Salmaan Taseer: The man who shook a nation awake. Pakistan is awake again. And we have only one man to thank for this. One man who woke us all up in his life and in his death. Lovely post by Anthony Permal.
Filed under: Blasphemy Laws | Tagged: aasia bibi, blasphemy laws, Pakistan, salmaan taseer | 1 Comment »
Citizens’ statement of concern about the democratic process in Pakistan democratic and safety of human rights defenders, to be released to the media on Jan 5, 2012 (to endorse, please enter your information in the form at this link)
We, the undersigned, express our grave concern that Pakistani human rights defenders are being threatened and intimidated for their stance in the ‘memogate’ case. We are also concerned at the danger this crisis poses to Pakistan’s democratic political process that had taken a step forward with the elections of 2008. Continue reading
Filed under: Pakistan, Progressive politics | Tagged: Activism, agencies, Asma Jahangir, democracy, Human rights, Husain Haqqani, judiciary, memogate, Pakistan, security establishment, supreme court | 1 Comment »
Husain Haqqani: Pawn in a larger game?
There are numerous issues besides ‘Memogate’ that directly affect the people, like the shortage of gas, electricity, clean drinking water, housing, healthcare, employment and so on. But the issue gains significance because so far, no democratically elected civilian government in Pakistan has ever been allowed to complete its tenure and hand over power to the next one through democratic elections (as I outlined in this paper). There were hopes that this government would be the first to do so – a critical step towards the continuation of a democratic political that is necessary to move the country away from the military-dominated politics of the past – something, as it is now all too apparent, is not a thing of the past after all. In this context, it’s important to understand the current situation and its dangers. Myra MacDonald sums it up in an analysis for Reuters. Some insights were posted to this blog earlier (here and here). Additional facts are laid out in a document received today (reproduced below) that outlines some facts about Husain Haqqani and ‘memogate’. Also read this important article, ‘Treason? Under what Constitution? in the New Pakistan blog, which dissects the ‘memo’ contents and notes that each item in the document falls under the constitutional purview of the federal government…
Filed under: Pakistan | Tagged: Asma Jahangir, democracy, Husain Haqqani, memogate, Pakistan, supreme court | 6 Comments »
Aasia Bibi: Praying for relief but in good spirits
“Prison staff is very good and kind to her and they are very much concerned about Aasia’s health and security as well, but due to the wrong news broadcasting the prison staff and prison authorities are feeling hurt,” says an update about Aasia Bibi from Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) Pakistan. (Note: I know several CLAAS members personally, and have worked with them on blasphemy case fact-findings for the HRCP). Reproduced below, their email of Dec 29, 2011: Continue reading
Filed under: Blasphemy Laws | Tagged: aasia bibi, asia bibi, blasphemy, Christians, claas, joseph francis, Pakistan | 1 Comment »
Asma Jahangir: Speak out for democracy
Husain Haqqani: scape-goated and threatened
Former Pakistan ambassador Husain Haqqani’s counsel Asma Jahangir sounds a sombre warning about the danger Haqqani is in from the military and intelligence agencies that are capable of picking him up and ‘twisting his limbs’ to make him say what they want to hear. Talking to Dawn TV’s Matiullah Jan in a detailed interview of Jan 1, 2012 she says that she took up the case because she found it a travesty that an individual was being condemned on the basis of a media trial without due process or representation. However, she will not represent him before the Judicial Commission that has been formed as she does not trust the process. The interview, posted in six parts (about 5-6 min each), is worth listening to in full as she makes some crucial points about the significance of this judgement to Pakistan’s politics. She sums some of these points up in this earlier brief interview with Al Jazeera English:
Filed under: Pakistan | Tagged: al jazeera, army, Asma Jahangir, dawn news tv, democracy, Husain Haqqani, isi, matiullah jan, memogate, Pakistan, torture | 3 Comments »
It is an outrage and a violation of freedom of expression that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) continues to block Baloch Hal in Pakistan at a time when this voice needs to be heard across the country now, more than ever. Reproduced below, BH editorial pegged on the target killing of Dr Baqir Shah (emphasis added):
File photo of Dr Baqir Shah after being injured in an earlier attack 14 June 2011. Dr Shah was the police surgeon who conducted the autopsy on five foreigners shot dead by police and FC personnel on 17 May at the Kharotabad checkpost, Quetta.
