From Kerala with love

Posted on October 3, 2010 by beenasarwar

Prof. Raj and S.M. Naseem, Kerala, 2004

My article published in the Aman ki Asha page on Sept 23, 2010

From Kerala with love

An over three-decade long friendship between Pakistani and Indian economists leads to an unexpected offer of help for Pakistan’s flood victims

By Beena Sarwar

The visa and travel restrictions between India and Pakistan mean that Indians and Pakistanis who become friends often meet for the first time in a third country.

For economists S.M. Naseem, a Pakistani, and Prabhat Patnaik, an Indian, the third country was Thailand, 1978. They were both members of ILO’s Asian Regional Team for Employment (ARTEPP) in Bangkok, headed by Prof. K. N. Raj. Prof. Raj, who died last year in Kerala, was also known as the author of the Kerala Model, and founded the Centre of Development Studies in Trivandrum after heading the Delhi School of Economics (where his students included Prabhat Patnaik) and as serving as the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.

Continue reading →

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Statement: Citizens for Democracy

Posted on September 24, 2010 by beenasarwar

Several concerned citizens of Pakistan drafted this statement, endorsed by the signatories below.  It was published in various newspapers on Sept 24. See report in Dawn and at South Asian Media Net. Update: advertisements in Jang and News today, Sept 27, 2010. Please endorse if you agree.

Sept 23, 2010

We the Citizens for Democracy:

  • Concerned about an all-sided institutional, financial and societal destabilization in a terrorism-ridden country reeling under the unprecedented havoc caused by the floods;
  • Alarmed at strategic and political uncertainty, reinforcing hopelessness and chaos, due to an ongoing power-struggle among various institutions of the state;
  • Reiterate our full faith in constitutional, democratic and representative system that ensures freedoms and fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, a free and responsible media and above all sovereignty of our people reflected through federal and provincial legislatures;

    • Continue reading →

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IRC’s Khairpur and Hyderabad camps: Eid report by Sadiqa Salahuddin

Posted on September 16, 2010 by beenasarwar

Eid distribution at IRC camp - Sadiqa Salahuddin (in cap)

Sadiqa Salahuddin, a dear family friend, has been working in the Khairpur area for over a decade, providing education to children there (mostly girls) through her Indus Resource Centre (IRC). Since the floods hit, they have turned their energies towards relief work.

Here’s an update from her, received this morning, about Eid, the festival that marks the end of the month of fasting, in the IRC camps:

September 14, 2010
Dear Friends,

Eid in a Tent City was a unique experience of my life. I do not remember seeing so many happy faces around on Eid as I saw this year. This might seem contrary to what we are hearing and watching on television about the deprivation and gloom among internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Eid. I have no doubt about media portraying realities but what I am saying is real too. A young journalist has captured Eid in our Tent City in Tribune. Please see this report Learning to say ‘I love you’ Continue reading →

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Dear Angelina Jolie…

Posted on September 13, 2010 by beenasarwar

Angelina in Pakistan – ‘dressed accordingly’ (Sept 8, 2010)

Okay, I know I’m going to get flak for this from Angelina lovers and those who may not get my point, but I think it’s an important point to make. It has nothing to do with floods or flood relief, but everything to do with Pakistan’s image, especially pertaining to women. So here goes… Something I wrote a few days ago:

Dear Angelina Jolie

Hello from Karachi. I truly admire your work, your compassion, your raising awareness about those less fortunate, around the world. It’s wonderful that you were able to come to Pakistan again and meet with the flood victims. Your voice will go a long way towards bringing their plight to front stage, where it needs to be.

What I say next should not be taken personally. I am speaking as a woman who lives in one of the most misunderstood and maligned nations of the world. We, the women of Pakistan, have had to fight long and hard for our rights – and we continue to do so. One of the fights we are still fighting is the right to dress as we choose. Continue reading →

Filed under: Gender | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 54 Comments »

Personal Political: A flood of despair, a trickle of hope

Posted on September 4, 2010 by beenasarwar

About a fifth of Pakistan is under water. BBC graphic, Aug 25, 2010

Karachi, Aug 24, 2010 – my monthly column, written three weeks into the most devastating floods Pakistan has ever known, and shortly after India’s aid offer of $5 million to help flood-affected Pakistan, published in The News on Sunday (Aug 31) and Hardnews, India (Sept 1). India later upped the offer by $20 million.
Explaining the decision to the Lok Sabha (Parliament) on Aug 31, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said in his speech, “We cannot remain unconcerned with this grave humanitarian crisis of enormous magnitude in our immediate neighbourhood.”

