DAWN Publishes a Picture of an Underage Rape Victim and Apologizes
I do not know if any of you noticed yesterdays Dawn newspaper [27th March] page 4 – which showed a picture of a 17-year old [underage] Tharparker rape victim. Its possible many may be aware of her, a local political leader from Tharparker had gang raped her on 24th January and since then she has been screaming for justice, this case has become the talk of the town in Interior Sindh but has failed to capture the fascination of the nationwide electronic and print media. Dawn did in some may have tried to help bring attention to the cause but it went a bit overboard, choosing to publish her picture and name sitting in front of Hyderabad Press Club – practically raping her all over again, and now in public – instead of protecting her even more, they go all out publishing her name and picture but did not so much as even bother to publish the name of the political leader who gang raped her in Tharparker
The issue at Dawn seemingly continues to get worse barely a month back I protested Dawn Raping the Rape Victim where they explicitly named the 20-yr old Daweoo rape victim along with some explicit details on how the rape was done, my argument even then was that if the victim had the courage to come forth to the media, they have taken a very bold step choosing to stand up against their perpetrators publicly, it is mostly seen as a last ditch effort to get some justice from an heinously skewed system that protects the powerful, and when they do, newspapers and the electronic media exploit the victim by publishing explicit details and in a way not actually helping bring the perpetrators to justice.
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Let History be our Mentor
Does Adolf Hitler ring a bell? Historian and analysts attribute his rise and fame to the geopolitical situation facing Germany. Hitler found Germany in a social and political mess, infighting for power and control of parliament was the only goal of each faction, with the military holding the system together. The economy was in shambles and people found it extremely difficult to make their ends meet, life was very harsh for them. On the global front communism was gaining currency and posed a severe threat to the German elite, the rich exorbitant and industrialists. Hitler exploited these long term factors through propaganda, the terror of his storm-troopers, and the brilliance of his speeches.
Invoking a sense of nationalism, providing economical solutions and offering a common enemy and scapegoat for the situation (Jews) Hitler instantly found mass appeal for his fascist agenda. The vicious little man with a program of hatred became an overnight hero. His rhetoric transformed Germany from a failed state to a super power but for what? The country went to war killed in millions and eventually was shared as a trophy by the allied armies. The visionary of great Germany ended up enslaving and separating its people, as the country was divided into East and West Germany. Adolf Hitler wrote the worst chapter of human history.
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This post was submitted by Rehan Ali.
Democratic Revenge
Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto and PPP came into power in 70s with the slogan Roti, Kapra and Makan. Those were good old times–things have changed now–from roti, kapra and makan, our nation’s requirements have come down to Bijli, Atta and Cheeni.
It is only common sense that PPP needs to change its slogan too. PPP and all the other parties should feel easy–people are lowering their expectations, they are demanding now, what was readily available in 70s.
The new party slogan should be, we will keeping providing you what is available now, and also will work on providing what was available in 70s; Bijli, Atta, and Cheeni. When the rest of the world is moving ahead, we are starting to focus on the basics; Bijli, Atta, and Cheeni. Our government’s focus should be to not take away from people what they already possess now; although I can not name what that is–may be dall, and provide to them what was available in 70s.
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This post was submitted by Umar Tosheeb.
Aman Ittehad passes People’s Resolution on 23rd March in Lahore
In a final concluding ceremony on the night of 22nd March and the early hours of 23rd March, Aman Ittehad hold a massive People’s Assembly in the Al-Hamra Auditorium Lahore to pass the final Peoples Resolution. This resolution comes from a consensus taken after conducting over 60 Peoples Assemblies across Pakistan to gather their ideas and draft this final version – the final presented resolution is as follows
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Azm-e-Ali Shan – The Great Resolve
To be a part of this initiative visit and register your AZM: www.azmealishan.com or send an SMS “azm |space| name to 5454” – NOW
Centered around the idea of the Lahore resolution 70 years ago, a group of independent activists decided to help mobilize citizens to celebrate the unity and spirit of patriotism and to drive them towards a more progressive Pakistan, this unique initiative aims to revive the same spirit of nationhood and community that lay at the heart of the vision of Pakistan. Drawing on the idea of the ‘azm’ made by our elders and leaders 70 years ago, the Azme Alishan website www.azmealishan.com invites citizens to make their ‘azm’ to be part of a brighter and more prosperous Pakistan. Azm-e-Ali Shan, an urdu term means “The Great Resolve”
Each user who registers and makes an ‘azm’ claims his/her pixel and declares himself/herself as a ‘Nishan-e-Azm’. Each pixel thus represents a resolve to contribute to bringing Pakistan back to its rightful glory. As more and more ‘azms’ are made and more and more pixels filled in, a colorful picture of Minar-e-Pakistan emerges. People can also take part in contributing pixels via SMS. Sending an SMS with azm
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Am I Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?
