Happy New Year

Happy New Year.
May 2007 bring peace and happiness to all.

"Not so happy Christmas"

Christmas was a big part of growing up in Karachi for me. I went to a Catholic school, which was located in Saddar, home to many of Karachi's Christians. It was perfectly normal to me to be planning and practicing for the year-end Christmas Concert in school (the biggest event of the school year), to be surrounded by Christmas decorations and signs for Christmas sales as I strolled through Bohri Bazar after school let out (or not - sometimes you just have to have that chat and if it means bunking a class or two, so be it). It was perfectly normal to me to have Christian students in my classes. Interestingly, all of them were Goan Christians, who are much more anglicized and more affluent than the other major group of Christians who are usually Punjabi. I'm sure this accounts for some of the hardships that Punjabi Christians report, such as the story I read recently in DAWN. But it can't explain everything, and the fact is that Pakistani Christians are severely discriminated against, in social, cultural, legal, and economic terms.

In "Not so happy Christmas for some," DAWN reporter Sheher Bano Khan tells the story of Bashiran and Shafeeq Masih, who live in Model Colony with their five children. Model Colony is close to Defense, Karachi's most elite neighborhood. Many of the domestic staff that are employed by Defense-walas live in Model Colony, including many Punjabi Christians who are typically employed as sweepers/house cleaners.

"There's no joy for us this Christmas. We don't feel safe," bemoans Bashiran whose husband has gone missing for two days now... Her husband who worked at a nearby factory on a daily-wage basis was somehow falsely accused of theft by a resident of Defense whose house was looted a few days ago by a gang of five. "Whenever there's theft in this area, we Christians are the first to be taken to the police station for interrogation. I don't understand why Shafeeq's name was taken. On December 20, he came home and said that he had a fight with a man and the next thing he knows, he's accused of theft by the same man. Shafeeq hasn't come home since then," says Bashiran.

When asked if she has sought the help of the police, she says:

"Police? Oh no! I think it's best for Shafeeq to stay wherever he is till everything dies down. I'm not going to the police because they don't take Christians seriously."

Bashiran helps paint the picture of Christian life in Pakistan today.

"You want to know how we spend Christmas? How can a family of seven living off Rs4,000 celebrate Christmas? And now with Shafeeq gone, there's no Christmas for us," says a shaken Bashiran Masih.

"Just look at this area. Do you think it's fit for humans? To get one bucket of water my two daughters have to queue for two hours. The sewerage system is so bad that whenever it rains the entire colony gets flooded. You know it doesn't matter because who's living here? Christians and they don't matter!"

A bit further down Shafeeq Masih�s house Bajwa Chowk is festooned with decorative Christmas trappings. Brightly coloured clothes attiring overtly made up faces of shoppers devoted to last minute Christmas buy show no signs of feeling run down by the ramshackled Model Colony. "They are used to this life, but I'm not going to let my daughters be raised in this colony feeling little more than the grime I scrub daily off those huge houses. My eldest daughter worked at a factory for some time. She stopped going because the manager thought it was easier and less risky to make a pass at a Christian girl than a Muslim. Each time she steps out of the house I fear for my 18-year-old. I know there's no one to turn to, no protection and no justice. At least not for us."

There is hope that Shafeeq Masih might come home one day; hope that prior to elections [scheduled for next December] the Model Colony might have a better sewerage system and her daughters might have access to clean drinking water. But should Bashiran expect social integration for her daughters? "You know the term they use for us in this society. It's at Christmas time when we feel most left out. The few Muslims living in this area don't even wish to eat the things sent to them on Christmas by us. Tell me, is that the way to make us feel part of society? We live in ghettoes and work as cleaners. Christmas is just another day which makes me feel that I'm not a part of," Bashiran nods her head in the direction of her door, "that world."

That world is getting worse and worse, for more and more of us. A few days ago, a minister in the Pakistani government hinted that there might be "good news" for Pakistani Christians on Christmas day, but it's unclear what he meant. Perhaps there will be some cosmetic changes to the blasphemy laws, laws which are absurd, draconian, and used only to target religious minorities. But frankly, even cosmetic changes would be welcome at this juncture.

Happy Christmas to all Pakistani Christians, with the hope for a better future soon.

Update: PM Shaukat Aziz attended Christmas Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Monday. I believe this makes him the first Pakistani PM to attend Christmas Mass.

Ali Khurshid: TIME Person of the Year

This year, TIME magazine named "YOU" as their person of the year - meaning all of us who are active participants in the internet revolution (especially the social networking sector, such as blogging, etc.). One of the people they profiled is Ali Khurshid, a resident of Karachi. Ali is a photographer who shares his pictures on Flickr.

Personally, I find TIME's pick sort of lame. It almost sounds like they ran out of ideas and decided to go with "this internet thing." Anyway, the upside is that a Karachiite got featured in their most-read issue. Ali's pictures are mostly of the beach - not surprising since that is probably the most beloved site for most Karachiites (it's definitely my favorite part of Karachi). You can check out more of Ali's beautiful pictures here.

Ajay Devgan in Karachi

Ajay Devgan arrives in Karachi to attend the KaraFilm Festival.

Who's Doing Whom in the US

According to the 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States, 6% of men and 11.2% of women report "same-sex sexual contact." Apparently, this is the first year they have reported this statistic. I don't know if this includes sexual contact between partners or picking up people in a bar or the night that Mrs. Smith in the suburbs got drunk and made out with her neighbor (or was that a porn film?). But I am intrigued that the women report double the contact as men. Wonder why?

Guantanamo Bay Detainees: Where Are They Now?

The AP has released the results of an investigation into the fates of those detainees who have been released from Guantanamo Bay (approximately 350 still remain there). Incidentally, the plurality of detainees at Guantanamo Bay were and continue to be Pakistanis.

