Filed under: Blasphemy Laws, fascism, Health, Kashmir, Progressive politics, Resistance, Violence in the name of religion | Tagged: #MashalKhan, #MusicForHope, #RememberingMashalKhan, Baisakhi, covid-19, Jallianwalla Bagh, Kashmir, Live performance, lockdown, Mashal Khan, Vaisakhi | Leave a comment »
Gauri Lankesh, Sabeen Mahmud.
My piece for The Wire on the assassination of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru, that reminded me of the target-killing of my friend, activist Sabeen Mahmud in Karachi. I traced the patterns and similarity behind these murders.
A spoke in the wheel of this “intellecticide” is the ‘anti-intellectual’ nature of the vote for Donald Trump who shares a host of similarities with Modi in India despite differences. The rise of white supremacy in a nation of migrants built after virtually annihilating indigenous populations is a continuation of ongoing racism in the US.
The pendulum swings of history ushers in periods of the rise of the ‘Right’ or the ‘Left’. We are witnessing the rise of the militant Right at this moment with its ensuing bloodshed in India, Pakistan, the US and elsewhere.
But what will continue to rise inexorably, despite bloodshed along the way, are human aspirations to basic rights, equality and justice. There is no going back, no matter how fiercely the chaddis, topis or kluxies fight it.
Read more: In Life, and in Death, Gauri Lankesh and Sabeen Mahmud Battled Powers Fearful of Change
Protest at Harvard Square: Commemorating Gauri Lankesh’s murder and ongoing Rohingya massacre. Photo: Beena Sarwar
Filed under: Balochistan, Blasphemy Laws, Communalism, Human rights, Pakistan-India, Violence in the name of religion | Tagged: Activism, Balochistan, blasphemy, cow vigilantism, Extreme right, Gauri, India, intellecticide, Mashal Khan, Modi, Pakistan, Rakesh Sharma, Sabeen, Trumpism | 1 Comment »
My piece published in The Wire today. Also posted below.
Image by graphic artist Orijit Sen.
Catalysed by the mob murder of a teenager in India on June 24, followed by a Facebook post on June 24 by filmmaker Saba Dewan, a #NotInMyName campaign is taking off across India with simultaneous protests in several cities on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, against the ongoing mob lynchings and vigilante violence targeting Muslims and Dalits. Continue reading
Filed under: fascism, Human rights, Islam, Pakistan-India, Uncategorized | Tagged: #NotInMyName, beef ban, blasphemy, India, Junaid Khan, lynching, Mashal Khan, mob violence, teenager killed | Leave a comment »
Wrote a short piece last night for the Women’s Regional Network, published on their original content blog. Honoured to be in the company of women like Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal in India, Najla Ayoubi in Afghanistan and others Pakistan taking on issues like how Street Harrassment is Hurting Afghanistan’s Democracy and Development, Young Pakistani Women Recognized for their Achievements, The Rise of Online Trolls in India, Countering Violent Extremism and more. My brief contribution Borderless Issues: Mothers in Conflict also copied below: Continue reading
Filed under: 'War on terror', 'Internally Displaced Persons', Violence in the name of religion | Tagged: Afghanistan, India, Mashal Khan, mothers, nusrat ara, Pakistan, sons, terrorism, women in conflict, women peace prize nobel | Leave a comment »
Like many, I feel shattered and heartbroken by the brutal murder of the university student Mashal Khan. In this op-ed published in The News, April 19, 2017, I try to contextualise the tragedy, share my observations about changes underway and suggest a way forward. Copied below with additional links and visuals. Please also sign and share this online petition: Pakistan Against Extremism: Minimum Common Agenda. Continue reading
Filed under: Blasphemy Laws, Violence in the name of religion | Tagged: #MuslimBan, 295-C, blasphemy, cow vigilantism, democratic political process, Gen. Zia, Gojra, justice, Mashal Khan, najeeb zafar, qadri, salmaan taseer, shama shehzad, Trump | 3 Comments »
Here’s the story I wrote for The Wire about journalism student Mashal Khan and his barbaric murder on campus yesterday – a tragedy I felt quite gutted by and felt compelled to write about (text below). For a short, sharp analysis of the phenomenon that led to the brutality, read Raza Rumi’s piece in The Daily Times, ‘Blasphemer Hunting must Stop’.
Facebook post by Mashal Khan with an Urdu couplet (roughly translated): Along the way sometimes I feel / As if those hidden eyes are watching me.
Filed under: Blasphemy Laws, Human rights | Tagged: 295-C, blasphemy, Mardan, Mashal Khan, Naimat Ahmar, Pakistan, right wing, vigilantism | 3 Comments »
The horrific murder of a journalism student lynched on a university campus in Mardan on April 13 after being accused of ‘blasphemy’, 2017 has revived the urgency of coming together on a joint platform with a minimum common agenda to uphold humanitarian values. Nothing will bring back Mashal Khan, a poet, self-declared humanist and “voice of the voiceless”, but we can at least try to ensure that no other mother loses her Mashal (light) to such barbaric ignorance and orchestrated violence.
We drafted this statement a few months after the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar, signed by over a hundred activists, teachers, lawyers and other professionals as well as students in March 2015: Pakistanis against terrorism: Minimum common agenda against violence in the name of religion – below. Does it need to be amended or updated? Continue reading
Filed under: Blasphemy Laws, Human rights | Tagged: blasphemy, journalism, Mashal Khan, mob violence, terrorism, vigilante violence, vigilantism | 5 Comments »
Journeys to democracy 