Upcoming speaking engagements in the Boston area

Posted on March 24, 2011 by beenasarwar

Upcoming public events in the Boston area that I’m participating in:

“Religion, Politics and the Rule of Law in South Asia”: Thursday, March 24, 2011 • 5:30 – 7:00 pm •  Carr Center Conference Room (Rubenstein Building, Floor 2, Room 219) • Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA

Noam Chomsky and Beena Sarwar: Days of Hope and Challenge: Thursday, April 14, 2011 • 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm • Boston University Law Auditorium • 767 Commonwealth Ave. • followed by reception at Sherman Union Backcourt • Boston

Boston Cares: April Social Cinema program: Screening of the documentary Bhutto (chronicling the life of Benazir Bhutto) • followed by discussion • Independent Lens series hosted in partnership with ITVS Community Cinema and City Year • Tuesday, April 19, 2011 • 6:00-8:00PM • Lavine Civic Forum in the City Year Headquarter building • 287 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02116

Filed under: Progressive politics | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Peace please, musically

Posted on July 18, 2009 by beenasarwar
No Saazish No Jung - Times of India, July14-09-

No Saazish No Jung - Times of India, July14-09-

Shahvar Ali Khan: “No Saazish, No Jung”

In January I posted out information to my  yahoogroup about a joint signature campaign between Indians and Pakistanis, and also a note from a Lahori who loves Mumbai, Shahvar Ali Khan

(A Lahori’s love for Mumbai; Pk-India joint signature campaign – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beena-issues/message/1028)com/

Recently, Shahvar wrote, composed and sang a song “No Saazish, No Jung” (no conspiracy, no war) – which you can download at – http://www.shahvaralikhan.com/

I’m thrilled that it’s getting some media attention even without a video. There was a piece in Instep, The News on Sunday, Pakistan on July 06, 2009, and this piece in Times of India, July 14, 2009 – ‘Now a song for Indo-Pak peace’ –
http://tinyurl.com/TOI-Shahvar

Below, text of the Press Trust of India report of July 7, 2009 published in Indian papers:

Pak singer puts Gandhi, Jinnah together in appeal for peace

Islamabad (PTI): A Pakistani singer has combined the voices of Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Benazir Bhutto and US President Barack Obama in a new song that makes an impassioned plea for peace in the region.

Shahvaar Ali Khan’s “No Saazish, No Jung” is a peace anthem that tells “mullahs” and “foreigners” to leave his country alone.

“Mullayae na kar tung, oo guraya na kar tung, meino rahen dae malang, mein nach nach kai larni yae jang de nal jang (Don’t bother me mullahs/Don’t bother me foreigners/Let me remain a free spirit/I will dance away and fight your war),” goes the song in Punjabi that combines a hard rock guitar riff with a folksy backing.

Khan, 25, said he plans to make a video based on the song. “I plan to shoot the video in Mumbai so that it will be an India-Pakistan peace initiative,” he said.

He is in touch with several Indian directors and is also looking for sponsors and TV channels to back the video so that it can be ready for release by the time Pakistan and India celebrate their independence days on August 14 and 15 respectively.

The song combines excerpts from speeches by Gandhi, Jinnah, Bhutto and Obama.

The voice of Gandhi can be heard intoning “…in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists”.

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

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