According to the AP, the vast majority of released detainees are now free:

• Once the detainees arrived in other countries, 205 of the 245 were either freed without being charged or were cleared of charges related to their detention at Guantanamo. Forty either stand charged with crimes or continue to be detained.
• Only a tiny fraction of transferred detainees have been put on trial. The AP identified 14 trials, in which eight men were acquitted and six are awaiting verdicts. Two of the cases involving acquittals — one in Kuwait, one in Spain — initially resulted in convictions that were overturned on appeal.
• The Afghan government has freed every one of the more than 83 Afghans sent home. Lawmaker Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, the head of Afghanistan's reconciliation commission, said many were innocent and wound up at Guantanamo because of tribal or personal rivalries.
• At least 67 of 70 repatriated Pakistanis are free after spending a year in Adiala Jail. A senior Pakistani Interior Ministry official said investigators determined that most had been "sold" for bounties to U.S. forces by Afghan warlords who invented links between the men and al-Qaida. "We consider them innocent," said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
• All 29 detainees who were repatriated to Britain, Spain, Germany, Russia, Australia, Turkey, Denmark, Bahrain and the Maldives were freed, some within hours after being sent home for "continued detention."

Tear down the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Either try them or let them go.

Janda Khel Vs. Landi Kotal

Imagine you were living in a part of Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border and the Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (what a truly awful name). Imagine that you were trying your hardest to avoid being blown up by US bombs and being shot at by Pakistani soldiers. And imagine that your electricity supply was erratic and insufficient to meet local demand. What would you do? Well, this is the situation that the residents of Janda Khel were faced with, and they decided to take matters into their own hands. The Janda Khelians disrupted the electricity supply to Landi Kotal by damaging a major transmission line. Problem is, this also disrupts the electricity supply to Janda Khel, because the transmission lines run through Landi Kotal. So Janda Khel has disrupted its own power supply as well. Of course, Landi Kotal residents in turn are demanding that TESCO (Tribal Electricity Supply Company - did you know such a thing existed?) turn their power back on and deny Janda Khel any power at all. Such love, huh?

In Karachi, people sometimes joke that Pathans operate on their own unique and inscrutable brand of logic. This behavior is sometimes (ok, often) the butt of jokes. But really, if you think about it, the people of Janda Khel has responded quite rationally. Since they're not getting electricity anyway, they may as well make their point by engaging in protest that makes the haves realize what it's like to be the have-nots.

And what of the fact that Janda Khel is technically in Afghanistan? Well, I say that they've been through enough and surely we can give them a little juice. It's not as if that border is very meaningful anyway. The Pakistan-Afghanistan border is non-porous only in the fantasies of George W. Bush.

Landi Kotal, by the way, is the highest point on the Khyber Pass and is a tourist destination. These photos give you a sense of the ruggedness of the region.

Dictators and Those Who Enable Them

The Washington Post is an awful newspaper. I tend to read it occasionally, being my local paper - and every time I read it, I am reminded why it sucks. In today's edition, the editorial reflecting Pinochet's legacy claims the following:

It's hard not to notice, however, that the evil dictator leaves behind the most successful country in Latin America.

This is after the editorial has already admitted that Pinochet was a dictator who took power by force and murdered about 3000 people and tortured thousands more. The editorial goes on to favorably compare Pinochet with Castro; you see, Castro will leave behind an impoverished country while at least Pinochet did something for economic growth! Who cares if it benefits only the corporate class? Who wants to think about the fundamental role the US has played in the impoverishment of Cuba?

And if all this isn't enough, the editorial closes with quoting the-also-recently-deceased Jeanne frickin' Kirkpatrick!

In "Dictatorships and Double Standards," a work that caught the eye of President Ronald Reagan, Ms. Kirkpatrick argued that right-wing dictators such as Mr. Pinochet were ultimately less malign than communist rulers, in part because their regimes were more likely to pave the way for liberal democracies. She, too, was vilified by the left. Yet by now it should be obvious: She was right.

I know one isn't supposed to speak ill of the dead, but Jeanne Kirkpatrick probably caused more death and destruction than Pinochet could have ever dreamed of. Now that's some legacy.

Damn We Love Our Porn

A few months ago it was revealed that Pakistan had the highest number of internet users who were searching for online pornography. (Saudi Arabia was the source for the highest number of searches for gay online porn.) Now comes news that Kelantan province in Malaysia is the source of searches for internet porn. Kelantan is governed by a fundamentalist party that has imposed its version of Shariah and has enforced strict gender segregation. But the good news is that the party is considering the reopening of cinemas. How enlightened.

Alec Baldwin: Defeat Terrorism? Abolish the CIA

Alec Baldwin (yes, Alec Baldwin) has a surprisingly elegant answer to the problem of "terrorism": abolish the CIA.

Hamare Chhote Hindustani Bhai...

New research suggests that Indian men have smaller penises than average. The Indian Council of Medical Research's findings suggest that 60% of men in Indian metros are about an inch shorter than the international average, and another 30% are about two inches shorter. The immediate concern of the study is that condoms in India needs to be resized to reduce the failure rate. This is serious stuff. But it's ok if you chuckled when you read the news. And no wonder I managed to "convert" so many Indian women... ;)

This Is What A Headache Looks Like

A traffic jam on I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi on Tuesday, December 5, 2006, apparently prompted by a VIP visit to the city (hint: he wears a uniform). (Courtesy: The Daily Times.)

"Kolachi Dreams"

Kolachi Dreams. I kid you not. That is the name of a new book launched yesterday in Karachi. The book is written by Nadya A.R. At the launch was none other than Shobha De:

According to the Daily Times, the book's plot centers on a young man who becomes a terrorist after his sister is raped and murdered by the landlord of their village. He comes to Karachi and becomes enmeshed in the criminal underworld. Now, I haven't read the book, so I can't be sure about this. But I wonder if the author isn't doing us a disservice. I mean, I think if she had really tried, she could have packed in even more cliches into the novel. Maybe she could have added Osama as a fringe character; a Daniel Pearl-type could have made an appearance. And I'm only scratching the surface here...

Anyway, with a plot like that, it makes perfect sense that Shobha De was at the launch. When asked what she thought of Karachi, she said:

"It seems to me that Mumbai and Karachi are twin cities in terms of people, culture and environment! I wish we lived in a borderless world."

Welcome to the club, Shobha-ji.

Pope Visits Turkey, Makes Things Worse?

The pope has gone to Turkey. The coverage of his trip has been annoying, to say the least. Perhaps the most annoying pope-related news item I have seen is the current cover of Time magazine:

The cover depicts a seemingly-humble, gentle, and peaceful pope - note that his head is bowed. He seems to be facing "Islam." As if Turkey were representative of "Islam," and as if there is such a thing as "Islam"! I mean, there are a million Islams and probably a million Turkeys too. Think of how it would sound if the Iranian press had covered Ahmedinejad's recent visit to the US as a visit to "Christendom." That's how absurd this terminology is.

Note also that the pope is "confronting" Islam - suggesting that Islam is a bad child that needs to be scolded, or maybe given a time-out in the corner or something. Bad Islam! No dessert for you!

And last but not least, the pope is confronting Islam with a crucifix in his hand, with the figure of Jesus leading the way. Now, let's be generous here and say this was probably an unconscious choice on the part of the artist. But surely the image passed the perusal of an editor or two, who should have been smarter and should have pulled the image of something that conjured up the ghost of, oh I don't know, the crusades???!!?! Surely someone at Time realized that this image would capture perfectly the posture that Western (Christian?) leaders have been explicitly adopting for at least the last 5 years, which is one of aggression and bigotry. And yet it went to press. Ugh.

Let's not be surprised when we realize that this visit only manages to make things worse.

Zoheb is Back, Baby!

Who can forget the bubble-gum pop of Nazia and Zoheb Hassan? The infectious melodies, the goofy lyrics, the fresh-faced and "cool" appeal of the musical siblings... It all takes me back to a time when I was much, much, much younger and much, much, much less cynical. Nazia passed away a few years ago after a battle with lung cancer (and a painful and abusive marriage). She'd been living in the UK. In 2002, Nazia was posthumously awarded the Pakistan Pride of Performance Award. Her family has created a charitable foundation in her memory. Here's a short but touching tribute to her.

I had no idea what had happened to Zoheb until recently, when I saw that he had released a new album called Kismat. It's apparently a huge hit in Pakistan - over 50,000 sold - and now he is hoping to launch the album in India (where the real money is).

Rightwing Rhetoric Alike?

I always find it fascinating when I see the similarities between the rightwing in different places. I know it shouldn't be surprising, but it is still often curious how such different cultures and contexts will produce the same kind of conservative and extremist forces. I recently saw two news items in the Pakistani press that reminded me of this, because of their usage of rhetoric that is often deployed by the US rightwing (source: Daily Times, November 20).

The first is the response of the mullahs to the passage of the incredibly anemic "Women Protection Bill." Only by the most conservative measures can this bill be seen as an advance for women in Pakistan, although if someone held a gun to my head, I would admit that it is slightly better than the current Hudood laws. But the mullahs are so outraged by even this extremely modest change in the law that they have vowed to take action. Their first act?

Creating a "body for defence of Hudood laws."

If that sounds familiar to those conversant with US politics, that's because it channels the same twisted spirit as the absurd "defense of marriage laws." In both cases, the rightwing portrays itself as somehow under attack or under siege, when in fact, the institutions they are purporting to defend are in absolutely no danger of ever being harmed. The irony in Pakistan is that the new Women Protection Bill has preserved much of the old Hudood law, in civil form. And of course the Hudood laws STILL exist! They haven't been repealed, as they should have been (of course, they should never have been put into place to begin with, but that would take us back to the ghost of dictators-past). Among the things that is upsetting the mullahs is the change in age of consent for women to 16 (not puberty as before). Lovely, aren't they?

The second news item that startled me with its analogous rhetoric was a statement by the banker-turned-Musharraf's-stooge, I mean, prime-minister, Shaukat Aziz. Commenting on the situation in Afghanistan at a joint press conference with Tony "lap dog" Blair, Aziz said:

"Cut and run is no way to resolve the issue."

That, of course, mimics the teasing taunt tossed by Republicans at Democrats in the most recent midterm-election cycle. So, just as the Bush administration refuses to recognize that its presence in Iraq is immoral, so does the Musharraf government refuse to give up its hegemonic designs on Afghanistan. Haven't we Pakistanis done enough already to destroy that country? Haven't we, directly and indirectly, guaranteed that Afghanistan will never prosper? (And by "never," I mean at least a century, which equals never to people who live there now.)

Let me give you a tip, Shauky (pronounced "Shock-key" if you're Punjabi): nothing good can ever come out of Pakistan's military adventure in Afghanistan. Not for Afghans, not for Pakistanis, and not even for the Pakistani military and people like you who continue to enable the military to reign supreme. Yes, "cut and run is no way to resolve the issue" - instead, we should be taking the military's budget, giving Afghanistan reparations out of that (in addition to the much bigger reparations that should come from the US), take what's left over, and give it to the Bangladeshis. (Well, in actuality, Bangladesh has first dibs on those reparations, but you get the idea.) Disband the whole damn military. That might be a start to resolving the issue. "Staying the course" is not.

Mujhse Dosti Karoge? NAHIN!

The image of the American seems to be that of an open and friendly person - but us immigrant types have always known better, right? Well, that image is taking a bit of a beating. According to a survey commissioned by the Discover America Partnership (a group composed mostly of hospitality industry firms), the US is now perceived as the least friendly country in the world to visit. The US was ranked the worst in terms of its visa policies and immigration procedures (39%), although fikar not, the #2 spot went to the Middle East/Subcontinental Asia (16%). A majority of respondents - 54% - viewed US immigration officials as "rude."

Iran Fingerprints Americans

Falling within the category of heavily-symbolic-
but-ultimately-totally-irrelevant-yet-thoroughly-satisfying is this news item from Iran. The Iranians have decided to reciprocate current US border control procedures, which is to fingerprint all visitors coming into the US - of course, best-friend countries such as the UK and Israel and well-behaved nations such as pretty much all rich and/or white countries are exempt from this requirement.

Of course that means that Iran is very much included in this list of countries. Not only is it a predominantly-Muslim country, but it also occupies extra-special status as a member of the absurdly-named "axis of evil." Now the Iranians have decided to put American visitors to Iran under the same procedure that Iranians are subject to when entering the US:

Iran's conservative-dominated parliament, in a tit-for-tat measure, passed a bill on Sunday obliging the government to fingerprint US citizens entering the Islamic Republic, state radio reported.
The proposal, backed by 135 votes to 26, also requires a complete security check on every American who enters Iran. The bill now goes to the hardline Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog body, before becoming law. (source: Reuters)

Interestingly, President Ahmedinejad opposed the bill, apparently because he did not want to send a hostile signal to American visitors (and Westerners say he's irrational). Iran joins Brazil in reciprocating the draconian border control measures that the US places upon visitors who look like us.

Quranic Ringtones Un-Islamic

Sometimes there's a news item that perfectly captures the insanity of the religious fanatics. The maulvis at Deoband in India - the same people who brought you the Imrana affair - have weighed in on another weighty social matter: mobile phone ringtones. Turns out that a popular trend among some Muslim youth is to use Quranic ringtones on their mobile phones. I don't know who these youth are, and I have never heard such a ringtone myself, and a quick look at the Ufone and Mobilink websites didn't yield any such Quranic ringtones. But these ringtones must be widespread enough for the Deobandis to weigh in on the issue. One might guess that the clerics would like the idea of even young hipsters with mobile phones turning to the Quran for their ringtone needs. But one would guess wrong.

And what do they have to say? Their verdict is that the Quranic ringtones are un-Islamic (source: The Daily Times):

Clerics at the Darul Uloom seminary in the northern Indian town of Deoband issued an edict banning the use of holy Quran verses or Muslim call to prayers as ringtones, saying doing so violates Islamic law.

Their logic? Apparently, Quranic verses are not meant for entertainment purposes. In addition, what is really problematic for our mullah friends is that a person may answer their phone without letting the entire ringtone play, thus cutting short the verse. Explains Mufti Badrul Hasan:

One should hear the complete verse of the holy Quran with a pious mind and in silence. If it is used as a ringtone, a person is bound to switch on the mobile, thus truncating the verse halfway ... This is an un-Islamic act.

When I shared the news item with lahorimunda, he replied that "every system has the seeds of its own destruction." I certainly hope so, but I'm really beginning to wonder if these people are too stupid and incompetent to even pull off their own destruction.

Cleric Sets Himself on Fire

From Germany comes news that a cleric has set himself on fire. I'm embarrassed to say that when I first saw the headline, I assumed it was yet another instance of a mullah displaying his idiocy, and yet another instance of the Western media distorting the image of Muslims by picking on the one idiot mullah who sets himself on fire.

Then I read the story. Turns out it was a Christian cleric who set himself on fire. Apparently he was so incensed (heh) by the "spread of Islam" that he immolated himself yesterday, a day that is celebrated in some parts of Germany as a recognition of the Protestant Reformation. So here's more proof: they're ALL crazy.

Cricket and Religion

The new head of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Nasim Ashraf, has caused some controversy due to his recent remarks about the cricket team and religion. And what exactly did he say?

"There is no doubt their religious faith is a motivating factor in the team. It binds them together. But there should be a balance between religion and cricket."

I don't understand why there is anything remotely controversial about this statement! Any idiot can see that the cricket team has become totally Islamized, leading most disastrously to the conversion of Yousuf Youhanna last year. Whatever happened to the stereoptype of the decadent-partying-playboy cricket player? It's been replaced with another ugly stereotype, complete with jamaat namaz. By the way, the picture features Saeed Anwar, who is no longer on the team but is perhaps single-handedly responsible for beginning the Islamization process in the team.

Frankly, Nasim Ashraf wasn't harsh enough in his statement.

Spiral of Violence in Iraq

The AP reported today that Iraqis are now being killed at the rate of 43 a day. This is up from an average 27 per day since April 2005. This news follows the recent study published in Lancet which estimated that 655,000 Iraqis have died in Iraq since the war. That's 2.5% of the population. (The authors' lowest estimate is 393,000, and their highest estimate is 943,000.) The Lancet is subscription-only so I can't link to the study, but it has been widely covered in the mainstream media, including by rightwing commentators who have criticized it. For a look into the way those wingnuts think, and for a laugh, check this out.

Rushdie Hearts Musharraf

I keep thinking it's not possible, but Salman Rushdie just keeps saying more and more idiotic things. The latest is his declaration that he wishes

General Pervez Musharraf a “long and healthy life” because, in his view, Pakistan is “one assassination away from having Islamic fanatics in charge of a functioning nuclear weapon, which they may not mind using”... Rushdie finds the situation in Pakistan “scary, extremely scary”, much more so than the Iranian “near-bomb”... He says although it makes him feel sick to be put in a position of hoping that Gen Musharraf has a long and healthy life, he does so because with the general not on the scene, it could be something much worse. Rushdie says Gen Musharraf is a “dictator” and no better than Gen Ziaul Haq, while adding that in the ISI, “there are people much worse, who want a very radical Islamist state”. [source: The Daily Times]

Rushdie's most recent remarks follow a pronouncement that veils "suck," proving that even though he's a talenter writer, Rushdie isn't necessarily the most sophisticated political analyst.

Why does he do it? Why say such dumb things? Is Rushdie just really dumb? Or is this simply an attempt to try and get attention even though he is a sad little man who is no longer relevant to the literary or political scene?

Afghanistan 5 Years On

Tomorrow marks the 5th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan. Somehow this year I am much more reflective about the event. Perhaps "enough" time has passed by for me to make more sense of the war, rather than being intimately caught up in it. I remember being in Boston when Bush came on TV to announce that he had ordered the start of the war. It was such a depressing night. I remember immediately emailing my sister and her husband that the US had "let slip the dogs of war" (see, convent school was good for something - and yes, this was before I had my beautiful phone with which I can text the world). I was trying to be clever to cover up my deep sadness.

For some reason, for that first month or so, I had been holding out some hope that maybe war could be averted, that perhaps the world would come to its senses, that maybe the US would engage in a real overhaul of its imperialistic foreign policy. I remember following the iterations of Taliban offers as they first stated that they didn't know where Osama was; then agreed to turn him over to an international court with Shariah rules; then agreed to try him themselves in a local Shariah court. I kept hoping that maybe something would work. I hoped this despite my training as an academic and my political education as a lefist - that is to say, despite my knowledge of the fact that what was really going to happen was going to be awful, violent, and extreme.

The thing is, I wanted to believe that there was another possibility, a possible path that we could all take that was peaceful and addressed the existing structural issues that had led us down the path to 9-11. I wanted to believe all this because I wanted to believe in the promise of peace. Because the reality was that we were witnessing the death of the idea of peace, at least for my generation, and that's something that is hard even for a cynic like to me take.

And honestly, the thing is, I'm NOT a cynic. I'm an optimist, an idealist, a hopeless dreamer. And 5 years ago, that idealism was very sorely tested.

It was such a feeling of madness, knowing exactly what was necessary to chart a course to peace, and realizing that no one around you gets it. For the first time, I felt real empathy with those mad people who are always muttering to themselves, the conspiracy theorists, the end-of-worlders. I tried talking reason to anyone who would listen, but really, no one wanted to listen, and eventually I too succumbed to fatigue and fear. Complicating all this was the gut knowledge that what was also being set in motion was the collapse of my personal life. That's too long and painful a story that I frankly still can't talk about. But I do remember the feeling of helplessness as I knew what I was walking towards, and I couldn't do a thing about it. Knowledge was painful, in a very deeply personal way.

It was a difficult time to be a thinking person and an activist. I mean, I know it seems hard now, but trust me, it was much, much worse then. In a way, the invasion of Afghanistan proved somewhat useful to me at a personal level. Now I had a great sorting mechanism to figure out who I really wanted to talk to. Because the Afghanistan war separated the true anti-imperialists and peace activists from the mere "nice" liberals. And frankly, when the Iraq war came around, I was no longer shocked as many were at what was happening. It frankly seemed to be the logical progression of the imperialist project that it is.

I guess I could end this in a sentimental way by saying that we should remember the Afghan victims (whose suffering is only getting exacerbated). But really, I want to take a moment for myself and my friends, who are struggling to remain idealistic even after living through that harrowing experience. I hope we continue to dream, even though it seems utterly pointless. I don't know how my friends keep doing it, but they are an inspiration to me and help me to keep dreaming as well.

Chalo Buddo Chalo

From the Daily Times:

$43b new city near Karachi

ISLAMABAD: The government gave approval in principal on Wednesday for Emaar Properties of United Arab Emirates to go ahead with a $43 billion project to build a model city near Karachi. Emaar, which will have 85 percent equity in the project, will develop two islands, Bundal and Buddo, near Karachi into a city with state-of-the-art facilities, Ashfaque Hasan Khan, an advisor to the prime minister, told reporters. “It will be just like another Dubai,” Khan said. “It will consist of everything. Residential buildings, theme parks, offices, just about everything.” “We want to build it because it will create new jobs, bring in investment, create new housing and a new city,” he added. Port Qasim Authority will hold 15 percent in the form of land, Khan said after a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee. The project is expected to take about 13 years. Khan said approval in principal for the project had been given after all formalities were completed.

How can you go wrong with it? It will have "state-of-the-art facilities," after all. That's exactly what Karachi needs right now, because we all know that everyone in the city is well-fed and housed and taken care of, so we badly need extravagant luxury projects like this. It's a good thing, too, that foreign investors control so much of the project, because of course local Pakistanis can't handle so much wealth and control. And god knows we need another Dubai in this world. I mean, really - one can never have enough Dubais dotting the globe.

Shazia Sikander Wins "Genius" Grant

Shazia Sikander, an artist from Lahore, has received the "genius" grant from MacArthur Foundation.

The A-List Says No to Section 377

Vikram Seth, along with many other sparkling luminaries, has written an open letter to the Indian government asking for a repeal of Section 377. In addition to Seth, other prominent folks include Pooja Bedi, Nandita Das, Shobhaa De, Barkha Dutt (of Kargil-coverage fame), Soha Ali Khan, Shubha Mudgal, Mira Nair, Amol Palekar, Arundhati Roy, Aparna Sen, and Konkona Sen, among others. Along with the actually-famous people like the above are also a host of "star" academics. Of course none of the HomoFOBs were asked to sign. Guess we're not hip enough.

A full list of the signatories can be seen here, along with the text of the letter.

Our Men in Havana

Musharraf and Singh have made up!

Apparently they went into a room by themselves, without aides, security, etc. Locked themselves inside for an hour. When they emerged, an agreement had been struck to resume peace talks! See, all they needed was some alone time to do the nasty, and all is now well. And to those of you who are grossed out by the thought of either Musharraf or Singh having sex, well, have some compassion for the ugly people on the planet - they need sex too.

Blair most hated by Britons?

While all these negotiations continue - between Blair and other Labourites on when exactly he will leave, between Blair and the LSE - it seems that no one will really miss him much when he's gone. A poll from this month shows Blair with only 1 23% approval rating (that makes Bush's 36% practically a superstar).

Blair was also voted "most hated" by Britons in 2003. Interestingly, that same survey has gay rights missionary and generally misguided fool Peter Tatchell at number 80. You can see the full results here.

Blair School of Government?

Fresh from the news that Tony Blair will resign within a year comes word that Tony is worried about his "legacy." I guess I would worry too if I thought my only legacy was going to be showing the world how to be a good lapdog. Anyway, apparently Blair's people have been in dialogue with folks from the London School of Economics (LSE) about setting up a school of government/public policy named after Blair:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s chief of staff is in discussions with the London School of Economics over the establishment of a school of government in Mr Blair’s name, the Guardian reported on Friday.

