iFaqeer

Voting Rights for Overseas Pakistanis (NRPs) and Other Thoughts on a Muslim Democracy

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:26:23 PDT

My Facebook status said: "Call it franchise, call it suffrage; now I haz it. I can vote!! I iz an enfranchised citizen of a Muslim democracy! Take THAT, W and OBL!!. And quite a discussion ensued.

The discussion was fun. Of course, a couple of friends assumed this was about me becoming an American citizen. Which is interesting, given what I said, but I digress. Another friend asked which Muslim Democracy gave me the vote and why. Interesting way to put it.

The news, of course, was this:

Overseas Pakistanis to get right of vote

Wed. April 01, 2009; Posted: 01:58 AM

Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Deputy Convenor MQM, Dr Farooq Sattar, has said that President Asif Ali Zardari has accepted a proposal from his department to give the right of vote to the Pakistani people living aboard. He was addressing the launching ceremony of Marhaba Musafar of Western Union at a local hotel here on Monday.
The Minister said that his ministry had also proposed to reserve seats in the National Assembly for overseas Pakistanis. He hoped that other political parties would support the bill moved by the overseas Pakistanis ministry in this regard. Referring to the current political situation in the country, Dr Sattar said that time had come for the masses to decide whether they want a liberal, enlightened and welfare state of Pakistan as dreamt by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah or the extremist one of Hameed Gul and Ziaul Haq. He added that silent majority of the country wanted the Pakistan of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He urged the people to play their role to develop Pakistan as per dream of Quaid-e-Azam.

MQM has been playing its leading role to make Pakistan an enlightened, liberal and welfare state, he said. Commenting on his party support to the privatisation of KESC, Federal Minister said that MQM was not against the privatisation process in the country and added we have witnessed successful results of the privatisation of PTCL.

We believe in the privatisation process in country and underlined the need of government role to support and promote the private sector in the country, he added. Dr Sattar alleged that the company had wilfully ignored its responsibility to provide electricity to Karachiites, adding that KESC administration did not fulfil the privatisation agreement. He pointed out that the KESC administration has not invested even a single penny in the country to enhance production of electricity.

The company is only concerning about recovery of dues through over-billing and hike in power tariff. He alleged that to extort money from the citizens, the KESC administration had installed faulty metres. He urged NEPRA to take the notice of the miserable condition of the citizens due the apathetic attitude of KESC administration. He warned that people have the right to protest against unannounced power outages in the metropolis.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2251016/

And this just a few months after I raised this question with my own MNA (Khushbakht Shujaat, represents Clifton, where the parental homestead still is) during her visit to a Chicago-based radio show I contribute to.

The MQM is, of course, taking full credit. One friend on Facebook who's active with the MQM said that this was "democracy MQM-style", working for all parties to benefit. And I say it's a good thing if Pakistan has evolved as a polity to the point where a party that spent its early years fighting--often literally--for the right to put the ethnic identity of their original vote base on the table as a legitimate part of the Pakistani landscape now is working on issues that concern the common man and might not even result in a net gain in votes for them. (One activist friend online specifically pointed out that the diaspora often leans towards supporting what they see as benevolent dictators that are "good for the economy" and "stability" and so on.)

The first question a friend asked was actually rather interesting: was I "celebrating or lamenting"? A reality check right off the bat! I guess I was looking at it as a responsibility. I left Pakistan at the age of 24, before I really had the chance to vote in any elections (the voting age was 21), and this is the first time I really feel enfranchised as a citizen of any part of the world--citizen of the world, if you will.

Another, pan-South Asian-minded friend with a base across the border went on to say that we should now work towards a real democracy--which, she said, would be possible if we root out corruption. An interesting point, but the logic of which I really don't buy. What we have is not corruption that can be rooted out the way it was rooted out in New York or Chicago; it is a systemic problem, if you ask me, rooted in the way the Raj structured the systems we still use) and needs systemic solutions. Honest law enforcement that people can believe in and not think of as less desirable than Taliban rule can not be achieved unless we pay a living wage for the street cop police and middle-level judges, for example...

But onward and upward, I am hoping this will help the diaspora feel like they have some real skin in the game back home; feel ownership and a stake in the politics of Pakistan. Maybe I am being Pollyanna'ish. But as I have said often, I have a 24-hour personal moratorium on raining on parades and generally throwing cold water on folks being happy about something--be it the Obama Inaugration or whatnot. And besides, this now gives us a stick to hit Overseas Pakistanis (our original, native term for what are now sometimes called NRPs in imitation of the Indian designation) with; if they don't vote, if they don't actually support a party--or help start one--if they don't like their choices, they should really shut up about Pakistan.

