India, Pakistan: Build on goodwill, not hate

Posted on January 23, 2015 by beenasarwar
A student in Chennai prays for those killed in Peshawar. Schools across India held a two-minute silence on Wednesday. Photo: R. Senthil Kumar/ PTI

A student in Chennai prays for those killed in Peshawar. Schools across India held a two-minute silence on Wednesday. Photo: R. Senthil Kumar/ PTI

I wrote this for The News on Sunday’s Jan 11, 2015 issue:

Build on goodwill, not hate

In the wake of escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan, people on both sides of the border continue to express solidarity through peace initiatives

In an unprecedented and heart-warming gesture from India to Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Modi requested schools in his country to observe a two-minute silence to commemorate the children and teachers killed in the horrific attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on Dec 16, 2014.

In another unprecedented, spontaneous show of solidarity, Indians began tweeting with the hashtag #IndiaWithPakistan, started by Indian columnist Tehseen Poonawala who tweets from the handle @tehseenp. …  [Read more]

 

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Ilyas Kashmiri, Saleem Shehzad and the media in Pakistan

Posted on June 7, 2011 by beenasarwar

“It’s amazing how things change here. The moment it was reported that Ilyas Kashmiri was killed the entire media began explaining that he was a mastermind of the Mehran attack. The only person who had reported this at the time of the attach was Saleem Shehzad, and look what they did to him.

“Up to the point of Kashmiri’s killing the media were busy peddling conspiracy theories with no clear view on who was behind the Mehran attack – or deliberately obfuscating, as one would surmise now. And the only person who was taking a clear view had to be silenced. Then, with the killing of Kashmiri in a drone attack, with cooperation from the Pakistani side, everything changes.

“Now a fully worked out CV of Kashmiri becomes available within minutes with every news outlet. A CV that is exactly what Shehzad had compiled and includes feats such as Mehran, GHQ and Mumbai. This rapid clarity following such intense confusion without any visible process of getting from one to the other needs to be explained”

— comment from a friend in Karachi

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