PERSONAL POLITICAL: A flood of despair, a trickle of hope

Beena Sarwar

July 28, 2010 was a bad day for Pakistan. That morning, heavy rains led to a private airline plane crashing into the Margalla hills near Islamabad, killing all 152 on board. The rains also brought the most devastating floods in living memory.

That day, I and a few Pakistani water experts landed in Delhi for a closed-door seminar on water as an issue that causes tensions between India and Pakistan, organised by the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation and Aman ki Asha where I work. By the time we returned home on July 31, the floods had claimed 500 lives in northern Pakistan and left thousands homeless. Continue reading →

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Floods turn the world’s hottest place into an island

Posted on September 3, 2010 by beenasarwar

Ghari Kheru, Dist. Jacobabad, Aug 19, 2010.

A query from Lahore the other day about whether the town of Jacobabad was submerged got me on the phone with friends to inquire. Fortunately, it was just a rumour. But in the process, I got information that had to be used… hence this feature, published in The News today.

Floods turn the world’s hottest place into an island

Beena Sarwar

Jacobabad is famous for being one of the hottest places in the world with temperatures reaching up to 52°C in summer, April-Sept. This year, the unprecedented floods in Pakistan have done nothing to cool things down for this colonial town. Temperatures in Jacobabad district, on the border of Sindh and Balochistan, remain excruciatingly high despite floodwaters submerging surrounding areas.

Jacobabad area map showing flooded area in red.

The old town of Jacobabad, founded in 1947 by a British General John Jacob, is for now at least a virtual island, accessible only by boat despite its distance from the river. Gen. Jacob, commandant of the Sindh Horse for years, died and was buried here in 1858. Today the Victorian tower erected in his memory watches over an almost abandoned town. Continue reading →

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Fight The Flood – Bridge Our Divide. New blog.

Posted on August 26, 2010 by beenasarwar

Fight The Flood – Bridge Our Divide. New blog, check it out (via Wajahat S. Khan) compiling information about Pakistan floods, blogs etc.

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Four main camps around Karachi

Posted on August 26, 2010 by beenasarwar

On the side of Super Highway, children running after a Suzuki with relief goods (not managed). Photos: Yasir Husain

Received this information in an email from Yasir Husain, Karachi, Aug 24, 2010:

A C-130 from Jacobabad airlifted a group of stranded people to Karachi. These people are in a number of camps I visited in the Hawkesbay / Keamari / Manghopir area. One has 650 tents, and is generally secure and well catered for. The area has electricity and a tent hospital with beds.

Another camp close by is in a girls’ college on the main Hawkesbay Rd. The college was built by PPP government 15 years ago. It never opened or finished, but still gets additions. The refugees from upper Sindh housed here are being well looked after, but say they were never told that they were being taken to Karachi, or Mangopir. Ambulances and police are on standby, and district officers are on duty. There was an anti-mosquito spray at the college, which had a generator on standby, but no electricity. Continue reading →

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Volunteers needed – Karachi Relief Trust

Posted on August 26, 2010 by beenasarwar

CALL OUT TO ALL CITIZENS – WANTED: Volunteers to help with food distribution, camp management, data collection.

The Karachi Relief Trust urgently requires volunteers for camp management& food distributions in IDP camps in Sindh. KRT has already provided 4000 families with immediate relief in Nowshera and Charsadda and is currently providing food, immediate relief and shelter in the severe flood affected areas of Sindh. KRT has experienced staff in humanitarian relief and disaster management and is working around the clock to ensure efficient and equitable relief and rehablitation to those affected. We are now looking for a team of dedicated volunteers to help with food distribution, camp management, data collection etc.

  • Camp Locations: Shikarpur, Moro, Sakhrand, Thul, Sukkur, Ghotki and Jhal Magsi are some of the camps in Sindh.
  • Duration: a minimum of 7 days. You can volunteer individually or volunteer together as a group of 4-5 people.
  • What do we want you to do?: Food distribution, camp management, data collection, coordination with karachi team etc.

Accommodation and travel will be provided. Briefing and training will be provided to all volunteers before they leave.

For more information or to volunteer: Please email adoptacamp@karachirelief.org or moneeza.ahmed@gmail.com

Filed under: Floods | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

Appeal from Zebu Jilani (granddaughter of the last Wali of Swat)

Posted on August 22, 2010 by beenasarwar

Zebu Jilani (right) speaks to women in Swat, July 2010. Photo courtesy Globe & Mail.

The people of Swat suffered first under the Taliban, than due to army action and now due to floods. Inspiring to see their resilience and efforts to get back on their feet. See article in the Globe & Mail: A princess returns to the Swat Valley, Akbar Ahmed’s Huffington Post article Compassion in Taliban Territory, and email below from Zebu Jilani, granddaughter of the last Wali of Swat. Continue reading →

Filed under: Floods | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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