If you're on Facebook, you can read the whole discussion here.

Indian Muslims and Arabic

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:35:17 PDT

I am in the habit of pointing out to Indian Muslims that the difference in how pervasive neo-purist fanaticism is in Pakistan verus India is only one of degree. Especially when they bring out their "We told you so; it was a bad idea to begin with! See all the fanaticism you have in your country!" line. And don't get me wrong; I think learning Arabic is a wonderful thing for anyone, especially Muslims or anyone who wants their grasp on Urdu literature. (And Persian/Farsi helps, too.) But why is the National Council for the Promotion of the Urdu Language (http://www.urducouncil.nic.in/) in India advertising an Two Year Diploma in Functional Arabic on their website, but only a One Year Diploma in Urdu?!

Pakistani Reply to Obama Strategy Announcement

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:38:01 PDT

I have not seen this stated so clearly:

"We do not want any more VOA-TV type propaganda that, in its condescending way creates more enemies than friends. We want a proper dialogue with the US and the West over what its goals are and whether these are our goals as well. Whether we like it or not, the battle for a safer America cannot be won if the people of Pakistan are not convinced. This is the stark reality, no matter how many drone attacks are carried out on the one hand and assistance is given to our government on the other.

It was true of the Musharraf government and is becoming increasingly true of the Zardari government too. The people of Pakistan are not seen as stakeholders in the battle against militants and extremism. It is too often said that while the West talks to our leaders, Al Qaeda and the Taliban talk to the people. Sadly, this is an issue President Obama has not addressed."

[Full article at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=169835. The author is "Editor Reporting" in Karachi for Pakistan's largest English-language daily]

Obama's Afghanistan Strategy Breaks Old Ground

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:29:07 PDT

The heading above, taken directly from the article at:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1888257,00.html

brought a smile to my face for its cuteness. But the point it makes is serious.

Nigeria's Opposition Parties to Unite, Pakistani Parties agree to

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:06:57 PDT

I like both the news linked to below, and the one about PML-N and PPP in Pakistan agreeing (again) to implement the Charter of Democracy. These are both major countries on their respective continents, and stability in them is good for the whole world. It is by these evolutionary steps, this push and pull, check and balance that body politics mature.

http://ping.fm/XheGO

To Non-Pakistani Muslims--and Others--Commenting on Pakistan

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:06:48 PDT

There's an Urdu couplet that Madeline Albright reputedly quoted in her congratulatory message to IK Gujral when he became Prime Minister:

Eh mauj-e-saba, un ko bhi zara, dho chaar thhapaiRay halkay say
Kuch log abhi saahil pay khaRay, toofaan ka nazaaray kar thay hain

Oh, morning breeze, to them, too, a few pats, but gently;
For some folks, yet, stand on the shore, being entertained by the storm

There's been several non-Pakistani Muslims expressing academic opinions of the type: "We see Pakistan is melting down; now why would that be?" or "Look what Swat and other mistakes have wrought!"

Any "We told you so"s or "Look, they be f****ed" reactions within the Muslim community (in any direction) are ... I can't use the word I am looking for, so let's just say "ill-adviced" and "naive". Whether it is Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, or minority communities like those in India or the West; we're all in this together. Too long we've pointed to each other and said either that the "other" is medieval-minded and stuck in the past, unfit for the modern world (either because a) we're too bidah-ridden and need to get pure again or b) that Islam is not fit for the modern world)--or that this or that country is failing or so on. To paraphrase someone I don't quite agree with, either politically or tactically, right now, we are stuck between the twin jaws of neo-colonial domination via a comprador class on the one hand, and neo-purist fanatics on the other. The difference between Santa Clara California and Swat Pakistan; between Hyderabad India and Brighton in the UK is one of degree--or generational. Nothing more, nothing less.

And I speak of Muslims because they are part of communities that overlap--overlap, I say, mind you--with Pakistan. But the rest of the world is no less inter-linked. The West--the US and the British in particular--has been involved in how that region of the world has taken shape over the last century or two generally, and the last few decades specifically. Britain played off groups against each other; the US too often has sided with "our SOB"s (a choice list of Pakistani fundamentalists from the House of Saud to Ziaul Haq to Gubuddin Hekmatyar, but not limited to them, come to mind). And just like us Pakistanis, India--both the Indian establishment and Indian Muslims--have, for too long, been happy to play with fire (Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind, anyone?), or ignore the fire (till very recently Indian Muslims have pooh-poohed my saying that the difference in influence by neo-purist fanatics in India and Pakistan is one of degree). I am on the record,too, on British Muslim--and "mainstream"--leadership. [Addition, PM, Tuesday March 3, 2009: And the same goes for American Muslims--including, quite frankly, a lot of Pakistani-Americans and other diaspora Pakistanis.] I could go on.

