Author: mara.ahmed

Pakistan’s challenge

The real narrative of Pakistan is one that has nothing to do with the outside world, or geopolitics, or conspiracy theories. The real narrative of Pakistan is the story of a country where a fabulously wealthy elite, as well as a large and growing middle class, refuse to commit sufficiently to helping the majority of their brothers and sisters who remain desperately poor. The suffering of the Pakistani majority is usually concealed behind sordid dramas enacted by our venal politicians, hypocritical nonsense about our country’s eternal blamelessness, and carefully choreographed nationalistic, ethnic, and sectarian myth-making. But the floods have washed away these illusions and confronted us with our hungry, wet, fearful truth: Pakistan is a land that lets its people suffer. Full article.

I am a Bhains

BHAINS is urdu for water buffalo, commonly found in the punjab region.

…

“Oh, I know. You don’t care about me. It is that farmer standing next to my dead carcass that interests you more, isn’t it? You think that now that his life is ruined by this flood, his cattle is dead, his land is covered in waist high mud and soil, his crops are ruined, his body is racked with dysentery and cholera, he will become a Taliban and attack America. Yes. That is who you really want to hear about. Sadly, even though I have a voice (beyond the carcass, even!), he doesn’t. He needs someone else to speak for him.

I hear you. You are a hammer and every thing else is a nail. More precisely, every Pakistani is a infected with HIT-virus – full blown disease is just a matter of time.

What is the point then? I cannot tell you anything that can change your mind. He is poor. He is easily bought by Wahabi or Opium money. He works hard for his meager food. He will swallow whole the dialectic of revolution or of Khilafa. He is traditional in his outlook, in his customs. He is a fundamentalist and a sectarian. He spent some time in the Gulf doing labor. He was indoctrinated with Wahabi ideology. He can recite Bulleh Shah or listen to the Heer for days. He what? He is a human being with a past, a present, a culture, a society, a vision of the good life, a sense of community, a method of belonging, a routine of daily practices, a collection of stories for his children, a corpus of songs for his friends, a set of possessions, a love for radio or tv, a daily grind and an early night. He is waiting to attack us in New York.

You see his suffering through your security, your strategy, your politics. You don’t see him as a human. Just as you don’t see me as more than cattle. You don’t know who he is, so he must be your worst nightmare. If you saw him as human, if you granted him agency, thought, you wouldn’t be so afraid. You would want to help him. Not because he might become Taliban, but because he is your kind, and he needs your help.” Full article.

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for those non-urdu speakers who get the brilliance of this piece, here is a translation of the urdu proverbs:

You may have heard of me. They routinely say: ‘aql bari kay bhains. Am I right? What an insult. Of course, I am bigger than “intelligence”. But these city-folks who can only see me as a street nuisance, while they sip on the delicious milk I provide, are so very keen to make up insulting proverbs about me.

[aql bari kay bhains: what’s bigger – human intelligence or a bhains? — thru intelligence we can learn to maneuver/conquer things that r much bigger than us.]

Or you may have heard, jis ki lathi uss ki bhains. Another insult. Just because someone has a stick, I do not become his possession. I do have a functioning brain! I do recognize, know and love my owner.

[jis ki lathi uss ki bhains: he who possesses a stick, will by default own the bhains. — might is right.]

The most insulting, however, is, bhains kay aagay been bajana. Insulting for the sad, pathetic human, of course. I am not sure why they think I am immune to the charms of a good tune on the flute. I love music.

[bhains kay aagay been bajana: to play the flute for a bhains. — to waste one’s breath on someone who’s too obtuse to be swayed by intelligence or art.]

Full justice for Troy Davis

If a state’s case against a condemned prisoner is not “ironclad”, should not that fact trouble those pursuing his execution? This is a question that should be asked of the authorities in Georgia, USA, following a federal judge’s ruling that, if upheld, will clear the way for the state to kill Troy Davis in its execution chamber.

Support full justice for troy davis and sign petition here.

Learning to Laugh: The New Yorker

i love kataria’s idea of laughter yoga – what a great way to be human, together!

This week in the magazine, Raffi Khatchadourian writes about Dr. Madan Kataria, the founder and relentless promoter of Laughter Yoga. (Subscribers can read the full text; others can buy access to the issue via the digital edition.) In this video, Khatchadourian visits a seminar on Laughter Yoga led by Dr. Kataria, who claims that the technique is a potential cure for mental and physical ailments of all kinds. More here.

Charlie Rose – An interview with Fiona Shaw

i had the chance to see the astonishing fiona shaw on stage in ny, in a production of medea (2002?). this is an older interview in which she talks about t. s. eliot’s “the waste land,” poetry and language. wish she had been interviewed by someone of moyers’ caliber, but still, she’s astonishing.

Israeli Ships not Welcome in Vancouver

Dozens of activists set up an information picket at Deltaport this morning in an information picket designed to slow the transport of containers belonging to the Israeli shipping company Zim. Demonstrators gave truckers and passers-by information about the growing refusal by workers to unload and transport cargo from Israel or shipped by Israeli companies. Vancouver Media Co-op correspondents filed this report.

Obama’s “secret war”

In Latin America El Salvadorian death squads were known for targeting clergy members, doctors, and others, similar to what is being said about Iraq. Scandal continues to develop for the Obama administration because of the Iraq war. Eva Golinger says that the Obama administration has increased funding for what many call Obama’s “secret war”.

My cancer is arbitrary. