Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, women warriors for peace and a viral Punjabi music video

Asma-Bushra-wall

A poetic dialogue between two neighbours separated by an insurmountable wall goes viral. Pictured here: Asma Abbas and Bushra Ansari, performing their sister Neelum Bashir’s poem.

There’s been so much going on that I haven’t shared any updates here for a while. On Tuesday 11 Feb., Bilawal Bhutto Zardari gave a talk on Pakistan and the Welfare State at Harvard that I reported on: “We can’t say we’re too poor to look after our people”, published in The News on Sunday, 17 Feb.  I was going to post it with an important paragraph that got left out of my report when I cut it down, but the Pulwama attack of 14 Feb overshadowed everything. I’ll share it at some point. Continue reading

Hundreds of Saudis urge King Abdullah to free Manal, let women drive

From "Saudis Debate Ban on Women Drivers", NYT, May 7, 2009

More than 500 Saudi citizens, providing their full names and occupation have signed this petition to the Saudi King. I got the text of their letter, below, from the facebook group Al Huriyah Li Manal Al Sharif-Khitab Li Al Malik (Freedom For Manal Al Sharif – People’s Petition to the King) formed in support of Manal Masoud and women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Most posts to the group are in Arabic (thanks Rahaf for the translation). This has been festering since the first Gulf War. See report of an earlier campaignSaudis Debate Ban on Women Drivers, by Robert Mackey, NYT, May 9, 2007
: Continue reading

‘From Pakistan with Love: Saneeya Hussain’

‘Celebrating Saneeya’ – feminist, activist, environmentalist, my former editor, and dear friend. Made this 5-min documentary after she died in Brazil in 2005… Saneeya, we will always miss you and be inspired by you and your infectious laughter… See also Saneeya Hussain Trust
http://saneeyahussaintrust.com/

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