I will return you to your regularly-scheduled programming in a minute. But for now, just think about this. Then let's talk if you really care to.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan

More updates on Situation in Lahore

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:51:57 PST

Graphic from the Sydney Morning Herald. Read the AAP report on their site here.

Oddly enough, the Metroblog for Lahore doesn't seem to have anything to say about the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers. But one can find some updates from local folks at the following URL (the #lahore hashtag for Twitter, which consolidates posts about that city):

http://hashtags.org/tag/lahore

PS: As an update, a better way to follow twitter updates about and from Lahore is to follow the twitter search:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=lahore

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan

Live Reports: Attack on Sri Lankan Team in Lahore

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:20:31 PST

For updates on the attack on Sri Lankan team in Pakistan; as usual the Teeth Maestro is on it, twittering live from Pakistan:

http://twitter.com/DrAwab

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan

Anyone paying attention to this? (Somalia...and Bangladesh?)

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:58:54 PST

You know, we all need to be paying more attention to Somalia (and, while I am at it, Bangladesh, but I will come to that another time). For example y'all saw the headlines about the recent news about a new President taking over in Somalia. And then of his coming to an agreement with "Islamist" "rebels". (Okay, so, yes, there's much to be said about how "real" the "presidency" is and all that.)

But there's talk about ministers handing over to other ministers (okay, so the VOA might not be the best place for objective news)--something that I don't think Somalia's had since a Somali classmate of mine in Freshman year at college in Karachi told me "A civil war started today in my country."

But what really struck me was why was it ONLY the CNN article that carried this paragraph:

However, Ahmed told a news conference he won't agree to a strict interpretation of the law,which forbids girls from attending school, requires veils for women and beards for men, and bans music and television.

I mean, with all that angst about deals with Islamism (yes, I use that word; take me up on it) isn't that what it's about? Shouldn't we be paying attention to this? Being supportive of this kidn of thing if that really plays out as the quote promises rather than groping at "moderate Islamists"? [Something I need to pick on, too.]

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Somalia - Islamists

What's with the PPP?

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:37:31 PST

In all the angst that is turning up in the chattering and protesting classes in Pakistan, one question is coming up pretty often: whatever happened to the PPP? Others express a complete disdain for it. And I don't want to sound naive; the PPP and its founders and others since have done much to deserve all the reactions they get: both positive and negative.

But too often today, too many people talk only of Zardari. Or, if they want to discuss politics just a wee bit more, of the group that was close to BB herself as the counterpoint. But the PPP today remains the largest grouping in the country and, as such, consists of, and has always consisted of, a coalition of groups. It was set up as a left-of-center vehicle that, if you believe some of the very first die-hards, very rapidly was dominated (taken over, if you believe some folks) by the personality of the charismatic (evil genius, if you believe others) of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. There were the left-of-center (and some outright "Left") activists. There were the urbane, well-read, (and, in some cases, most nobtably and visibly nowadays Aitzaz Ahsan) Leftist lawyers and intellectuals. There were the gritty, "awami" activits, not least those from Karachi's Lyari section and it's Afro-Pakistani/Baloch community, but others as well. There are the Sindhi nationalists, both inside and, on-and-off, supporting from the outside. And, of course, there were those who were just taken by the charisma of the man--either because he convinced them that he would carry their causes to victory or because of the sheer electric power of his personality. And there were other such components--not least the professional politicians, the feudal lords, the industry-walas, and the military folks that hitched their stars with a rising star. The opportunists, if you will.

The amazing thing is how long the coalition that Zulfi built has lasted. I often tell the story of a colleague of my father's (they were both college professors) who, in the late 80's still had a larger-than-life picture of the man in his "drawing room", even as he shook his head with disappointment written all over his face and said "He had such a dynamic start; but power went to his head. For a man who had risen on street power to get to where he said 'I can crush street power with state power'..."

The morning after Benazir was assasinated, I was on KQED San Francisco's Public Radio Station and halfway into the discussion, after everyone had discussed the personality of the heir not-quite-apparent, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, and the modalities of how a successor will be picked, I had to pull everyone back and say, "Wait a minute; y'all are forgetting one person. The husband. He's paid his dues; spent a decade in jail (whatever the conditions of his incarceration)--and he has always been a smarter person--and speaks much better English--than caricatures of his have given him credit for."

Of course, we all know what happened next. To cut a long story short, Zardari took over the party at the head of the opportunist wing, and that wing is now dominant.

