Jimmy Engineer: The artist, his inner voice, the lion story and a dream

Posted on May 18, 2015 by beenasarwar
Jimmy Engineer stands with protestors at the 4th monthly remembrance for Peshawar school massacre, in Boston. Photo: Ehsun Mirza

Jimmy Engineer stands with protestors at the 4th monthly remembrance for Peshawar school massacre, in Boston. Photo: Ehsun Mirza

An article I wrote for The News on Sunday about the artist, humanitarian and peace worker Jimmy Engineer, The artist and more, May 3, 2015. Reproduced here with additional links and photos.

“There is a long list of people who are activists and who take up causes who get killed. It’s an endless list, and it’s a senseless list,” says Jimmy Engineer.

I’m talking to this Pakistani artist and philanthropist on the phone, having him met a few times in the Boston area. Based in Karachi, he’s visiting the USA, currently in Houston where his parents live. I’ve called to ask if he heard about the murder of activist-entrepreneur Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi.

He puts the tragedy in perspective as part of the perennial struggle between good and evil. “There will always be those who try to improve things and raise a voice to create awareness. There will always be those who want to destroy them. This happens everywhere in the world. Nature also takes its toll. Along with all the positive, there’s always a negative, like the Nepal earthquake.”

Sabeen herself well understood herself and exemplified this philosophy, accepting that negativity and evil exist but yet continuing to strive to do what is possible on a personal level. Life is a never-ending struggle and we each need to do what we can. Continue reading →

Filed under: Freedom of expression | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

An app for India Pakistan love, the patriotism question, and peace-mongering, regardless

Posted on February 21, 2015 by beenasarwar

20150218-AKA pageMy latest Personal Political post for Times of India blogs

I have for some time been in touch with a young Indian software engineer turned project manager turned ‘digital nomad’, Amrit Sharma. Last week in the Aman ki Asha page that I edit published weekly in The News, Pakistan, we featured a small report on a heart-warming initiative he has started (all the articles are online at the AKA website).

In August 2013, Amrit launched India Loves Pakistan for the joint commemoration of India and Pakistan’s Independence Days. The aim: “to add the human element into the India Pakistan relationship”.  Now he has launched an Android app called “India or Pakistan” through a self-funded tech startup. Continue reading →

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The ‘good’ Taliban strike again

Posted on February 13, 2015 by beenasarwar
Alamdar Road, Quetta: Shia Hazara protestors sitting with coffins in the freezing cold.

Alamdar Road, Quetta (file photo): Shia Hazara protestors with coffins of those killed in a 2012 attack sit in the freezing cold to demand government action. #NeverForget

Another attack at a Shia Imambargah in Peshawar. More loss of innocent lives as the “good” Taliban strike again. The Pakistan military machine goes after the “bad” ones, while those who kill Shias and Ahmadis are allowed to function as they further outdated foreign policy objectives re India / Kashmir and Afghanistan. (see Pakistan Must Discard its ‘Good Taliban, Bad Taliban’ Narrative)

Pakistanis will keep protesting, the perpetrators will keep attacking. Continue reading →

Filed under: Progressive politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Update on Hamid Ansari, Indian national “missing” in Pakistan

Posted on January 3, 2015 by beenasarwar
Hamid Ansari, 27, MBA, Rotarian from Mumbai... missing since Nov 2012

Hamid Ansari, 27, MBA, Rotarian from Mumbai… missing since Nov 2012

Update to case below: Hamid Ansari was produced in court, tried in a military court and awarded three years’ vigorous imprisonment starting from December 15, 2015. He has appealed to be treated not as a spy.

The police in Pakistan have confirmed that the ISI and MI have custody of Hamid Ansari, the young Indian national who has been missing in Pakistan since 2012. So will we see him produced in court as directed by the honorable judges? See my earlier post Hamid Ansari: Mumbai man missing in Pakistan (we treat each other’s citizens differently). On second thoughts, not that differently. Our security agencies treat their own citizens as badly. Plenty of examples all over both countries — Kashmir, Balochistan, Sindh, Assam, Manipur, to name some areas where such violations take place routinely. The documents below, presented to the Peshawar High Court, provide details of Hamid Nihal Ansari’s case. Continue reading →

Filed under: Human rights | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Mahesh Bhatt’s “Milne Do” – II

Posted on December 15, 2014 by beenasarwar

A year ago, I wrote about Mahesh Bhatt’s new theatrical project a play titled ‘Milne Do’ aiming to find common ground between India and Pakistan. Here’s an update: He’s going ahead with it in collaboration with Azad Theatre and Laal band in Lahore. My article published in Aman ki Asha below:

imran and mahesh 1

Imran Zahid and Mahesh Bhatt: teamwork for a causMahesh Bhatt, in an attempt to find common ground between India and Pakistan, is all set to produce and present a play titled “Milne Do”.

The veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, in an attempt to find common ground between India and Pakistan, is all set to produce and present a play titled “Milne Do”.

“I have always maintained that a movie or a play can be a greater vehicle of peace than all the lectures we give,” he says. Any message, if communicated through storytelling, touches a chord. We are also trying to do the same. This play will be an emotional transaction between industries on both sides.”

This cross-border collaborative project across borders has been in the making for over a year. Continue reading →

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A cross-border royal Rajput wedding

Posted on December 8, 2014 by beenasarwar
Bridal couple: at the Roka (ring exchange) ceremony in Jaipur, June, 2014

Bridal couple: at the Roka (ring exchange) ceremony in Jaipur, June, 2014

This is an updated version of the piece I wrote published in Aman ki Asha on December 3, 2014

It’s nice to be able to write about something joyous for a change. This time, it is about the forthcoming marriage of two beautiful, bright, spirited young people, one in Pakistan and one in India.

The Rajput community on either side of the border is particularly excited about the marriage that will join two princely families from either side of the border. Preparations involve the Tikka ceremony that took place in Pakistan on Dec 7, 2014, for the first time since 1947. Continue reading →

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India/Pakistan: #DearNeighbour – a new ‘velfie’ movement

Posted on November 22, 2014 by beenasarwar

A ‘velfie’ movement is sweeping social media as Indians and Pakistanis share video messages for peace as part of the ‪#‎DearNeighbour‬ Peace Challenge. But are the politicians listening? The organisers invite people to send their Peace Velfies to: dearneighbourmovement@gmail.com and/or upload it to the fb page DearNeighbour Movement and nominate two friends to take the challenge. Here’s the piece I wrote about it for Aman ki Asha. Text below.

Continue reading →

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

India, Pakistan should focus on children — not bullets

Posted on October 17, 2014 by beenasarwar

Pakistan has a million Malalas: My interview in Times of India, Oct 15, 2014 

20141015-TOI interview - Anahita Mukherjee

Beena Sarwar is a Pakistani journalist and documentary filmmaker. As an Indian and Pakistani together win 2014’s Nobel peace prize, Sarwar spoke with Anahita Mukherji about the joint award, tension at the LoC – and how Pakistan has a million Malalas:

Will Malala Yousafzai winning the Nobel inspire more Pakistanis now — and enable her to return to Pakistan? Continue reading →

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“My only durable identity is my humanity”

Posted on September 4, 2014 by beenasarwar
CG Mishra-pic Farhat Sadaqa

Akhilesh Mishra: humanity and poetry. Photos: Farhat Sadaqa

A short piece I wrote about a South Asian event I was invited to speak at in Toronto; I focused on the speech by the Indian Consul General Akhilesh Mishra. Published in the Aman ki Asha page in The News, September 3, 2014.

Speaking at an informal discussion organised by the South Asian Peoples Forum in the Toronto area in Canada on Monday, Akhilesh Mishra, the unassuming Consul General of India won many hearts with his soul-touching poetry, couplets of which were interspersed throughout his brief speech.

This, coupled with his humane and compassionate outlook, comes as a refreshing change from the kind of talk and posturing one usually gets from diplomats. Continue reading →

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

“I lay his poems on my lips and sip at leisure” – Gulzar on Naseer Ahmed Nasir

Posted on July 11, 2014 by beenasarwar

2014- Man Outside HistoryMy piece for the weekly Aman ki Asha page on July 9 and on the TOI blog

The iconic lyricist and poet Gulzar in his preface to Dr Bina Biswas’ translation of a collection of Urdu poetry pays rich tribute to Pakistani poet Naseer Ahmed Nasir

———

“A Man Outside History“
Poems of Naseer Ahmed Nasir
Translated into English by Bina Biswas
Foreword by Gulzar
Free Verse, an imprint of LiFi Publications,
New Delhi, 2014; Pp 173; INR 300
(available in Pakistan with Messers Al Abbas International, Rana Chamber, 2-Dil Muhammad Road, Lahore)

————-

Continue reading →

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