Dance, drama and literature festivals, Karachi

Posted on March 17, 2010 by beenasarwar

Below, details of two exciting and significant cultural events in Karachi starting this weekend (for more events, visit the Danka website)

TEHRIK E NISWAN’S 2ND TLISM THEATRE AND DANCE FESTIVAL for Peace and Disarmament March 19- 28

Venue: Arts Council Karachi. All programmes will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Rs 300/- available at venue (also has food and handicraft stalls). Contact Tehrik-e-Niswan tel: +92-21-35857190 email: tehrik@gmail.com. Programme details at Tehrik website,- also copied below. The festival is a tribute to Mr Ghanshyam, who introduced generations of Pakistanis to dance and yoga. See Sheema’s note below.
And the KARACHI LITERATURE FESTIVAL, Mar 20-21, 2010, 10 am – 7 pm, Carlton Hotel (next to Creek Club, D.H.A. Karachi).
Evening Performances start at 9 pm at the Karachi Arts Council

TLISM: Sheema Kermani writes: “Mr Ghanshyam was my first dance teacher and it is to him that I owe the success of my career as a dancer and performer. I learnt not only many dance forms from Mr Ghanshyam but also learnt what goes into making a good performer, choreographer and director. For almost 35 years Mr and Mrs Ghanshyam ran their training institute in Karachi where Classical and Folk dance, Classical Vocal and Instrumental Music and Yoga were taught. In 1983 they were hounded out of the country and sought asylum abroad. They are returning to Pakistan and I want this Festival to be a tribute to them.” Continue reading →

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‘And there shall be more caravans of passion…’

Posted on March 16, 2010 by beenasarwar

Title for documentary 'Aur nikleiN Ge Ushhaq ke Qafley' - design by K.B. Abro

Several items uploaded to the Dr Sarwar blog over the last month:

1. Learning from history in an age of bombs
– my article based on research done for the 30-min documentary on the 1953 student movement directed by Sharjil Baloch, that I produced (we are making some final changes after which it will be available for distribution upon request).

2. Articles specially written for the Jan 9, 2010 Event Book on the 1953 student movement:
– Keep the fire burning – End Note by Zakia Sarwar
– Continuing Stories: Social Action and Change – by Ruqaiya Hasan
– The High School Students’ Association and my rite of passage – by Ghazi Salahuddin

3. Scans of the Event Book, Jan 9, 2010 – Copies available upon request

Filed under: Progressive politics, Student politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Young Pakistani prisoner released from Indian jail

Posted on March 14, 2010 by beenasarwar

Policemen escort Pakistani prisoner Mohammad Ateeq (13) to the India-Pakistan Wagah border on Friday. AFP photo published in The Hindu, March 13, 2010


Great news – Ateeq, the 13-year old boy imprisoned at Hoshiarpur Juvenile Prison in India, reached home late last night “amidst mayhem in Lahore” as advocate Asad Jamal put it, “and jubilation among family members and mohalladars”.

See initial report inAman ki Asha page Feb 24 – written prior to Asma Jahangir and I.A. Rehman going to Amritsar to plead his case on Feb 26.

See report in The News, Saturday, March 13, 2010: Boy returns home after two months in Indian jail … Continue reading →

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

Personal Political: Plays and books, not bombs

Posted on March 12, 2010 by beenasarwar

Pakistan's foremost sculptor Shahid Sajjad at the Retrospective exhibition at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, Feb 2010

My monthly column for Hardnews, India, also published in The News on Sunday, (March 7, 2010)

Feb 25, 2010

Beena Sarwar

“New Karachi literary festival hopes to turn page on bombs,” trumpeted a headline in the Independent, UK.

Inspired by Jaipur, the festival in March “may not turn the page on the bombs,” as Siraj Khan, a Boston-based Pakistani commented in an email, “but it is very inspiring. In my recent 7-month stint in Karachi, I saw and felt this breath of fresh air myself. This has not happened overnight and it’s not just the new crop of writers who are turning the tide.” Continue reading →

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CONVERSATIONS-3: Let’s introspect

Posted on March 12, 2010 by beenasarwar

Printed in the aman ki asha page of Political Economy, The News on Sunday, March 7, 2010

Dilip D’Souza and Beena Sarwar continue their email exchange, attempting to share thoughts honestly, without fear and hostility, seeking ways to bridge the gulf between Pakistan and India

Mar 2 2010

Dear Beena,

Since we’ve started on this path of exploring the anti-the-other-country feelings, let’s take it a little further and see where it goes.