Personally, in terms of discussing the internal dynamics of the PPP, I think what is interesting to follow is whether the Uncles (Mirani and that generation that worked directly with ZAB), or the Young Turks (the above-mentioned Amin F & Co., which, as in the case of Amin Faheem himself quite literally, are either children of that first generation, or younger people who joined later) or the Leftist Lawyers (the aforesaid Aitzaz, et al), or anyone else can throw up a leader that can bring together and hold a coalition...

Otherwise, as I also often say, it might be time to build a new political movement, a new coalition in Pakistan; something that has only been done twice since indepence--once by Mr. Bhutto himself, and once, on a regional level, by Altaf Hussain and the MQM...but more on that another time.

Muslims and Democracy...c.1950

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:39:56 PST

This is for all those--both Islamists and Islamophobes--who ... remember this is from -- before those who would totemize Islam (Islamists, if you will) started to dominate the discourse and the News:

"... we have proved it to the world more than once. We established Pakistan because of our passion for what we call the Islamic way of life. This is no narrow sectarian, or medieval, or theocratic or intolerant conception. It means no more and no less than this: that we believe in God and atheistic doctrines cannot flourish amongst us. That we believe in the equality of men and the equality of civic rights and opportunities for all, irrespective of their religious belief. That we believe in social justice, ... that we believe in democracy, not as a political creed; but as a part of our religious faith ... the way of life that we have chosen for ourselves, [is] not a new concoction, but one that is based on a body of belief and tradition that have been handed down to us by our forefathers"

full speech audio at: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/50/50-05khan-audio.html

Liaquat Ali Khan, First Prime Minister of Pakistan, at the Commonwealth Club of California on May 16, 1950.

March 23rd is "Pakistan Day", the anniversary both of the day in 1940 when the All India Muslim League adopted as its official position the "Lahore Resolution" (a.k.a. the Pakistan Resolution). and of the day in 1956 when Pakistan adopted its first constitution and becoming a democracy--thus finally ending almost a hundred years of a British sovereign reigning in large parts of South Asia.

I'd like to propose that we declare March 23rd "International Democracy in the Muslim World Day". Any takers?

30th Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:32:05 PST

The 30th anniversary of Khomeini's return to Iran should be something we all take the time to reflect upon. From thinking about what the role of the US--and the West generally--has been in Persia, (supporting the Shah; hosting Khomeini...), to what the Iranian model and experience says about what the possibilities are in Pakistan, to what neo-purist interpretations of Islam have meant for the world at large today, the list is endless.

Here's a flashback from a BBC journalist:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_7861000/7861357.stm

For forms of government let fools contest;

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:37:12 PST

Just a reminder:

For forms of government let fools contest;

Whate'er is best administer'd is best:

For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;

His can't be wrong whose life is in the right.

In Faith and Hope the world will disagree,

But all mankind's concern is Charity:

All must be false that thwart this one great end,

And all of God that bless mankind or mend.

Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, EPISTLE III: Of the Nature and State of Man, With Respect to Society

Or, to quote a South Asia poet I have quoted before:

mazhab thoe buss mazhab-e-dhil hai; baaqee sub gumraahee hai

[the only (true) creed is the creed of the heart; all else is heresy]

Erdovan, Davos, and Dealing with Israel

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:57:45 PST

This mornings Stratfor Podcast is titled "Erdovan's Davos Walkout Lays Down the Marker". I haven't heard it yet (hoping to, on the exercise machine), but just from that title, you can see one thing: the recognition of Israel has been anathema in the Muslim world, but if you had wondered if any good could ever come out of recognizing them, this is it. The fact that Turkey is seen in the Western World as a "moderate" Muslim state and has respect for being one of very few Muslim states to recognize Israel gives Erdogan's action much more weight than, say, a Pakistani or Indonesian leader doing the same. I am not saying Pakistan should up and recognize Israel, but it's something for Pakistanis to think about in the debate of whether and when to think about "normalizing" relations.

Folks not related to Pakistan might ask: Why Pakistan, specifically? Why not Saudi Arabia, or Indonesia? Well, Pakistan IS the 2nd largest Muslim nation in the world--and it's not Arab, and it's the only nuclear power in the Muslim world. Not to mention that ideologically and socially, it's a center of much that happens and affects the rest of the world--both Muslim and otherwise. This IS the "most dangerous country in the world" if we are to believe the conventional wisdom in the West; this is the "training ground of terrorists", no? Of course, it is a country I identify with (together with the US and Nigeria), and therefore it's my job to raise the issue in its context; others can chime in with the view from their corner of the globe.

My Brother Barack Hussain talks to Al Arabiya

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:50:47 PST

When my son started First Grade, come the start of African-American History Month, he coolly informed his first (predominantly East and South Asian) classmates that his otherwise very Pakistani-looking, and -sounding, "dad is an African-American". I do not remember ever having used that phrase within earshot of him. But he knows that I was born in same region of Africa that is the origin of most of the people who came to this country as slaves. One way to put it, therefore, is that I came to this country as an African-born grad student much like Barack Obama Sr.