Citing unnamed LSE academics involved in the discussions, which have apparently been ongoing for six months, the newspaper reported that the proposed school would focus on foreign and domestic policy.

Mr Blair has apparently been inspired by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and former US president Bill Clinton’s foundation, in attempting to cement his legacy.

I've been at academic institutions where some academic divisions are named for prominent politicians, and it's very tricky to try and keep the academic endeavor separate from the very real idetification of the institution with the politician's ideology. Such questions have already been raised at LSE:

There remain questions over whether Mr Blair would actually head the school, the unnamed academics told the Guardian, and the Prime Minister’s chief of Staff Jonathan Powell has also been mentioned as a possible head. The LSE was apparently enthusiastic initially when discussions began, but the newspaper reported that some academics are wary of the proposal, questioning whether Mr Blair’s involvement would compromise the LSE’s independence.

"It would need to be de-Blairified before it could go ahead," one unnamed academic said. Both Howard Davies, the LSE’s director, and Mr Blair’s Downing Street office denied knowledge of such a proposal, though it was confirmed by various academics at the LSE off the record to the newspaper.

If I were the LSE, I would run, fast, in the opposite direction...

Desis United?

As FOBs, we tend not to spend too much time about what it means to be desi in the West. Our psychic identities are firmly rooted in the "homeland," which removes an entire level of complication from our lives. (Having seen some of this complication up close and personal, I'd say this is a huge blessing.) Especially here at HOMOfobia, we share such a close personal and political bond that questions about "who we are" rarely come up.

But every once in a while, I come across a story that reminds me of how fractured the desi diaspora really is. There are, of course, countless tensions and questions that accompany the often-forced and arbitrary transformation of regional and national communities into a geographically-dispersed "diaspora." But increasingly I've been seeing another variation on the theme, which highlights the perceived dissonance of one community with the rest of the diaspora. Here's one such story from the UK, which discusses the increasing economic success of "Asians" in Britain (as South Asians are referred to in the UK). The article talks about the changing class character of the Asian community, which is apparently becoming more prosperous and leaving behind its working-class origins. But then something right at the end of the article caught my eye:

But sections of Britain’s thriving ‘new Asian economy’ complained to TOI on Monday that it might have been better for the new Barclays Bank report to have categorically classified the growth as "Indian rather than Asian because it may be misleading to lump all Asians together".

Tushar Patel, who has a chain of pharmaceuticals, said, "There is such a wide difference between ‘Asian’ groups - Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi - that it would be better to be more specific about who is doing well”. [emphasis added]

Maybe I'm just being naive, but is it really so hard to maintain some kind of solidarity with other desis?

Back in the Classroom

Today was the first day of classes for me this semester. Groan. While I love teaching, I must say that it seems more and more difficult to start teaching again every semester. And perhaps it's also become much more predictable - what the students will say, what they will want, what they refuse to "get." And this semester is going to be maybe my hardest ever, with tons of work, and I'm not looking forward to it. Meanwhile, I am seriously in love. With my phone. It's just beautiful, and exactly what was I was looking for in the last 1.5 years of my search for a new phone. And I can now text to Pakistan, India, UK... anywhere in the world my heart desires. Well, that would probably exclude Latvia, where they recently held anti-gay protests as activists were trying to stage a gay pride event.



Now, usually anti-gay protestors don't amuse me, but these morons are just so silly! Look at their T-shirts! What a bunch of freaks. By the way, similar protests happened in Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia.

Pakistanis Denied Entry Into U.S.

Two family members of one of the "Lodi group" have been denied entry into the U.S.:

Muhammad Ismail, a 45-year-old naturalized citizen born in Pakistan, and his 18-year-old son, Jaber Ismail, who was born in the United States, have not been charged with a crime. However, they are the uncle and cousin of Hamid Hayat, a 23-year-old Lodi cherry packer who was convicted in April of supporting terrorists by attending a Pakistani training camp.

Federal authorities said Friday that the men, both Lodi residents, would not be allowed back into the country unless they agreed to FBI interrogations in Pakistan. An attorney representing the family said agents have asked whether the younger Ismail trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan.

Both men are U.S. citizens, and do not hold dual Pakistani nationality. They tried to come back earlier in April, but were turned back from Hong Kong airport, where they had to pay for their own flight back to Islamabad! Apparently the U.S. government has put them on the "no-fly" list (is it a matter of time before all the homoFOBS are on that list??!?). The FBI is demanding that they submit to an interview in Islamabad, without lawyers present! They have already submitted to an FBI interview earlier in the year. The FBI also wants them to take polygraph tests. They have so far refused to do so, and a lawyer from the ACLU is handling their case.

Hell, why don't they just go ahead and make it a law forbidding entry into the U.S. for brown people? Why don't they just go ahead and set up those internment camps already? Who are they kidding?

cricket and compulsory national identity

Like so many South Asians, I have always known that the sense of joy I feel at seeing someone crack a cricket ball off into the distance is entirely wrapped up in the politics of my past, present and future.

The current furore about alleged 'ball tampering' by the Pakistani cricket team brought home to me yet again that cricket has been irrecoverably stolen by the false pretensions of national identity. Of course, for so many of us, this is hardly news. We grew up in a subcontinental political world where the blood thirsty fantasies of our insecure politicians were regularly translated into the heat and dust of the cricket pitch. But this time it is England that has re-triangulated that dynamic: the dying imperialist power stokes seething passions by one, quick, racist allegation. And yet again, the national authorities of the postcolonial countries - in this case, India - fall over themselves to discredit any hope for postcolonial solidarity. This despite the real and growing support amongst Indians on-the-ground for Pakistan, and repeated statements of disgust at the racist actions of the umpire.

I took this photograph from behind the Taj in January of 2006. I think the barbed wires framing that symbol of a pre-national cultural ecumeme, displaced upon the shadowy figures of young boys playing cricket on the rapidly drying banks of the once vibrant river Jamna speaks volumes to the present state of Hindutva, forced national identity, subcontinental cultures trapped behind national pretensions, and the ever lasting sound of 'aaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!'