We fail to participate in democratic processes while we recognize democracy as a utopian ideal form. We fail to contribute to the national kitty while demanding increasing state services. We can apply the same line of argument to other segments of society. We must recognize our own failures for allowing society to reach the state it faces today. All of us may be part of the solution, but we are also part of the problem. Our actions/lack of action can rightly point to helping maintain the status-quo, the political-military musical chairs that we have today accepted as part and parcel of everyday Pakistani life.
Politicians and generals may belong to a class of their own, they may be totally disconnected from society and have little or no appreciation of the suffering of the common man. Intuitively however there is a stubborn link between those who exercise power and those who have to deal with it. The powerful are a reflection of society at large. While many chastises politicians for corruption, many of us also secretly envy those who can stop traffic at their beck and call, fly off to other countries for “personal visits” and at the very least never have to face the spectre load shedding. Similarly we admire the generals for their power and authority. They perpetuate one of our countries dominant narratives that read: Pakistan army, disciplined, ready to sacrifice and at the nation’s service, ever ready to stare down those who would look at us with an “evil eye” or with “nefarious designs”.
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This post was submitted by Nadir El-Edroos.
Blind Faith or Emotional Pull?
Recent debates, especially on facebook, regarding Zaid Hamid and his relations with a convicted blasphemer who died in jail almost a decade ago have certainly caught the Pakistani youth by surprise. They find themselves locked in an argument which is taking a heavy toll on their intellect and energies. On one side there are people who look upto traditional religious scholars with a good number of years and experience in the matters of religion while the other segment is quite wary of these sources and choose to follow their “Sir” Zaid Hamid.
A closer look into the matter reveals that our youth can easily be generalized as passionate, emotional, irrational, impulsive, aggressive, vulnerable, know-it-all, mind guarded and above all frustrated. The description is equally valid for all the participants irrespective of their point of view. Ironic it may be both the parties well and truly are the future of Pakistan. These youngsters are enrolled in medical, engineering and management universities.
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This post was submitted by Rehan Ali.
Pictures from Aman Ittehad’s Peoples Assembly – Islamabad
The Islamabad People’s Assembly – A Dialog for Peace – with thousands from all over the country that responded to Aman Ittehad’s call. The Convention Centre has never seen so many people since it was built. It was a historic event and will be shown in Live with Talat in two or three shows that will be telecast from the 29th onwards. More pictures to follow very soon
Note: Karachi [at T2F] and Lahore [Alhamra] events are scheduled to be held on the 22nd March
Pervaiz Hoodbhoy against Burqas in Universities?
In a seminar on the “Education System in Pakistan: Lessons Learned and the Ways Forward” at the Islamic University in Islamabad Dr. Pervaiz Hoodbhoy made a very shocking and controversial statement to state that
The News: “The culture of effective communication was diminishing in universities as the number of female students hiding their faces with Burqa (veil) were rapidly increasing compared to the trends that prevailed during the decade of 60s and 70s”
The Future of Punjabi
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent to live with a Bedouin family soon after his birth; Bedouins were thought to be the pure speaker of Arabic language, while people living in urban center of Mecca were considered too cosmopolitan, and it was felt that language spoken in Mecca was corrupted. It is astonishing how much the ancient Arabs cared about the pureness of their language, and the effort they put into their kids learning the pure form of language.