So don't get me wrong; I love my brother Barack Hussain. I have been following his presidential ambitions almost from the first buzz around a possible run--and have discussed it in my blogging and even Urdu podcasting. I am joyous at seeing him in the White House. To repeat the cliche, it tells me that my now 8-year old son and, even more possibly, my 4-year old daughter can really follow in his footsteps.

And I am actually one person who did NOT hold his staying mum about the events in Gaza over the last month or so against him. Speaking out would only have used up political capital that he didn't need to spend for no substantial gain. Whichever way he chose to lean, it would have have cost him; either in terms of political support at home, or in goodwill that he still has on "the Muslim street".

But when my brother Barack Hussain says:

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."

And then his first real communique in terms of practically reaching out and touching, so to speak, people in the Muslim world is an unmanned drone dropping bombs in violation of the sovereignty of the 2nd largest Muslim country in the Muslim world--a country that has been one of the longest-term and most faithful allies of the US--then I feel it is my duty, as a person who wants him to succeed, to ask him to think about what message the people who actually live at the business end of that communique will be receiving.

In case you missed the full interview (say you've been vacationing on Mars and just returned), here is his first formal foray into the Muslim media

Wading into the Palestine Discussion

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:55:27 PST

Okay. I guess it is time to talk about Palestine--if nothing else, because that's what everyone seems to want to talk about and the issue intersects with everything else that's happening.

When one friend put me on the spot by asking my opinion about the "Palestinian issue", my first reaction was to ask whether he meant the Palestinian issue or the current situation in Gaza. Of course, Maulana Techno promptly said I was free to comment on whichever I felt was more relevant and urgent and what was possible given the medium (a Facebook comment-swap). Here, expanded to some extent and rephrased a bit, is what I said:

The situation in Gaza is what it is; it hardly needs any elaboration.

And I do think that the conflation of criticism of the actions of Israel and Zionist ideology and the actions taken to further it on the one hand and anti-semitism on the other is starting to break down a bit in American public discourse and the "mainstream".

And, as I was saying in a comment on Teeth Maestro's blog, in the US in particular, any challenge to Zionist actions (and I mean that advisedly; in the sense of actions that further the ideology and aims of Zionism) have been painted with the anti-semitic brush and thus kept in check. It is only in the last 2-3 years that some discussion has started in the public space. Until recently, this was true without exception even in progressive circles. But things ARE evolving; we’ve come a long way since 9/11, quite frankly. And the current assault on Gaza and the coverage of it has been both a case in point and another “halla” (as we say in Urdu) in that direction.

And, this might sound like a broken record, but this is not to pick on Jews; or even Zionists. After all we have the same thing gaining momentum both in Pakistan and in the wider Muslim world: the bugbear of “Islamophobia” is used to keep any challenge Maududist/Qutbist/Salafist thought and politics.

Also, mind you, I am not saying Islamophobia does not exist–it is as real as anti-semitism; but my point is that both concepts have been used by extremists in our respective (Jewish and Muslim–the Hindus have their Hindutva, too) communities to their political benefit.

But there are still a ways to go and many myths to bust and many bugbears to put to rest along the way. I will write and comment as we go along. I will address what I see and react along the way. Here's another one:

Someone expressed one thought that's been going through many minds around the world--not least in the Muslim world: that the Palestinians are being "punished for electing Hamas". While a very tempting argument for a lot of reasons, one can't forget that at one point the Israeli government used the same arguments and rhetoric ("No negotiating partner on the Palestinian side." "Terrorists we can't talk to." and so on) for the PLO and were actually, actively supporting Hamas in an effort to create a counterpoint to the PLO. Again; this is a tactic. It ain't Zionist or Jewish or American or Islamophobic in origin. It's just ye goode old "Divide and Rule" at its "finest"!

Another friend, going back to the media theme, wondered aloud--and that's what I'd call it; wondering aloud with your keyboard--why "the general media" was so on-it when the events in Mumbai happened but is "silent" now. My first response was what I said above; that there IS quite a bit of coverage and a regular body count in the headlines (and I am talking about the US media here). What I see is a media (thankfully she didn't say "news media", or she'd have gotten an earful from me) that was being played well by the Western and Indian establishment in the aftermath of Mumbai; and I see a media that is being played well by the Western and Israeli establishment now.

