‘We will keep talking’ #SouthasiaPeace – and a tribute to Anja’s spirit and the courage of journalists

Posted on April 4, 2024 by beenasarwar
Kathy Gannon shares an iconic photo by Anja Niedringhaus during a talk at Emerson College, Boston, 2022. Photo by Beena Sarwar

“If France and Germany can be part of the European Union, why can’t Pakistan and India be part of a Southasian Union?” asked Dr Mubashir Hasan, former finance minister of Pakistan, a hawk-turned-dove who co-founded the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). He had roped me into it when I was a young journalist in Lahore in the mid-1990s. When he said these words to me some years ago, and I replied that this was impossible, he responded, “Par hum baat toh kar sakte haiN” – but we can at least talk about it.

Years later, in 2021, during a time of renewed tensions between Pakistan and India, his words inspired the foundation of the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, that we now write like a word, Sapan, rather than in all caps, conveys the meaning of a dream.

“This is a dream that connects millions, giving hope for solidarity, peace, and friendship in the region. The network, which encourages dialogue and connections amongst Southasians and across various issues, has managed to virtually overcome borders and build bridges between those who have historically been divided” writes young peacebuilder Mansi Chandna from Jaipur, who attended the event from her current base in Manchester.

Read her piece, ‘Hum Baat Karte Rahenge!’ – We will keep talking, assert Southasia peace activists – a Sapan News Network syndicated feature available for republication with due credit.

Art and Southasian Voices panel at the Sapan third anniversary event: Manmeet K. Walia, Roshan Mishra, Salima Hashmi. Screenshot from video recording.

Sharing my curtainraiser for Sapan News about a poignant photo exhibition opening at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York today, featuring the work of the acclaimed photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus. She covered Afghanistan and Pakistan at the height of the war between the Taliban and the USA, and was killed ten years ago, on 4 April 2014.

An Afghan police commander walked up to the car she sat in with Kathy Gannon outside a government compound in Khost, where they were covering the presidential election for the AP. Anja, 48, died instantly. Seven bullets shattered Kathy’s arms and shoulders. The Afghan doctor who initially operated on her saved her arm, using various ‘jugaRs‘ (improvisations). Doctors at the French military hospital in Kabul where she was later medi-evaced said they would have amputated it had she reached them first.

In all the years I’ve known Kathy, I’d never heard her complain or mention her injuries or trauma. When I hesitantly asked about it now, for this piece, she detailed the information matter-of-factly, even cheerfully, focuses more on Anja, her courage, and her spirit. All that applies to Kathy herself. 

Kathy, who also on the Sapan News Advisory Council, has co-curated the show and its accompanying book.

Anja Niedringhaus’ photos showcased in a tribute posted by her colleagues at AP

The Bronx Documentary Center opening reception will be followed by the IWMF Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award ceremony.

The exhibition will travel to Cambridge MA, 9-10 May 2024, co-sponsored by the Nieman Foundation and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University. Anja was a Nieman Fellow 2007.

Exhibition information:
Bronx Documentary Center
614 Courtlandt Ave, Bronx, NY 10451
On View: April 4 – May 5, 2024
Gallery hours: Thurs-Fri 3-7PM, Sat-Sun 1-5PM

Book information:
Anja Niedringhaus
By Ami Beckmann, Kathy Gannon, and Muhammed Muheisen
Hardcover, 80 pages, 44 images
Release date: April 2024
Published by Fort Orange Press
Price: USD 30

Read the full story, A tribute to the spirit of Anja – and the courage of journalists, at the Sapan News site. 

Note: We have been doing this work voluntarily for the past three years and need support of all kinds – like, share, encourage.

And donate – thank you to those who contributed to help Sapan News meet our NewsMatch goal by December 31. We made it!

We now need to raise $3,000 more in the next three weeks. Will you help? Here is the link to share with friends who might want to contribute – no amount is too small: www.sapannews.com/donate

Thank you for reading and for your support.

With hope and solidity 🙏🏽

Filed under: 'War on terror', Afghanistan, Art and activism, Pakistan-India, Southasia, Violence in the name of religion | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The cross-border solidarity of Amrita Pritam and Fahmida Riaz, the student movement, and peacemongering today

Posted on January 28, 2024 by beenasarwar
Poster for the event honouring Amrita Pritam and Fahmida Riaz. Courtesy PIPFPD

The latest Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) newsletter we put out highlighted a commemoration in Delhi for two iconic feminist poets of Pakistan and India: How the friendship of two cross-border feminist poets symbolises our work; upcoming events, and more

Radical love, epitomised by the late Amrita Pritam and Fahmida Riaz is ‘one of the seeds of the revolutionary thought process’, to quote the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) stalwarts who organised the event – Vijayan MJ, Tapan Bose, and Dr Syeda Hameed. Their consistent work over the decades for peace and justice is truly inspirational, and I feel privileged to know them personally.

I was also privileged to know one of the late poets personally, Fahmida ‘Khala’ (aunt) to me, who was close to my father Dr. M. Sarwar. He led the Democratic Students Federation (DSF), Pakistan’s first student movement while at Dow Medical College in Karachi, 1949-54.

I’ve uploaded archives about the movement here: drsarwar.wordpress.com. Principles of that struggle continue to show the way, like the importance of coming together across divides for a minimum common agenda. For DSF, it was student rights. For Sapan, it’s Southasia Peace. We need it now, for the sake of the people of the region, and beyond. 

The Videos section of the Dr Sarwar blog includes a playlist of video clips from the event held at the Karachi Arts Council in January 2010 to commemorate DSF and the student movement, a few months after my father passed on.

Compered by the actor Rahat Kazmi, the event featured speeches from young activists, students, and academics like Amar Sindhu, Alia Amirali, Ali Cheema, and Varda Nisar, as well as veterans like I.A. Rehman, besides the singer Tina Sani, Taimur Rahman and his band Laal, and Fahmida Riaz.

Fahmida Khala recited her poem ‘Palwashey Muskurao’ (Palvasha, smile), dedicated to daughter of late Afzal Bangash of the Mazdoor Kissan Party (Workers’ and Peasants’ Party), and the followers of other late leftist leaders. They may no longer be on this earth, but their principles and aspirations for human rights and dignity continue to show the way.

Fahmida Riaz reciting her poem ‘Palwashey Muskurao’ (Palvasha, smile), Jan. 2010, Karachi.

(ends)

Filed under: Art and activism, Dr M Sarwar, Pakistan-India, Progressive politics, Resistance | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A visafree Southasia? Really?

Posted on August 11, 2022 by beenasarwar

It’s a dream, and aspiration. To quote Gulzar’s beautiful poem, “Ankhon ko visa nahi lagta, sapnoN ke sarhad koi nahiN” (Eyes don’t need a visa, dreams don’t have frontiers)

So there’s this dream: Southasia is a region with soft borders, like the European Union, or like the Southasia region itself was, prior to 1965.

We’ve long been calling for dialogue to be uninterrupted and uninterruptible. The call for soft borders and allowing people-to-people contact takes this further. Letting people meet, travel, and trade will benefit the region economically, as well as reduce misunderstandings and violent extremism.

Check out the list of demands – we know it’s a long shot, but we desis are used to bargaining – sign and share this online petition, coordinated by the Southasia Peace Action Network or Sapan. As of today, over 36,000 signatures and counting. Help us reach 50,000.

Here’s a compilation of the organisations collaborating on this so far. More are joining. Each person counts, like the drops that make up the ocean.

We may not attain the dream in our lifetime but let’s not let that stop us from trying.

Logos of participating organisations. Being updated on the petition site as more join.

The petition is addressed to the prime ministers and foreign offices of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Nepal and Sri Lanka allow visa-on-arrival. This is how it starts:

“This August marks 75 years since India gained independence from the British colonists and was simultaneously partitioned as the new country of Pakistan was born. In 1971, there was further independence and partition as East Pakistan became Bangladesh. These momentous events are marked with much blood and pain. 

“It is time to heal the pain. Let people meet, “milne do”. Let us ‘reclaim Southasia’, to quote the late journalist I.A. Rehman. 

“It is essential to allow people-to-people contact in order to fulfil the objectives of SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation which aims to “promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia” in all ways possible and to enable the peoples of the region to “live in dignity and to realise their full potential”. 

Details at the petition online at this link.

Filed under: Pakistan-India, Southasia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Give peace a chance: Activists urge India, Pakistan, to step up for #SouthAsia

Posted on July 16, 2020 by beenasarwar

The Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) has begun a series of online discussions aimed at reclaiming the people’s narrative. The PIPFPD The page has several video excerpts from these and other discussions. Below reports on both discussions by Neel Kamal, published in Times of India and Aman Ki Asha.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Human rights, Pakistan-India | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Tribute to a nationalistic hawk-turned-peacemonger with a SouthAsian vision

Posted on March 28, 2020 by beenasarwar

Lahore, 1992: Dr Syeda Hameed with Dr Mubashir Hasan, uncle, comrade and mentor. Photo by Reza Kazim.

With the world in the grip of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s hard to find space for anything else. As horrors unfolded in country after country, exposing the hollowness behind military might, glittering capitalist facades, and exploitation, a gentle soul slipped into the hereafter at his house in Lahore. At 98, he had spent the last half of his life fighting for exactly the kind of egalitarian, people centered system that would have mitigated the ravages of Covid-19. There have been some wonderful tributes to Dr Mubashir Hasan. Two of the best I’ve seen are by his old friend I.A. Rehman and Indian journalist Nirupama Subramaniam in Indian Express, also published in Aman Ki Asha.

