Maria Toor Pakay, Pakistan’s 19-year old emerging squash star challenged every stereotype regarding the potential of her fellow tribeswomen who languish in tents awaiting aid. Young, determined and undeterred by the unceasing pressures of patriarchy, Toor is beginning to compete in squash championships nationally and abroad Continue reading »
With the Americans refusing to take sides in any part of the conflict that doesn’t suit their own national interests, little incentive remains for the Pakistanis to construct a strategy that would leave them without options after American withdrawal
Continue reading »
While Chinese women work to produce anything that sells and raise their country to new heights as an emerging power, Muslim women remain embroiled still in proving that their worth is more than just their virginity
Clerics in Egypt are in a quandary. A new device made by a Chinese company threatens to make every Egyptian woman who uses it, a virgin. The “Artificial Virginity Hymen Kit” distributed by Gigimo costs about USD30 and is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands into believing that they are virgins by producing a small amount of blood-like substance during intercourse. Continue reading »
In our sixty-second year, perhaps it’s time we came to terms with the reality that we are and have always been a nation of beggars. Ironically, it is only in embracing this grim reality that we can find the opportunity to change our future Continue reading »
Even if the United States is able to define military and political victories in achievable terms, its failure to respond to the moral questions imposed on them could ultimately be what determines this war’s outcome
This past week, General Stanley McChrystal, the NATO Commander in Afghanistan, submitted his strategic report on the war in Afghanistan to President Obama. The report, expectedly dismal, laid out the challenges that America, a continuing if shaky superpower, faces in Afghanistan. The bleak forecast offered by Gen McChrystal’s report follows in the footsteps of the Afghan elections, whose contested results gave NATO little to celebrate in terms of Afghanistan’s progress toward self sufficiency. Continue reading »
Immigration laws within the US already provide avenues for immigrant brides that are brought to America to apply for citizenship even if they divorce their husbands due to abuse. This new direction in asylum law in the US provides a tangible commitment to the empowerment of women around the world
In the sweltering July heat of Sukkur, a man, Inayatullah Khoso, shot and killed his wife and a guest. Aamnat, the wife, and the guest were killed as karo kari because someone had made an allegation of illicit relations between Aamnat and the guest. Continue reading »
The extent of the Arab world’s disinterest in American policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan is notable not as much for the alleged hypocrisy it could expose between President Obama’s speech and American policy, but rather in the crude disjunct between the interest and influence of Arab issues on the Pakistani psyche
On June 4, 2009, at around 1:10 pm local time, President Barack Hussein Obama addressed the Muslim world from Cairo University in Egypt. The speech, much touted for days, even months, hit all the right notes. Continue reading »
The task of returning to the values enshrined in the US Constitution and regaining lost moral authority necessitates the recognition that the rule of law and the requirements of justice transcend territoriality
On his third day in office, President Barack Obama signed three executive orders. These executive orders, which required the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and an end to coercive interrogation techniques in the name of fighting terror marked a substantial break from the policies of the Bush administration.
Continue reading »
The symbolic meeting between American, Pakistani and Afghan leaders brought together three countries whose relations are marred by mistrust based on broken promises on all sides
In the cavalcade of photo opportunities and press conferences that took place this past Wednesday during trilateral talks between the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan, much was said about three nations coming together to combat the common challenges posed by terrorism. Time and again, Afghan, Pakistani and American leaders stood in close proximity, an agreement was signed, promises made and reassurances given to attest to the commonality of the task before the three democratic nations. Continue reading »
The residents of Karachi are entrepreneurial, highly educated and without the feudal connections and conservatism that typify other parts of Pakistan. This makes them most likely to suffer in the event of a pro-Islamist Taliban regime that forces women indoors, shuts down businesses arbitrarily deemed un-Islamic and extracts taxes from minoritiesrafia.zakaria@gmail.com
As the temperature of the Taliban insurgency rises, all eyes are focused on Karachi as the final venue of the face-off between the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan and its opponents. In the political developments of the past few weeks, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has emerged as the sole political adversary to the TTP’s project of forcing the nation to accede to its demands. Continue reading »
Counting miles and expressing concern about the incursions of the Taliban may well sound the alarms bells in Washington but if the United States truly seeks a solution, it must make an effort to go beyond catchy phrases and monolithic perceptions that suggest that Pakistan is simply a territorial extension of Afghanistan
On April 22, 2009, the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan took over Buner, which is located approximately sixty-five miles from Islamabad. This distance has now become the focal point of the world’s attention. Nearly every story emerging from Western media sources paints the spatial proximity of Buner as an indicator that Islamabad is about to fall to the Taliban any day.
Continue reading »
Packaging deals with groups like the TNSM, which clearly oppose all forms of democratic governance, in the trimmings of parliamentary legitimacy does not consequently transform the ideological agendas espoused by such groups
It has been a triumphant week for Islamists in Pakistan. On Monday, the National Assembly passed a resolution asking the president to sign into law the Nizam-e Adl Regulation 2009, a key instrument in the peace deal reached between the ANP government in the NWFP and the TNSM in Malakand. Later that day, President Asif Ali Zardari signed it into law.
According to the text of the Bill, the Nizam-e Adl Regulation would provide for the “Nifaz-e-Nizam-e-Sharia through Courts in the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas for the North-West Frontier Province”. Continue reading »
The West, the Taliban, as well as local tribal structures are all complicit in the denial of equality and dignity to Afghan women and the promotion of a culture of war and violence that permeates both public and family life
On March 31, 2008, the Guardian reported that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had signed the Shia Personal Status Bill that made marital rape lawful under Afghan law.
While the final text of the legislation has not yet been released, reports allege that Article 132 of the Bill makes lawful the rape of a wife by her husband. Article 133 of the Bill subjects a woman’s right to work, education, healthcare and other services contingent upon her husband’s permission. Other articles in the Bill deny a woman the right to leave her home without her husband’s permission and tacitly accept child marriages by laying out “mahr” or dower provisions for marriages between children. Continue reading »
Marriages are routinely and unapologetically arranged to solidify business interests, land disputes and old vendettas. The woman, then, with the maligning spectre of divorce hanging over her, is left to endure whatever abuse her husband or in-laws may heap on her
Recently, Mukhtar Mai’s married Nasir Abbas Gabol in her low-key hometown of Meerwala. The publicity and the debate generated by the event, however, resonated across the globe, garnering attention from international newspapers and television channels.
Continue reading »
The political decisions made by both parties represent a system where future guarantees are elusive and where power can only be maintained through the ruthless game of either eliminating the opponent or being eliminated oneself. In the short term, the Long March represents another episode in this grisly high-stakes game of exclusion and eradication
Marches, protests, sit-ins and rallies are supposed to be the stuff of democratic politics. In their effort to agitate without violence and engender change without bloodshed, they supposedly proclaim the voice of people. Continue reading »
Loading ...
Recent Comments