But, I also saw and see something else. I saw alternative media and the media and grapevine in Muslim and progressive circles buying in to some of the narrative of the neo-purist Islamist and hyper-jingoistic Pakistani (not always the same thing) circles at the time of the Mumbai tragedy/atrocity; and I see alternative media and the media and grapevine in Muslim and progressive circles buying in to some of the narrative of the neo-purist and hyper-jingoistic Islamist circles now.

Not much has changed qualitatively. But "facts on the ground", to use the favourite phrase of Israeli functionaries, do seem to be moving.

Let's see where they go. All I can do is quote something that's been going through my head the last month or two--what with the month of Muharram in the Muslim calendar upon us, with it's highly charged dates of Ashura. (And if you don't know what that is, do click through to the Wikipedia; any further ignorance about basic concepts from the Muslim world is just plain stupid--and dangerous for all of us.) The quote? No, not the "Every day is Ashura; Every land is Karbala" line that's been on every slideshow about Gaza that's gone around, but this one:

Har Phir'aon ra Musa; har Karbala ra Hussain

For every Pharoah, a Moses; for every Karbala, a Hussain

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Gaza - Palestine

TIME Mobile - Another Gitmo Grows in Afghanistan

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:30:06 PST

Another Gitmo Grows in Afghanistan

Obama faces a tough decision on detention policy at the U.S. prison at Bagram

The incoming Obama Administration says it wants to shut down the U.S. military prison at GuantÁnamo Bay. But even if GuantÁnamo closes, the controversial U.S. practice of jailing suspected al-Qaeda militants and other terrorists indefinitely won't end, because such detentions continue on an even greater scale at the U.S. military base at Bagram, Afghanistan, 40 miles north of Kabul. Approximately 250 detainees are currently being held at GuantÁnamo; an estimated 670 are locked up under similar conditions at Bagram. The Obama transition team has declined to comment on whether U.S. detention policy for enemy combatants will change with a new Administration. Nevertheless, the U.S. military is building a new prison for what it calls "unlawful enemy combatants" at Bagram that won't be finished until Obama is well settled in the White House. "The Obama Administration is inheriting not so much a shrinking GuantÁnamo as an expanding Bagram," says Tina Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, a nonprofit legal group based in New York City. (Read "Trying to Tie Obama's Hands on Gitmo.") Foster and a consortium of other human rights lawyers will be in Federal District Court in Washington on Jan. 7 to demand that those being held at Bagram get the same habeas corpus rights - the right to know the charges against them, and to be freed if a court deems those charges insufficient - that the Supreme Court gave GuantÁnamo detainees last summer. Their case centers on Redha al-Najar, a 43-year-old Tunisian national who has been held without charge in U.S. military custody since May 2002. Al-Najar was arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, where he had been living with his wife and child. According to his attorneys, al-Najar spent the next two years being shifted among various CIA "black sites" before ending up at Bagram. They argue he has been held for more than six years, virtually incommunicado and without charges or access to a fair means to challenge his imprisonment. The suit asks the court to order al-Najar's release. What the Pentagon calls "the long war" on terror has led the U.S. military to seek a way to keep people it deems a threat behind bars indefinitely. While GuantÁnamo's unique status - far from the battlefield yet subject to total U.S. sovereignty - led the Supreme Court to grant Gitmo detainees habeas relief, the U.S. government argues that neither circumstance applies at Bagram. "Federal courts should not thrust themselves into the extraordinary role of reviewing the military's conduct of active hostilities overseas, second-guessing the military's determination as to which captured aliens as part of such hostilities should be detained, and in practical effect, superintending the Executive's conduct in waging a war," the Justice Department said in its Dec. 19 filing in the al-Najar case. The U.S. military had hoped to farm out the Bagram detainees to prisons run by Afghanistan and other nations, but over the past year, amid escalating violence and a surging prison population, it became clear that it would not be able to hand over all the detainees. So the Pentagon has decided to build a new prison to replace the current Bagram Theater Internment Facility, a converted hangar used by the Soviets during their occupation. The new facility, expected to cost at least $60 million, is slated to hold 600 detainees under normal circumstances, with a capacity of 1,100 in emergency conditions. It will be tucked into a remote 40-acre location on the 4,000-acre base. The original U.S. prison, established early in 2002, was the main screening site for those captured by Americans and their allies during initial fighting in Afghanistan. At least two detainees died there in December 2002 after being beaten by U.S. troops. While conditions are said to have improved since then, hundreds of prisoners remain in wire mesh pens edged with coils of razor wire, and earlier this year U.S. military officials revealed that a Bagram interrogator had been convicted of assaulting an Afghan detainee who later died. Just last month, the military issued a statement saying it would investigate whether a pair of U.S. soldiers had abused Afghan detainees. The al-Najar case presents Obama with a tough choice. If he keeps the existing rules at Bagram, he'll have to justify why those prisoners should be treated more harshly than those who ended up at GuantÁnamo. But if he wants them handled the same way as the GuantÁnamo detainees, he's going to run afoul of the U.S. military's wishes. Given Obama's promise to nearly double the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, that's not something he wants to do. And the Pentagon argues that giving those held at Bagram habeas relief would endanger the very U.S. troops Obama is prepared to order to Afghanistan. "Given the ongoing war, there is every reason to believe that our military mission in Afghanistan would be compromised if the writ is extended to Bagram," the government said in its court filing. "To provide alien enemy combatants detained in a theater of war the privilege of access to our civil courts is unthinkable both legally and practically." But Foster, one of the lawyers representing al-Najar, sees the case from another angle. "Does Obama," she asks, "really want to have Bagram be his GuantÁnamo for the next four years?" See pictures inside GuantÁnamo. See TIME's Pictures of the Week.

