium featured prominent academics from India, Pakistan and the United States.
The event, spearheaded by graduate students Fizzah Sajjad and Hala B. Malik from Lahore, had been in the planning soon after the murder of Perween Rehman in Karachi on March 13, 2013.Academics from India, Pakistan and the United States presented papers and participated in discussions. Prominent among them were Akbar Zaidi, Kamran Ali Asdar, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, James Wescoat, Anita M. Weiss, Laura A. Ring, Anita Spirn (of the pioneering West Philadelphia Landscape Project, which has many parallels with OPP), and Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing who is currently at MIT.
Ironically, Perween herself had taken a deliberate decision to not attend such events, reflected the prominent architect Arif Hasan, Chairperson of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) and Urban Resource Centre (URC), whose keynote speech kicked off the day-and-a-half long event. Perween Rehman, who graduated in 1981 from the Dawood College of Engineering in Karachi, was among the first batch of students he had taught. The following year, fed up with doing projects for the rich, as she put it, she came to work with the legendary Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan at the Orangi Pilot Project that he had launched in 1980.
Orangi Pilot Project: Self help and advocacy. Photo: courtesy Arif Hasan.
Orangi Township, Karachi. Map: Courtesy OPP.
It was Agha Hasan Abidi of BCCI who had asked Dr Khan, a retired bureaucrat famous for his uplift work at Comilla (in former East Pakistan), to help the people settled in Orangi. Dr Khan said he would not work with any one ethnic group or to do any social work, but agreed to investigate the problems in Orangi. After “roaming around” as Arif Hasan puts it, and talking to the people for several months, Dr Khan became convinced that the area would never become developed unless the people organised themselves and raised the money needed. In 1981, he asked Arif Hasan to develop a sanitation model, and later a housing model. There were psychological, social and economic barriers to be crossed. And there was a need, Arif Hasan suggested to Dr Khan in a note, to hire a young person to head the project and grow with it. However, one after the other, the young men they hired barely lasted beyond a few hours to a week at the job. And one day, Perween serendipitously showed up at Arif Hasan’s office, fed up of doing meaningless projects. She wanted to do something that would actually help people. She had done her homework and asked her former teacher about the various options she had investigated. He suggested that she go meet Dr Khan. She did, and he hired her. Unlike the others before her, she stayed on, “very serious in those early days”.
Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan: the guru who showed the way. File photo.
She learnt on the job, supervising the mapping and surveying of OPP, that students not much younger than herself carried out. This cost a fraction of the amount that an international agency had quoted, said Arif Hasan.
Rehman’s second major learning was to start a research institute. She “learnt by doing, observing and association”. In 1987, she was made director of the research and training institute, much to the resentment of the conservative lobby who considered her as a young “girl” – “but she stuck it out”. In time, she became close to various social organisations and activists, winning over many detractors who became her protectors and friends.
Her third major learning, said Arif Hasan, was through Khuda ki Basti, the housing project that the bureaucrat Tasneem Siddiqui started (see his interview in The News on Sunday on katchi abadis). To Perween Rehman’s credit goes the removal of the old complicated system of registering land and other legalities, and the establishment of a one-window operation open in the evenings that people could avail of.
She also initiated the OPP-RTI (Research and Training Institute), which manages projects like low-cost sanitation, secure housing support, education, water supply, and women’s savings, and training programmes. One of its greatest contributions has been mapping and documenting numerous settlements in Karachi.
Over 70 per cent of katchi abadis in Karachi are now regularised, thanks largely to the advocacy work of Perween Rehman and the OPP. Her greatest achievement, reflected Arif Hasan, was to make OPP “a people’s project”, and to “bring people closer together”. She refused to deal with the ‘big’ bureaucrats, preferring to focus on those working at that ground level. That in itself was a major shift in how advocacy was done. It led to changes in the laws, and changed perceptions towards informal settlements. “Laws are important”, as Arif Hasan put it, pointing out that it took 11 years to frame the Sindh Katchi Abadis Act, which in turn, became part of the Karachi Development Plan.
Panel discussion after Arif Hasan’s talk – Rajagopalan Balakrishnan: Universal parallels, anti-poor bias. Photo: Beena Sarwar
There is a strong anti-poor bias, not just in Karachi and Pakistan but all over South Asia, and indeed, the world, observed Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Associate Professor of Law and Development and founding Director of the Program on Human Rights and Justice at MIT.