The late police surgeon was somewhat an easy target for terrorists for a host of reasons. His situation could enable any murderer to immediately vanish in thin air because of the circumstances that shrouded the late doctor. He gained enormous national and international media attention after conducting the postmortem of five foreigners who were killed on May 17 in what is now remembered as the infamous and tragic Kharotabad incident. Continue reading
Filed under: Human rights | Tagged: baloch hal, baloch hal blocked, Balochistan, Baqir Shah, doctors without borders, Human rights, kharotabad, msf, Pakistan | 2 Comments »
Dec 30, 2011, Human Rights Watch press statement received today: “As the “Memogate” case proceeds, all arms of the state must act within their constitutionally determined ambit and in aid of legitimate civilian rule. In this context, justice must both be done and be seen to be done. Pakistan desperately needs a full democratic cycle and a peaceful transfer of power from one civilian administration to another. Should this process be derailed, the constitutional safeguards and legal rights protections created since 2008 may suffer irreparable damage. Continue reading
Filed under: Human rights, Pakistan | Tagged: army, democracy, HRW, hrw pakistan, judiciary, memogate, Pakistan | 5 Comments »
Since the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) continues to block Baloch Hal in Pakistan, I’m posting these news items from their website here. The saga of Pakistan’s ‘enlightenment’ martyrs continues…
The Baloch Hal News
QUETTA: Dr. Baqir Shah, a police surgeon, had conducted the postmortem of the five foreigners, including three women who were brutally killed by the firing of security forces in Kharotabad area on May 17 this year. He had come up with a report that the victims were killed by the bullets that contradicted to the claims of security forces that the foreigners were killed due to explosion Continue reading
Filed under: Balochistan | Tagged: Balochistan, Baqir Shah, doctors target killing, kharotabad, Pakistan, target killing | 3 Comments »
An Open Letter To Marvi Sirmed by Usmann Rana. Thanks for speaking up.
Filed under: Media | Tagged: hamid mir, journalists, marvi sirmed, Media, najam sethi, Pakistan, threat to journalists | Leave a comment »
My curtain raiser on the Eighth Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) Joint Convention being held in Allahabad, India, Dec 29-31, 2011 (slightly shorter version published as an op-ed in The News). When the name was being decided, the Indians insisted that Pakistan should be mentioned first, rather than the usual formulation that places India’s name first. This apparently trivial gesture typifies the PIPFPD’s cooperative spirit.
People for peace | By Beena Sarwar
The Indian government’s clearance of visas for 237 Pakistanis to attend a major peace convention in Allahabad, Dec 29, 2011 to Jan 1, 2012, is a welcome step, allowing the much-delayed Eighth Joint Convention of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) to finally be held.
The PIPFPD is the largest people-to-people organisation between the two countries, formed in 1994 by eminent intellectuals, academics and activists from both sides. Discussions at the Joint Conventions revolve around issues ranging from ‘war, de-militarization, peace and peace dividends’, to ‘Democratic solution to Kashmir problem’, ‘Democratic Governance’ and ‘Religious intolerance in India and Pakistan’. ‘Globalization and Regional co-operation’ was added at the 5th Joint Convention in 2000 at Bangalore.
The principles laid out in the initial PIPFPD Declaration of 1994 are even more relevant today than they were then: that the “politics of confrontation between India and Pakistan has failed to achieve benefits of any kind for the people of both countries”, and that the respective governments should honour the wishes of their people who “increasingly want genuine peace and friendship”.
Better relations, said the Declaration, “will help in reducing communal and ethnic tension” and “will help the South Asian region to progress economically and socially”. The Declaration urged the Governments of Pakistan and India to “agree to an unconditional no-war pact immediately” and to recognise that “a democratic solution to the Kashmir dispute is essential”.