The State Arab Leadership

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 13:13:56 PST

http://m.kqed.npr.org/index.jsp#_469163

I thought you should see this story

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:56:09 PST

Iraqi PM: Shoe-thrower blames throat-slitter

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7769/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=tOgFo3dh

Games Without Frontiers: Why We Need More Torture in Videogames

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:13:16 PST

http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/commentary/games/2008/12/gamesfrontiers_1215

The World is a Circular Firing Squad

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:34:15 PST

There's a line in one of the greatest "Bollywood" classics, written by the scions of a couple of the greatest South Asian literary families--sons of Urdu poets, to be precise--and delivered by a minor but unforgettable character, "Surma Bhopali" that goes "Yahaan hamaaree kya zaroorath hai; yahaan tho waisay hee aap kay naam ka warrant nikla huwa hai." [Who needs me? There's already a warrant out for your arrest.]

And that's the thought that's being going through my head as South Asia spirals downwards, some folks caution against jumping to conclusions, and others rally for peace. And I include the arguments over "Islamists did it. No, wait! Let's not jump to conclusions; it could be home grown!..." in that

How is it realistic to look at everything as either-or? The mess South Asia is in--not to mention the rest of the world--there's enough blame to go around. Neo-purist fanatics (our Islamist/Jihadists; their Sanghis; our--speaking from North America--Christian and Jewish fanatics); civilizing imperialists; ethnic militants (Sena, MQM, racists of white and other hue); everybody's jingoistic nationalists; everybody's military-industrial-intelligence complexes...all feed off each other. In some cases, they work with each other. Just for example, Is it too much of a stretch to believe that what is happening in Karachi (in case either of you missed it) is being helped along by Indian Intelligence (and who knows who else) as a counterpoint to what they see as Pakistani Intelligence "doing Mumbai"? From where I sit, what's happening in the NW of Pakistan also has elements of a turf battle.

And as we all participate in this circular firing squad--including the agonizing over Muslims being targeted or profiled--the folks I list above make leaps and bounds in the struggle for the hearts and minds of their respective target constituencies...

And PS: how many noticed there were riots in the prettiest town in Africa's largest nation, too? Rally anyone?

Cross-posted on the iFaqeer, Wadiblog, ProgressiveIslam.org, Pak Tea House, Urdu ke Naam, Doodpatti (by Tohfay) blogs.
Technorati tags applicable to this post: Mumbai - Pakistan - India - War on Terror

South Asia on Fire...

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:25:55 PST

As I have said before, I am not a Marxist, but do now identify as a progressive. But it has to be said. The last time Mumbai had a tragedy like this, it was the Pakistani Left that came out with the sanest statement I could find. And now they seem to have done it again:

CMKP Strongly Condemns the Terrorist Violence in Mumbai
CMKP strongly condemns the barbaric and heinous acts of planned murder and destruction carried out by terrorists in Mumbai India. We express our sincerest condolence with all the people who fell victim to this savage crime.

We also salute the entire Indian Left that is doing its utmost to reign in reprisals by Hindu fundamentalist forces against the Muslims of India.

Read the rest at: http://reddiarypk.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/cmkp-condems-mumbai-attacks/

The other thing worth reading, I think, is Sandip Roy's piece, "Guns and bombs in booming India", in Salon over the weekend. It is very, very trenchant and could have been written--should have been written--about a lot of what's happening in Pakistan--or off the coast of Somalia today. In a globalized world, the issue of who is at the table and who feels left out and aggrieved is now globalized. This is not to diminish or dismiss the role of ideologies, nationalist jingoism, or political manipulation--of which there has been much in all the comments, news, and reaction about the Mumbai tragedy (a lot of people are making a lot of noise about Pakistan being a big factor in the story--but where are the people that know Pakistan first hand and can discuss it on the talk shows, amongst the experts and on NPR, one wonders). But as Sandip puts it:

I don't know who the young man in the Versace t-shirt was. But I can't shake his image – a gunman in five-star Mumbai.