Around the world, the poor are being pushed into smaller settlements, he said in his thought-provoking talk on various kinds of violence, including those that are structural and institutional, weighed against the poor. Transport is geared towards the much-touted vision of the ‘world class city’, rather than connecting the poor. Indeed, slogans like “world class” or “slum-free city” are “dangerous ideologies that sanction violence on the vulnerable at the policy level”. Re-locating people to make room for ‘development projects’ causes an increase in poverty levels as incomes decrease. Children pay a heavy price as their schooling is interrupted. Meanwhile, as literacy levels are rising, people are becoming more aware of their political rights.
Ironically, the more assertive they become, the more conflict is generated — the police tend to be heavy-handed when it comes to dealing with protests by the poor. Another common phenomenon, from Mexico and Brazil to South Asia, is the personal risk taken by those who work with the poor. The violence against defenders of equities, rights and the poor needs to be explicitly recognised, suggested Balakrishnan.
Over-commercialisation and commodification are giving rise to a certain kind of consumerism, and the consolidation of a trans-nationalist capitalist class. Exploitation of natural resources pushes rural dwellers to the cities, where they are forced into slums, making them vulnerable to disease and other issues related to urban poverty. Arif Hasan has suggested that architects and town planners develop a code of ethics and take oath like doctors do, to refuse projects that displace the poor or are environmentally or ecologically unfriendly.
Given the neo-liberal agenda that is being pushed globally, the suggestion is unlikely to receive a sympathetic hearing among his colleagues (“Arif Bhai, hum bazaar mein baiThey haiN,” as one of them put it). Still, it is certainly an idea worth pushing for.
Zahoor: Taliban and the media, in The Frontier Post, June 2008
Those who justify the Taliban uprising in Pakistan as an anti-imperialist movement forget that since the Taliban first swept into Afghanistan in 1996 (with the blessings of the Pakistani establishment), they have been a threat to women, pluralism and democracy in the region. Their oppressive order in Afghanistan pre-dates the American invasion of Iraq, bombing of Afghanistan, and drone attacks in Pakistan –– from an article I wrote in Dawn, 2009. Came across it again while searching for something else. Read it, and tell me, what has changed?
By Beena Sarwar, Feb 7, 2009
OF the many challenges Pakistan’s elected government faces perhaps the most menacing and deep-rooted is Talibanisation — a phenomenon identified earlier on (as Talibanism) by the then exiled Afghan government’s acting foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept 21, 2000.Continue reading →
Musharraf and the famous fist. Photo T. Mughal/EPA
Below, my (un-populist) take on the Musharraf treason trial, in an opinion piece published in International Business Times, London, Jan 23, 2014. N.B. The recent attack on the bus in Mastung, Balochistan, that killed some 30 Hazara Shia Muslims, including women and children returning from pilgrimage in Iran is an example of the result of Musharraf’s policies of letting the home-grown ‘jihadis’ function. Plus I forgot to mention his role in the murder of Akbar Bugti…Continue reading →
TTP: We did it.
JI/PTI: No.
TTP: Yes.
JI/PTI: No. Look, drone!
TTP: Where?
JI/PTI: Who cares? It made you do it.
TTP: It did? Hmmm.
– tweet by @NadeemfParacha
Rest in peace, brave Aitzaz Hasan, schoolboy who sacrificed his life saving his schoolmates from a suicide bomber. Rest in peace, SSP Ch. Aslam Khan, targeted and killed by the coward Fasadis (please let’s not call them ‘jihadis’ or ‘mujahideen’, holy warriors which confers a degree of legitimacy on them). Rest in peace all those innocent souls murdered in cold blood by coward Taliban Fasadis and their ilk. Shame on Jamat-e-Islami and all those who term these criminal Fasadis as ‘mujahideen’ and ‘shaheed’. They’ve made it very clear which side of the fence they’re on.
Samina Quraeshi: always dazzling. Photo by Andreas Burgess
My article in The News on Sunday today about Samina Quraeshi (October 12, 1944-September 25, 2013), who will be treasured as a movie maker, photographer, designer, architect, writer, city planner, storyteller, and on and on… See her introduction to
By Beena Sarwar
While in Pakistan nearly a year ago, filming for her documentary, ‘The Other Half of Tomorrow’ on the complexities and empowering aspects of the lives of Pakistani women, Samina Quraeshi suffered a stroke that doctors feared she would not recover from. Miraculously, she did. Her own indomitable spirit, the best medical care, and undoubtedly the love and prayers of countless friends and well-wishers pulled the vivacious, versatile writer, artist, and designer back from the brink.