Over 200 Pakistani and Indian delegates participated in the groundbreaking First Joint Convention in New Delhi, 1995. For the first time, Indians and Pakistanis sat together to freely discuss the contentious issues of Kashmir, demilitarization, and the politics of religious intolerance. PIPFPD’s formulation about Kashmir is now part of public discourse: that Kashmir should not be viewed merely as a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan but as a matter of the lives and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, who must be involved in any discussion about their future.
The seven joint Conventions held since in various cities across the region, alternating between both countries, have involved hundreds of ordinary citizens. Delegates pay for their own travel expenses, while the hosts arrange inexpensive board and lodging. These Conventions have yielded not only lasting relations between individuals but also spawned dozens of Indo-Pak organisations and meetings between different ‘sectors’ – fisherfolk, teachers, students, journalists, doctors, lawyers, labour unions, rights groups and others.
It was PIPFPD’s First Joint Convention in New Delhi in 1995 that led to the first regular column by an Indian journalist in a Pakistani newspaper (The News on Sunday) since the 1960s. Today, most newspapers and TV channels in Pakistan have correspondents, stringers and resource persons in India, and vice versa.
Initial delays to the Eighth Joint Convention came from Pakistan, where it was supposed to be held in Peshawar in 2007, after the Seventh Joint Convention in New Delhi in 2005. The political situation provided justifications to deny the necessary permission: escalation in the ‘war on terror’, the lawyers’ movement, the return and then the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and escalating violence in Pakistan as the new government tried to tackle the militants unambiguously.
When it became clear that trying to hold the Convention in Pakistan would add to more delay, the organisers decided to move it to India. That took over a year and much negotiation. Conditions were verbally set out and apprehensions voiced about the possibility of ‘wrong speeches’ being made – not just by the Pakistanis but by Indians. However, those raising the objections were unwilling to spell out their apprehensions in writing.
In the end, persistence and people pressure paid off. Several Indo-Pak events have been held over the past two years, including by Aman ki Asha. Many were initiated by Indians, contrary to the perception that “Indians don’t care about peace with Pakistan”.
Significantly, some of the most inspiring initiatives have come from Mumbai, a city still reeling from the horrific attacks of Nov 26-28, 2008 that many Indians squarely blame Pakistan for. However, many Indians, including Mumbaikars, argue that all Pakistanis should not be held responsible for the actions of a few.
An extraordinary expression of this spirit was the 50-kilometre long ‘human chain for peace’ formed by some 60,000 Mumbaikars on Dec 12, 2008, urging the Government of India to show restraint in dealing with Pakistan — just days after the attacks that claimed 164 lives and left over 300 wounded. This hugely impressive event was overshadowed by the jingoism amplified by the media, but the Indian government did not (for several reasons) pander to those baying for action against Pakistan.
Earlier this year, students from Mumbai came up with a pioneering initiative they called ‘Ummeed-e-Milaap’ (hope for unity), a platform for Indian and Pakistani students to connect, in over 30 colleges in Mumbai, Lahore and Karachi. Last month, a 22-member delegation of journalists from The Press Club of Mumbai travelled to Pakistan to connect with colleagues in Karachi and Hyderabad, culminating in a joint Declaration of Cooperation.
The world is changing. The old paradigms and policies based on paranoia and hatred must give way to a realisation that it is only with cooperation with each other that India that Pakistan can fulfil their respective potentials. The Seventh Joint Convention articulated some visionary steps that both governments can take towards this end (see www.pipfpd.org). The Allahabad Convention will take forward these demands, foremost among which is easing the current restrictive visa regime.
We have seen what happens when thousands of cricket fans are given visas to attend matches across the border: nothing, except for goodwill and a reaffirmation that the people are ready for good relations and personal contacts. As the Allahabad Convention gets under way, do our governments have the political will and vision to follow the people to peace or will they remain mired in outdated security state paradigms?
(ends)
Filed under: Pakistan-India | Tagged: Allahabad, de-militarisation, democratic governance, Environment, India, indo pak peace efforts, Kashmir, nuclear, Pakistan, Peace, people-to-people, PIPFPD, religious intolerance | 4 Comments »
Journeys to democracy 