With love and kisses to all homoFOBs everywhere,
Shefali.

Bugti Dead. Now What?

Akbar Bugti was killed on Saturday in a military operation. Unconfirmed news reports also claim that two of his grandons were killed as well. On Sunday, Quetta exploded in violence. (So did parts of Karachi.)



My sister texted me from Islamabad, wondering, "is this another Bangladesh"? In some ways, she's right, because the Baluch nationalists feel as aggrieved as the erstwhile East Pakistanis did. At this juncture, the two main factors that are responsible for the Baluchistan situation are perhaps ratcheted up to their highest level: the economic exploitation of Baluchistan (mainly natural gas), and the brutal military repression and occupation of the region. The last Baluchistan crisis was in the 1970s, but that was eventually forcibly suppressed, with the military especially keen to hold on to a restive province immediately after another one had been "lost." This time around, a military government is in power, which enjoys (on most days) the support of the U.S., and which can use the convenient ruse of the "War on Terror" to crack down on any and all domestic opponents.

This, by the way, is not meant to be a tribute to Bugti. But he was held in high regard and affection by his people, and his death may yet prove to be one of those highly charged symbolic events that finally galvanize a people past the tipping point. In any case, I fear there will be much more violence to come in the immediate future, whatever happens.

In a weird coincidence, the U.S.-based Armed Forces Journal recently published an argument for redrawing boundaries in the "Greater Middle East," which includes Pakistan. According to this argument, Baluchistan would become an independent country. (Pakistan would be downsized to existing Punjab and Sindh only, with NWFP going to Afghanistan.) This is completely counter to what the Pakistan establishment wants, but it is a chilling reminder of the kind of influence and ambition U.S. policymakers have in the region.

Republican Candidates Call For Racial Profiling

There are currently THREE Republican electoral candidates who are calling for the increased profiling of Muslim/Arab airline passengers. They are Mark Flanagan, running for the House in Florida's 13th district; Paul Nelson, running for the House in Wisconsin's 3rd district; and John Faso, running for governor of New York state. Faso has said the following:

If a 25-year-old Muslim man who has been traveling frequently to Yemen or Pakistan tries to board a plane, then not only statistical analysis but also common sense tells us that he is more of a potential threat than the grandmother from Queens.

Nelson, the candidate from Wisconsin, offered this helpful advice when he was asked how screeners could tell if a passenger was Muslim or not: "If he comes in wearing a turban and his name is Muhammad, that’s a good start."

In a way, it's actually a relief to hear these explicit expressions of bigotry, rather than having to deal with the usual veneer of politesse and euphemistic bullshit that accompanies such ideas. And frankly, I'm surprised there are only three such candidates (I'm sure more will emerge as the election draws nearer). Needless to say, I hope all three of these candidates lose badly and go crawl back under the rock they came from.

Clifton Beach

I recently returned from a visit to Pakistan. I was mostly in Karachi, but spent a few days in Lahore where I met up with Toorie. The trip was fantastic (barring a mishap that, thankfully, all have recovered from). One of the things I really love doing in Karachi is going to the beach. I think Karachi has some of the best undiscovered beaches in the world.



Of course where I REALLY wanted to go was Hawkesbay, but that trip is a much bigger production, so I had to settle for a quick trip to Clifton. There's something about the sea that I just love, and connect to. I'm sure growing up in Karachi has a lot to do with it, but I also have come to really appreciate the sea after having lived in Texas for so many years. Even though the beach at Clifton is horrible, it was really nice to see the crowds enjoying themselves, and the water is always beautiful.

"It's Not Cricket!"

I don't know if you are all following the latest cricket drama. Pakistan is touring England, and had already lost the test match series. The last match was being played at the Oval in London. Pakistan looked like it might pull off a win in the last match to look at least a little respectable. On Sunday, out of nowhere, one of the umpires penalizes Pakistan 5 runs for "ball-tampering." The entire Pakistani team basically revolts, claiming they have done no cheating, and ask for evidence to be produced to back up the charge. They go back to the dressing room, refusing to come out to resume play. The match is eventually awarded to England as a forfeit, the first forfeit of an international test match in 129 years of the game.

The umpire, David Hair, is a white Australian who has had questionable dealings with non-white teams before (Sri Lanka, most notably). In addition, there were TWENTY-NINE cameras trained on the action on the field, and thus far, not one of them has recorded anything questionable by the Pakistani players. There will be an official ICC hearing, and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have already said they will support Pakistan. Interestingly, India has basically come out against Pakistan (but maybe they will change their mind - let's hope). All this reminds me of the hyper-charged racist atmosphere that accompanied Pakistani tours of England in the 1970s and 1980s. Am I just paranoid, or does this event coincide perfectly with the most recent "terrorist alert" in the UK?

Here's one comment on the affair. I don't have any illusions about the integrity of Pakistanis, but I'm betting on Inzi's squad this time.

Lebanese LGBT Org Gets Support at Out Games

Helem, the Lebanese LGBT organization, was unable to send its member to the OutGames plenary session in Montreal this week due to the continuing destruction of Lebanon by Isreal. Instead, the member sent a video statement, which was apparently received with a lot of support from the audience, some of whom gave a standing ovation. You can see the full story and look at the video statement here.

Mullahs on Earthquake Relief: Women Need Not Apply

Just when one thinks that the mullahs can't possibly get any worse, they manage to scale new heights in idiocy. This is the latest bit of lunacy (via The Daily Times):

Clerics want no women aid workers in quake areas

MANSEHRA: Clerics in the NWFP want authorities to expel all women working for international relief agencies in earthquake-affected areas by the end of this month.

The clerics accuse the women, including Pakistanis employed by foreign non-government organisations (NGOs), of dressing improperly, mixing with men and drinking alcohol.

“We are not against the NGOs, but we are against them spreading obscenity in society and trying to weaken our faith by corrupting our women,” Moazzam Ali Shah, head of Tehreek-e-Islaha Muashra, or Movement to Cleanse Society, said.