Her right side was left paralysed, but she carried on with her characteristic zest for life, even though, as she said sadly, “I can’t even hold my granddaughter.”Continue reading →
I am proud of my old friend Ahsan Jamil for the work he is doing in Karachi, and delighted to have introduced him to another old friend Babette Niemel, who was inspired to write the following article about Aman Foundation, published in The News on Sunday, on March 10, 2013.
A Dutch journalist records her impressions of how Aman Foundation is changing the lives of Karachi’s underserved people
I have met Ahsan Jamil several times during my frequent visits to Karachi over the years. A modest, lively, kind man and a close childhood friend of my friend Beena Sarwar; when I met him once again a little over a year ago, he was positively beaming.
Engaged and committed: Aman Foundation CEO Ahsan Jamil and Manager Command and Control Center in discussion.
It was a cool summer evening in Karachi and we were out on the porch at Beena’s house. Ahsan was inviting her to come and checkout the new work he was doing. He could give us a tour of the facility, he said, extending the invitation to me as well.Continue reading →
As Karachi once again reels under uncertainty, fear and economic shut-down, it may be worthwhile to re-visit this 2011 article by Haris Gazdar in EPW, “Karachi Battles”… Excerpt:
“The big picture still favours an accord between the PPP (and ANP) and the MQM. The PPP cannot allow the military to use Karachi to undermine its rule not just in Sindh but nationally. The MQM should know that a “neutral” army operation means a crackdown on the MQM, sooner rather than later. The ANP might also be aware that its hard-won position in its home region would collapse if the jihadists regain initiative with the break-up of the secular coalition. All three should know that the most powerful militant wing belongs to the military itself, which must not be tempted into seeing an opportunity where none exists.” Read the full article here: Karachi battles – Haris Gazdar in EPW Sept 2011
Photos I printed out recently, thinking of those whom these Takfiri militants have attacked, include two teenage girls who survived murderous attacks: Malala Yusufzai (top right), attacked by the same forces, for speaking out rather than for her faith, and Mehzar Zahra (below, left), whose father was killed.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The vigil is going ahead.
Friday, March 8 6.30 pm Copley Square, Boston
Students and community organizations of the Boston area are organizing a vigil on Friday March 8, 2013 to show solidarity, commemorate, and protest the target-killing of Shia Muslims in Pakistan. The attackers are armed militants from Al Qaeda- and Taliban- linked organizations acting with impunity in the name of religion with the aim of destablizing the state and capturing political power.
Just a few recent incidents this year alone illustrate this trend:
March 3: a bomb explosion ripped through two apartment blocks in Abbas Town, a residential area populated largely by Shi’ite Muslims, in Pakistan’s business capital Karachi killed 45 people, including 20 children. Hundreds more were injured and made homeless.
Guest post:Zohra Yusuf, my first editor at The Star Weekend 1981-82, outlines the birth of the women’s movement in Pakistan
Lahore, Feb 12, 1983: Police brutality on the women’s demonstration against the ‘Law of Evidence’ catapulted the nascent women’s movement into the limelight. Photo: Rahat Ali Dar
“My years with WAF”
By Zohra Yusuf | Article written for a souvenir on WAF’s 25th anniversary, Oct 2006
Zohra Yusuf, Newsline photo 2012
Certain memories are etched on the mind. The birth of Women’s Action Forum is, for me, surely among them. It was on an afternoon in September 1981 that Aban Marker (Shirkatgah) called. She told me about the distressed call she had just received from Najma Sadeque (another SG founding member) regarding the case of Fehmida-Allah Bux. Pakistan’s first sentence of death by stoning and public whipping handed down to a couple under the Zina Ordinance of 1979. We had all read about the sentence and in our individual capacities felt deeply disturbed. After a bit of discussion, we decided to call a meeting of all women’s organizations at Aban’s place. The rest, as they say, is history.
The women’s movement was at a nascent stage. Shirkatgah itself was born in 1975, the year the UN dedicated the decade to the cause of women. All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA), after successfully campaigning for the Family Laws Ordinance 1962, had returned to charitable work. Pakistan Women Lawyers’ Association was also fairly new, as was Tehrik-e-Niswan. The only organization with experience of political work was Pakistan Jamhooriat-Pasand Khwateen (Pakistan Women’s Democratic Front).