First, you draw a distinction between the (sometimes) elected Pakistani governments and what you call the “establishment” – the army/bureaucracy nexus, if you will. Nawaz Sharif was, you tell us, pro-India, but this establishment undermined his government’s efforts in that direction. Continue reading →

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A road show for peace; S. Balakrishnan: ‘Shatter stereotypes’

Posted on March 11, 2010 by beenasarwar

Below – introduction from the ‘aman ki asha‘ page in The News on Wed, March 4, and thoughts from S. Balakrishnan, Times of India’s chief of bureau in Mumbai who happened to be in Karachi at the time

A road show for peace

`Are you from India? Can I have your sign please?” was a question that those associated with the organisers often heard during the Aman ki Asha event at Park Towers, Karachi, last Sunday (Feb 28).

Asked why he wanted to meet Indians, one young man cradling a six-month old baby wrapped in pink, answered quietly, “”I want to ask them why they are being so hostile.”

Personal meetings rub the edge off hostility. As the poll conducted by the Jang Group and Times of India for Aman ki Asha in December 2009 underlines, the majority of people on both sides want peace. Being able to meet without the restrictions that currently mar travel between the two countries would help this process. Continue reading →

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

Conversations-2: Let’s keep it going

Posted on March 3, 2010 by beenasarwar

Our second installment of Conversations, below – published in the Political Economy section of The News on Sunday’s Feb 27 edition, Aman ki Asha page, which also includes:

– ‘The Price of Peace‘ by Waqar Gillani on visa hurdles for peace activists

– ‘The MEPIC dimensions‘ by Rafey Mehmood, about a study center established by SZABIST (Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology) focusing on the Mid East Pakistan India and China.

Below: Dilip D’Souza and Beena Sarwar continue their correspondence from last week, attempting to share thoughts honestly, without fear and hostility, exploring what divides our countries, and seeking ways to bridge the divide

Feb 23 2010

Dear Beena,

That was a good start, thank you. While I know that terrorism continues unabated in Pakistan, I had no idea of the numbers you quoted to me. 8000 civilians and 3000 security personnel killed in seven years, is a tragic, horrifying toll. I think more of us in India need to comprehend the magnitude of what’s happening today in Pakistan.

There’s plenty in your letter that I’d like to discuss. But for now, I’d like to focus on one theme you brought up. Continue reading →

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

Hope for young Ateeq, a real life ‘Ramchand Pakistani’

Posted on February 28, 2010 by beenasarwar

Below, a report I wrote on Feb 23, published in The News aman ki asha page of Feb 24 (see accompanying report ‘Prisoners of archaic laws‘ by Rabia Ali), shortly before 12-year old Ateeq’s hearing in Amritsar on Feb 26 – which Asma Jahangir and I.A. Rehman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan managed to attend.

12-year old Ateeq from Lahore, currently in the Juvenile Jail in Hoshiarpur, India

Here is an update from Asad Jamal in Lahore on Feb 26:
Release orders were passed for the 12 years old Pakistani boy in Indian Juvenile (Hoshiarpur) Prison after Asma Jahangir appeared in the Juvenile Court in Amritsar today. Now the Pakistan authorities have to complete procedural matters and bring the boy back home. Asma Jahangir met the boy in Amritsar and found him traumatised. She had taken video film of the boy’s father as well some clothes for him. Local lawyers/activists arranged and distributed sweets after the court order. Continue reading →

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CONVERSATIONS: Peace is hard work

Posted on February 22, 2010 by beenasarwar

Published in The News on Sunday, Political Economy section, aman ki asha page, Feb 21, 2010

CONVERSATIONS

Peace is hard work

A Pakistani and an Indian begin an email exchange, attempting to share their thoughts honestly, without fear and hostility, exploring what divides our countries, and seeking ways to bridge the divide

By Dilip D’Souza and Beena Sarwar

February 16 2010

Dear Beena,

I started writing this before Pune. When I heard about those 11 more senseless deaths, I decided to rewrite it. I want to start by saying how difficult horrors like this make it to remain committed to the idea of peace, of speaking the language of reason. Here’s the bottom line: most Indians believe that this latest attack, like previous attacks, was conceived in Pakistan. Continue reading →

Filed under: Peace | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

A standing ovation for an innings of the ages

Posted on February 13, 2010 by beenasarwar
GHB & Sara

Proud father with daughter at her graduation

Published in The News Feb 12, 2010

Pioneering sports journalist and statistician Gul Hameed Bhatti remembered

By Beena Sarwar

Karachi, Feb 12: There was laughter and some tears as friends, relatives and admirers gathered at an informal reference for the late veteran sports journalist and former Sports Editor The News, and former Editor The News Karachi Gul Hameed Bhatti, at The Second Floor community space near Defence Library.

Prominent speakers highlighted Bhatti’s thorough decency and honesty, selflessness, professionalism, his pioneering role in establishing cricket statistics in Pakistan and on a more personal level, his sense of fun, his love for music, cinema, food and off-colour jokes, his unreserved support of his journalist wife’s career and dedication to their children Kamil and Sara. Continue reading →

Filed under: Cricket | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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