The clerics have not said what action they might take if the women aid workers are not asked to leave. More than 50 international NGOs are based in Mansehra carrying out relief and rehabilitation projects for the victims of a massive earthquake that killed over 73,000 people and rendered millions homeless in Kashmir and NWFP last October.

“We know an ultimatum has been given and we are waiting to see what happens,” said Frank Lehmann, a senior official with World Vision, an NGO involved in providing schooling for children still living in tent encampments. “We respect the local culture and try to behave accordingly,” Lehmann said, adding that the relief agencies had raised their concerns with the local authorities. Police have given assurances that aid workers will be protected, while talks are held with clerics to settle the issue. “No one would be allowed to disrupt relief work and we are absolutely serious about security issues,” Waqas Aziz, a district police officer, said.

“We see this as a local issue, which is being defused. But we have told the NGOs to take care about local sensitivities while working in this area,” he said.

Jamaatud Dawa, a charity with links to banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba, is active in the area, and its officials in Balakot said they supported the allegations against the foreign aid workers.

I know of several women who are working in these areas, and they are generally not the sort of women who will be scared away by some half-sentient mullah. However, it is interesting that the main target might be foreign female aid workers; the main group quoted above is World Vision, a US-based Christian aid group (yes, one of those really awful "let's save the dark-skinned victims and while we're at it let's try and convert them too" type of groups - they are pretty active in Darfur, for example). That does thicken the plot a bit, but of course does not justify this absurd behavior on the part of the mullahs. But let me also make a request to World Vision: please stop trying to convert Pakistanis to Christianity. They already have many mind-numbing extremist versions of religion to choose from, and they don't need your version to confuse them even more.

Female Councillors Held Hostage in NWFP

This really pisses me off (although it shouldn't surprise me). Courtesy The Daily Times:

PESHAWAR: Having succeeded in overturning a jirga-decision last year that sought to prevent them from filing their nomination papers for the local bodies polls, Upper Dir’s elected female councillors now face a new political battle: the right to attend their respective council meetings.

As the situation currently stands, female councillors are barred from council meetings, with male relatives attending the sessions on their behalf.

“This practice, which deliberately deprives women of their political rights, is encouraged and supported by the leaders of the District, Tehsil and Union Councils,” a spokesperson of Individualland, a group of political analysts, told Daily Times on Wednesday.

Requesting not to be named, the spokesperson said that, according to Individualland researchers, the majority of elected female councillors were being represented at meetings by male family members.

“The male members regularly attend the district assembly sessions on their behalf, sign in for them, speak for them, vote for them and of course, needless to say, also collect their honorariums,” she said.

In Upper Dir, she said, sons, brothers, husbands and fathers were representing female councillors on reserved seats. So, for all practical purposes, the men in Upper Dir were occupying seats reserved for women while the elected women were forced to sit at home, she added... [More here]

And what is the federal government doing about this? Let me guess - nothing. So much for enlightened moderation. By the way, who/what is "Individualland"??

Closer to Repealing Section 377 in India?

The BBC reports today that NACO (National AIDS Control Organization) has decided to support the petitioners who want Section 377 repealed. From BBC News:

The Indian government's HIV/Aids control body has backed calls for homosexuality to be legalised.

The National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) said that infected people were being driven underground and efforts to curb the virus were being hampered.

Naco supported a court motion filed by an Aids charity on Wednesday seeking to end a law criminalising homosexuality. [More on the story here]

The development is related to the legal case that has been making its way through the Indian court system. The last word on the case was the Indian Supreme Court's ruling that Indian society was, basically, not "ready" for the legalization of homosexuality, and sent the case back to the Delhi court for reconsideration. It is in this court that NACO has now agreed to join the petitioners wanting to eliminate Section 377. HomoFOBia is cautiously optimistic...

Karachi Burns

With all of the attention on the violence in Lebanon and on the Bombay blasts, it's easy to forget that people all over the world are dealing with violence. Turabi, a Shia leader, was killed in Karachi on Friday. Subsequently the city has flared in violence again; the KFC in Gulshan was set on fire, buses have been burned, and fighting and gunshots have been reported. So far, there are no confirmed casualties, which is something to be grateful for, I suppose. But with all the violence right now, plus the derailing of the Pakistan-India peace process, and now the burning of Karachi - it's put me in a very bad mood.

Apologizing for the Blasts in Bombay

Everyone on the planet now knows about the blasts in Bombay that have killed almost 200 people. In addition to the usual rhetoric that accompanies such violence, there has been considerable condemnation and sympathy from two specific quarters: Indian Muslims, and the Pakistani government. These statements were issued almost immediately after the fact, suggesting that they were meant to preempt accusatory fingers that were inevitably going to be aimed their way. But, given that we don't know who it was, or why they did it, why is it that these two groups feel compelled to respond immediately? Yes, of course, one realizes the politics of the situation. Pakistan and India have their long-standing tensions, and there is sometimes good reason for each to point fingers at each other when things go horribly wrong domestically. And of course, for many in India, including increasingly the mainstream, Indian Muslims are practically Pakistanis anyway - at the very least they are seen as suspect citizens, with questionable loyalties. (Frankly, I shudder to think what lies ahead for Indian Muslims in the immediate future, especially those in Bombay.) But even if these knee-jerk condemnations makes sense to me, they still feel kind of sick - because they reinforce the suspicion and mistrust, not dispel it.

The Bookseller of Kabul

Okay, so I read this book by Asne Seierstad. The way the press had raved about it, it was supposed to be something like Philip Gourevitch's book on Rwanda. Sadly, it isn't. There were two chapters that were good but they were not even half as good as the weakest chapters of Gourevitch's "We wish to inform...". But that is all. Rest of the book was not bad but there was nothing in it that we didn't know already. It is really the type of book that Europeans love to read on their summer vacations - the kind of book that makes you feel so thankful that you are European before you go for your vacation to Africa, or Asia and feel thankful that you are European, and then return home to feel thankful that you are European. Some of it was pretty repetative especially about the veiling of women in the Ninja Burka - the Shuttlecock Burka. I will write more about it later.