If we look into the situation of present day Punjabi, it is facing similar sort of problem. The only people who truly speak close to genuinely pure Punjabi are the ones mostly residing in the rural areas of the Province. If you belong to cosmopolitan city of Lahore, it is very likely that either you don’t speak the language at all–even if you do speak it, it is corrupted. The requirement to speaking pure Punjabi is that you should have no education whatsoever. This is because all the education is either in Urdu or English. As literacy increases further, the future of Punjabi becomes doubtful.
The trick to completely wiping out a language, no matter how powerful, is stop any kind of written communication in it; it will slowly die off. This is precisely what’s happening with Punjabi in Punjab. There is no written communication in it whatsoever.
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This post was submitted by Umar Tosheeb.
Peoples Assembly – A Dialogue for Peace
Location: The Second Floor, Karachi
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
RSVP: Peoples Assembly – A Dialogue for Peace (Facebook Event)
Aman Ittehad is observing a Peace Week from 16-23 March 2010. During the week we propose to hold a series of public dialogues in each city across Pakistan called Peoples Assemblies where there will be a discussion on how to bring peace in Pakistan.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Lahore Resolution, citizens are committed to reflect on the original spirit of the 1940 Resolution and to develop a People’s Resolution in March 2010.
Intolerance in The Name of Religion
After Lahore blast, people will give you different reasons for the blasts; they will say that it is Pakistan and America’s fault; America and Pakistan trained these people earlier to fight against Soviets, and now they have turned against both; they will say these people have nothing to do with Islam, and Islam is a peaceful religion; they will say these people do not represent Islam. May be it is true. But somehow, somewhere religion is involved, and one can not deny that–hence, these savage killers believe that they are just about to meet 71 virgins after committing mass murder. They are doing all this in the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful; whether with his approval or without.
It is not just one particular religion, most religious people, whether belonging to Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism or Islam, are different from people, who let’s say have very casual attitude towards religion or do not believe in God at all. Here in USA, I have personally experienced, the more religious a person is, it is more likely that person would hate certain “others”. In the case of Christian religious fanatics in USA, they have long list of people whom they hate, but these days mainly Muslims.
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This post was submitted by Umar Tosheeb.
PC Workers Protest Rally – The Underlying Issues
A large group activist gathered together in front of the Pearl Continental Hotel to show solidarity with the protesting workers who have been holed up in the PC basement for the past 23 days. Having supported this cause on mere humanitarian issue I feel there are two sides to every argument, but interestingly this protest has far more deeper implications then what meets the eye.
The issue I feel is being complicated well beyond by a greater possibility of an underlying game of national politics. It is quite possible that the union activities are being irked by the PPP-led government trying to exert pressure on the Hashwani group to accede to their demands [I could go to the extent of speculating that this is probably a part of some serious Presidential level blackmailing tactic against the Hashwani group]. In the midst of this protest labor unions are having a field day leveraging their own positions and pushing the protesters to brace for a long fight.
PC Hotel Workers Strike – Day 21
The protest by PC Workers continues in the basement of the Pearl Continental Hotel where over 150 union employees are holding fort asking three basic demands. Reinstatement of Four sacked employees (PC Four), The PC Management to recognize the union and third is to come to the negotiation table. It has been 21 days and the situation is not getting better. A protest is being planned at PIDC tomorrow at 4:00pm called by a large spectrum of left-wing parties to come forth in unison. Action for a Progressive Pakistan obtained fresh pictures of the protesting workers, i share here
Read the detailed fact sheet on this dispute and then support these protestors by sIgning the PC Workers Petition to The Hashwani Group
Sahil Saeed’s Recovery – Spotlight should now Focus on Local Kidnapping Victims
Along with most people, I was glad to hear that young Sahil Saaed had been safely recovered. What a relief! Finally some good news to lift our spirits!
However, in the aftermath of Sahil’s rescue more questions are being raised. For one his kidnapping has shed light to the awful spectre of child kidnappings that plague in our country. It has, more importantly, shed light on the states indifference to kidnappings and the lack of support available to victims.
Disclaimer: Before I continue I would like to this opportunity to clearly recognize that while the country faces many security challenges in the face of terror threats across the country, it may be unfair to expect much from an over stretched, under paid, poorly trained, under staffed and poorly resourced police force.
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This post was submitted by Nadir El-Edroos.
