Filed under: Art and activism, Human rights, Kashmir, Pakistan-India, Peace | Tagged: #StandwithKashmir, India, Pakistan | Leave a comment »
Global Standout for Peace in solidarity with #StandWithKashmir
Posted on September 21, 2019 by beenasarwar
Eerie Silence: The Trauma of Kashmir in the Larger Context of the Fight for Democracy and Human Rights
Posted on August 26, 2019 by beenasarwar
Rafia Bano, 23, was injured by pellets in the courtyard of her house. Photo: Quratulain Rehbar, Kashmir Walla/The Wire
I wrote this piece about the Kashmir issue last week, trying to go beyond the chest-thumping and belligerence to the trauma of the Kashmiri people. Also making the point that brandishing Pakistan flags at protests about the injustice in Kashmir does not help the Kashmiri people. Thirdly, this struggle must be situated in the larger context of the fight for democracy and human rights, relevant beyond India. Published in Naya Daur and Hard News. Some related must-read pieces besides those linked in my piece: ‘Separate Fact From Fiction’: A Letter to PM Modi From a Kashmiri by Salman Anees Soz, India must stop weaponizing the pain of Kashmiri Pandits by Nishita Trisal, Arundhati Roy, The Silence Is the Loudest Sound; and this searing piece in The Wire: Ground Report: Agony and Casualties in the Valley in the Immediate Aftermath of Shutdown. And this: The Mental Health of Kashmiris is Everybody’s concern: Dr Kala. My piece below.
Filed under: Art and activism, Kashmir, Pakistan-India, Peace | Tagged: Article 370, censorship, Curfew, democracy, Kashmir, mental health, Modi | Leave a comment »
Women warriors for peace and a viral Punjabi music video
Posted on April 7, 2019 by beenasarwar
A poetic dialogue between two neighbours separated by an insurmountable wall goes viral. Pictured here: Asma Abbas and Bushra Ansari, performing their sister Neelum Bashir’s poem.
There’s been so much going on that I haven’t shared any updates here for a while. On Tuesday 11 Feb., Bilawal Bhutto Zardari gave a talk on Pakistan and the Welfare State at Harvard that I reported on: “We can’t say we’re too poor to look after our people”, published in The News on Sunday, 17 Feb. I was going to post it with an important paragraph that got left out of my report when I cut it down, but the Pulwama attack of 14 Feb overshadowed everything. I’ll share it at some point. Continue reading
Filed under: Art and activism, Freedom of expression, Human rights, Music, Pakistan-India, Peace, Progressive politics | Tagged: aurat azadi march, Bilawal Bhutto, Bushra Ansari, India Pakistan, music video, Neelum Bashir, Pakistan, poetry, Pulwama attack, punjab, Punjabi, women's march, women's rights | Leave a comment »
Remembering Kuldip Nayar, journalist, activist, peacemonger
Posted on August 27, 2018 by beenasarwar
A precious photo: Kuldip Nayar, Nandita Das and Asma Jahangir at Wagah border. Photo: courtesy Seema Mustafa, The Citizen
I was sad to hear about the passing away of veteran journalist and peacemonger Kuldip Nayar, 95, in Delhi. His passing in general evoked great sadness — as well as a resolve to keep working for his values — not only in India but the land of his birth, Pakistan. I had got to know Kuldip ji over the years through the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) that I joined as a young journalist from Lahore when it was launched in 1994-95, as the largest people-to-people organization between the two countries. The last time I met him was at Allahabad train station a few years ago. The lawyer S.M.A. Kazmi and our family friend Zia ul Haq — the comrade, not the general, himself now over 90 were dropping me off and picking him up. He got the surprise of his life. We didn’t have much time to chat as my train was about to leave but I treasure that memory.
Sharing here the two pieces I put together for Aman Ki Asha (hope for peace), the India-Pakistan website I edit. One is pegged on a tribute from Dr Syeda Hameed in Delhi his long-time friend and fellow-activist, former member of the Planning Commission of India and founder trustee of the Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia (WIPSA) and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. She aptly termed him the “gentle giant of India Pakistan peace” in her wonderful piece in The Citizen. See also her account of the Aman Dost Yatra (peace and friendship march) at the border. In the other piece, I put together other tributes paid to him by Pakistanis.