I remember to this day the faces of the women around the table that evening when we met at Aban’s. Distressed yet determined. Shirkatgah took the lead in conducting the meeting as it did in the creation of a dynamic platform for Pakistani women to come together in solidarity to challenge the military regime’s anti-women policies. Apart from Aban and Najma, there was Najma Babar, journalist and my colleague at The Star, the Rahman sisters (Ghazala and Humaira) from Tehrik-e-Niswan, Sheema Kirmani – among others from Shirkatgah and other women’s groups. If my memory serves me right, the name Women’s Action Forum was proposed by Humaira and adopted after much debate.
Women’s rights demonstration in Lahore, Feb 12, 1983. Photo: Rahat Ali Dar
The Star Weekend, where I worked in the eighties, became the voice of the women’s movement. Indeed, I must confess that the birth of WAF was partly responsible for my decision to continue working at The Star which, till then, had been primarily an entertainment weekly.
In fact, over a brief period of time, I was accused of making The Star a feminist newspaper. Of course, many WAF members were regular contributors. Najma Sadeque had already been contributing (believe it or not) a weekly television review. She happily gave up the ordeal of watching PTV to write on issues of women’s rights and status. Kausar S.K. passionately wrote on the setback faced by women’s sports as a result of retrogressive policies. Najma Babar frequently reported on women’s political status and Hilda Saeed on violence against women.
Fortunately, the entry of WAFers in journalism coincided with the lifting of direct censorship in January 1982. While self-censorship remained in force, we were able to pull the wool over some eyes by writing between the lines, stepping back when absolutely necessary and returning for more effective assaults. Political journalism was also introduced in The Star at the same time. Several of the columnists who began to write for the newspaper were committed supporters of women’s rights. Among them were Ahmed Bashir and Hussain Naqi. At The Star itself, we found a staunch supporter in the editor, the late G. N. Mansuri.
Feb 12, 1983: Many women’s rights demonstrators were injured and arrested, heavily outnumbered by police. Photo: Rahat Ali Dar
In the eighties, WAF was struggling not only against the discriminatory policies of the Zia regime but for understanding from the society at large, including the media that was, by and large, dismissive of the women’s movement. Even Dawn, which now editorially supports women’s causes, refused to publish reports of and statements by WAF, viewing the organization as an insignificant entity. Often, it was also the butt of sexist jokes. However, it had fairly staunch support from journalists, lawyers and other members of civil society who never hesitated to march with WAF when it took out protest demonstrations on some of the busiest streets of Karachi.
WAF’s strategies in the early years worked. If they did not lead to the repeal of the Hudood Ordinances, they succeeded in watering down the proposed Law of Evidence. Moreover, WAF was quickly gaining world media attention. I remember how elated I felt when the BBC World Service Radio described WAF as the first challenge to the military regime (a highly exaggerated assessment, in retrospect). In fact, WAF put the issue of the status of Pakistani women on the agenda of the global media. Scores of western journalists sought out WAF members to get an insight into the discriminatory laws and their response.
Apart from newspaper articles, the struggle of the eighties spearheaded by WAF, led to the first recorded history of the women’s movement. It inspired (I believe) Farida Shaheed and Khawar Mumtaz to write their seminal book One Step Forward, Two Steps Back.
To a great extent, the struggle for women’s emancipation that WAF embodied released a fair amount of creative energy. Plays related to women’s and other political issues were frequently staged. Leading artistes, including the late Zarina Baloch, showed their support by performing from WAF’s platform. Poets such as Fehmida Riaz, Saeeda Gazdar, Zahida Hina and Attiya Dawood wrote and recited poetry on the theme of the status of women in Pakistan.
The death of General Zia in an air crash brought back Benazir Bhutto from exile. The hopes she instilled in the women of Pakistan (more as a symbol, rather than in substance) were soon dashed shortly after she took over as the first woman Prime Minister of a Muslim country. Perhaps unable to realize their hopes, most of the women associated with WAF formed – or joined – non-governmental organizations. The street-fighting days were over.
Awareness of rights apart, women’s social and legal status has continued to be eroded. So 25 years after the formation of Women’s Action Forum, where is the Pakistani woman today? To borrow from the title of Farida’s and Khawar’s book: “one step forward, two steps back”.