Below, my tribute to Dr M. in The News on Sunday last weekend, a follow up to my piece in The Wire earlier. Also below, two previously unpublished pieces I am honoured to present here — a powerful, poignant poem in Dr M’s memory by his niece in Delhi, and a lively little remembrance by a 12-year old based on her memories of the Chaukas collective meetings she attended with her mother, that led to A New Social Contract published by Dr M, 2016. Also linking here this tribute in Mainstream Weekly magazine, Kolkata, founded by Dr Mubashir’s friend Nikhil Chakravartty — “one of the greatest journalists of the subcontinent” as Dr M called him — now edited by his son Sumit Chakravartty.

Continue reading →

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

Farewell Dr Mubashir Hasan: A Nobel Peace Laureate Remembers His Old Friend

Posted on March 22, 2020 by beenasarwar

In the midst of coronavirus madness, March 14 brought the sad news of Dr Mubashir Hasan’s passing. Wrote this piece published in The Wire a few days back. Reproduced here with additional pix and links.

Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, a legacy of Dr Mubashir Hasan, continues to speak out for Kashmir.
Continue reading →

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

Detained fisherfolk: Denial of consular access is denial of justice

Posted on February 13, 2020 by beenasarwar

It is beyond belief that Pakistan has STILL not nominated members to the joint Judicial Committee on Prisoners, which India did in 2018. I have personally sent notes to several members of the ruling party through various contacts. They say they care but there are obviously more important matters to worry about than poor imprisoned fishermen. The Judicial committee, instituted in 2007, has been virtually defunct since the end of 2013. Cross-border prisoners completing their sentences continue to languish in prisons across the border because of lack of consular access. This wouldn’t happen if they were rich and powerful.

Arrested Indian fishermen in Pakistan lockup. File photo. Getty images
Continue reading →

Filed under: Pakistan-India, prisoners | Tagged: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

PERSONAL POLITICAL: Rest in peace, comrade Kutty. The struggle continues

Posted on August 30, 2019 by beenasarwar

I wrote this piece a few days back – the second of my occasional syndicated columns. Published in The Wire, Naya Daur, Mainstream, The Citizen among others.

kutty-smiling.jpg

Early Sunday morning in Karachi, a little over a month after his 89th birthday on 18 July 2019, B. M. Kutty slipped into the ever after. Lifelong activist, trade unionist, political worker, peacemonger, humanist. I like to remember him as I last saw him in Karachi – his big smile, deep voice with its powerful timbre, intense gaze behind the glasses, dapper as usual in bush-shirt and trousers.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Obituary, Pakistan, Pakistan-India, Progressive politics, Resistance | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Cricket World Cup and the spirit of South Asia – #SouthAsianUnion

Posted on June 16, 2019 by beenasarwar

Bashir-Chacha-CWC-2019

M. Bashir ‘Chacha Chicago’ cheers for both teams (for details see this report)

I wrote this piece published in The Wire 6 June 2019, Letter From a Pakistani to an Indian Friend: Can We Please Have a South Asian Union? — pegged on Eid at the time. Posting it here on the eve of the Cricket World Cup match between Pakistan and India in Manchester Sunday. As Admiral Ramu Ramdas says in his little video message, treat it as a game, not a proxy war… And we want a South Asian spirit (also see Himal SouthAsian map and caption below)

Continue reading →

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Remembering Kuldip Nayar, journalist, activist, peacemonger

Posted on August 27, 2018 by beenasarwar

Kuldip, Nandita, Asma J

A precious photo: Kuldip Nayar, Nandita Das and Asma Jahangir at Wagah border. Photo: courtesy Seema Mustafa, The Citizen

I was sad to hear about the passing away of veteran journalist and peacemonger Kuldip Nayar, 95, in Delhi. His passing in general evoked great sadness — as well as a resolve to keep working for his values — not only in India but the land of his birth, Pakistan. I had got to know Kuldip ji over the years through the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) that I joined as a young journalist from Lahore when it was launched in 1994-95, as the largest people-to-people organization between the two countries. The last time I met him was at Allahabad train station a few years ago. The lawyer S.M.A. Kazmi and our family friend Zia ul Haq — the comrade, not the general, himself now over 90 were dropping me off and picking him up. He got the surprise of his life. We didn’t have much time to chat as my train was about to leave but I treasure that memory.

Sharing here the two pieces I put together for Aman Ki Asha (hope for peace), the India-Pakistan website I edit. One is pegged on a tribute from Dr Syeda Hameed in Delhi his long-time friend and fellow-activist, former member of the Planning Commission of India and founder trustee of the Women’s Initiative for Peace in South Asia (WIPSA) and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. She aptly termed him the “gentle giant of India Pakistan peace” in her wonderful piece in The Citizen. See also her account of the Aman Dost Yatra (peace and friendship march) at the border. In the other piece, I put together other tributes paid to him by Pakistanis.

Here are links to both pieces: Remembering the ‘gentle giant of India Pakistan peace’,  and Pakistanis pay tribute to Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar.

SyedaH-KuldipN

(L-R) Dr Syeda Hameed, Navaid Hamid, Kuldip Nayar, Maulana Syed Jalauddin Umari. File photo – Indiatomorrow.ne.

Filed under: journalism, Pakistan-India, Peace | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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