Here are links to both pieces: Remembering the ‘gentle giant of India Pakistan peace’, and Pakistanis pay tribute to Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar.
(L-R) Dr Syeda Hameed, Navaid Hamid, Kuldip Nayar, Maulana Syed Jalauddin Umari. File photo – Indiatomorrow.ne.
Filed under: journalism, Pakistan-India, Peace | Tagged: aman ki asha, Asma Jahangir, journalist, Kuldip Nayar, nandita das, PIPFPD, Syeda Hameed, Ziaul Haq | Leave a comment »
Khan, Sidhu, Vajpayee, and India Pakistan relations
Posted on August 18, 2018 by beenasarwar
Navjot Singh Sidhu has a visa to attend Imran Khan’s swearing in ceremony. Why can’t visas be easy for everyone? Image courtesy: CatchNews
August 17 this year marks 30 years since the mid-air explosion that killed the military dictator General Ziaul Haq in 1988. This year, Zia’s death anniversary ironically took a back seat to the election of the country’s new prime minister. Today, the 342-seat National Assembly voted on the prime minister, who of course was Imran Khan. His speech and that of Shahbaz Sharif were sadly marred by sloganeering in the gallery from their opponents. Everyone listened attentively to Bilawal Bhutto’s maiden speech in parliament – well spoken, reminded the speaker and prime minister-elect of their responsibilities and paid tribute to those who have given their lives for democracy. Very much hope both PTI and PML-N observe more decorum in coming sessions. Also worth listening to: Mohsin Dawar’s maiden speech, courageously calling for accountability beyond politicians and parliament. Tomorrow, Imran Khan’s oath-taking ceremony will be attended, among others, by Indian Punjab minister for culture and tourism, Navjot Singh Sidhu, himself a former cricketer. That, and former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s passing away yesterday are sharp reminders of the urgent need for peace between the two countries. I wrote about Vajpayee and his significance in terms of this issue for the India Today Group Digital, published in Daily O today (text below). Whatever his flaws and political moorings, when it came to building peace in the region, Vajpayee showed the kind of moral courage and political will that today’s leaders would do well to learn from.
Filed under: History, Pakistan-India, Peace, Southasia | Tagged: Agra Summit, Assembly session, democracy, kargil, Lahore, Lahore Declaration, PML-N, PTI, religious tourism, vajpayee, Vajpayee Minar-e-Pakistan visit | Leave a comment »
Asma. A profound loss. An enduring inspiration
Posted on February 12, 2018 by beenasarwar
Asma Jahangir: Pakistan human rights champion dies – BBC News
“Profoundly saddened by news of dear Asma’s passing. She has left us a rich legacy to follow. In condolence and solidarity”, writes Professor Badri Raina from New Delhi in an email to me and I. A. Rehman, former Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that Asma Jahangir founded in 1987. “Our one tribute must be to keep up our human faith and human courage”.
Here is I. A. Rehman’s tribute to Asma speaking at the Karachi Literature Festival, soon after hearing the sad news. When I spoke to him later, he said, “I didn’t like doing it. Didn’t like it at all”. Continue reading
Filed under: Human rights, Pakistan-India, Peace, Southasia | 1 Comment »
Raza Khan, still missing. Why does it matter?
Posted on January 24, 2018 by beenasarwar
Raza Khan’s disappearance, like that of Zeenat Shehzadi earlier, is part of a new phase of such illegal abductions in Pakistan, violating due process and rule of law. Targeting young people from ordinary backgrounds, without social capital or networks, signals the miltablishment’s growing desperation to control the narrative on the military, religion and India, I argue in this opinion piece for the Washington Post: In Pakistan, promoting peace with India can be bad for your health — and freedom (Dec. 22, 2017; updated text below). Since then, a journalist covering this issue narrowly escaped an abduction attempt in Islamabad, and another journalist was picked up and beaten in Karachi, then released.
Continue reading
Filed under: 'War on terror', democratic political process, Freedom of expression, journalism, Pakistan-India, Peace | Tagged: #BringBackRaza, Aaghaz-e-Dosti, Activism, enforced disappearances, Fawad Hasan, India, journalist attacked, missing persons, Pakistan, Raza Khan, Taha Siddiqui | Leave a comment »