He might be an Islamic militant from Pakistan or Britain. He might be a frustrated small city boy shut out of the IT economy. He might be a village boy who trained in a terror camp somewhere.

Whatever his motive, his message was loud and clear.

Pay attention to me, he and his young partners said to booming India.

And then these mysterious young men pulled the trigger.

Boom.

Sandip says "India"; I'd say we all need to listen to that message.

Who Cares about Education in Pakistan?

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:48:04 PST

You know, it's a good time to talk about education in Pakistan--especially with the op-ed in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristoff a couple of days ago that's been so much the talk of the Pakistani chatterosphere (online and off) since.

But this morning, the talk of the town is a piece of news that the Chief Justice (not Iftikhar Chaudhry, the person currently occupying that office) used his influence to get his daughter's grades/marks in High School "improved", to give her a better shot at various things one wants to do after High School and which are based, in Pakistan, often even more on that performance than it is in other places. [I pretty much started my journalistic career with a piece about that process; back in ... oh, another lifetime.]

As usual, you can read a good intro to the topic by Dr. Adil Najam on Pakistaniat.com. He also quotes, in full, the editorial from The News that he very aptly calls "even more dramatic than the story itself".

Now, since Education in Pakistan was pretty much the family business in my parents' generation, and having spent an agonizing 7 years at the receiving end of the government-run part of it myself, I have only one comment on the whole brouhaha; and to express it, I can only quote, with a small amendment, Amrita Pritam's tour de force:

ik ro'ee si dhi Punjab dhee thoon lakh-lakh maray veen;
jub lak-haan dhiyaan rondhiyaan tho kith-hay Waris Shah?

[One daughter of Punjab wept, and you wept millions of tears;
When thousands weep, where are you to be found Waris Shah?]

Why is this specific case of malfeasance news? Our education system was all hunky-dory till now? I remember one particular time in my own life, the night before an exam at the end of 12th grade when it first hit me up-front, and personally, where it really hurt, how messed up the system was--and I was doing rather well in it till then. But back then, I was just the son of a Professor in the sarkari system; I as just a middle-class kid in a middle class neighbourhood. Today, well, today, you're reading my blog post, and The News, and Naeem Sadiq--who, like I do now, lives "uptown"--and all the nice English-medium Brown Saahibs Imran Khan talks about, and maybe even the New York Times, care about the system that none of them or their kids partake in. [Which reminds me of another story, but I've gotta get back to my day job.]

Cross-posted on the iFaqeer, ProgressiveIslam.org, Pak Tea House, Doodpatti, by Tohfay blogs.
Technorati tags applicable to this post: Education - Pakistan - Pakistani Judiciary

Palin Meets Zardari; a Different Take

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:14:50 PDT

I am not sure I completely agree with, or endorse the thought, but this bears quoting. It's something Nosherwan Yasin said on a mailing list this morning about the whole Zardari hits on Palin brouhaha (in case you've not followed it, check out the post and discussion Teeth Maestro's blog here.):

Although I agree that such statements are inappropriate in foreign relations, I can't help but see an unintentional advantage (of sorts) of Pakistani chauvinism in dealing with such a character. The politically correct, hidden misogyny of the American politician really has no answer for the snide, smart @ss, belittling demeanor that Palin seems to exhibit. She reminds me of the typical sitcom girlfriend, you know the one that will not let passive guy X go out with his friends and Y humiliating him to a laugh track, constantly nagging and yelping without any real knowledge of anything.

But good old sexism, in societies where it is acceptable, such as Pakistan, provides a trump card.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Zardari - Pakistan - Palin

SAJA Panel Discussion on the South Asian Blogosphere

iFaqeer@gmail.com (iFaqeer/Sabahat Ashraf) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:21:54 PDT

SAJA BRIEFING: The South Asian Blogosphere and How Its Changing the Media 8:35pm
Website: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2008/09/26/desiblogs

The South Asian Journalists Association presents an online panel discussion among some of the best-known names in the South Asian blogosphere. They will discuss the state of the blogosphere (South Asian and otherwise) and how it is affecting how news and information about South Asia and the diaspora is gathered and shared. Sabahat Ashraf of iFaqeer; Anil Dash of AnilDash.com; Karthik of Uberdesi.com; Maria Giovanna of Filmiholic.com; Arun Venugopal of SAJAforum.org

Technorati tags applicable to this post: iFaqeer - Blogging - South Asian Blogosphere - Indian Blogosphere - Pakistani Blogosphere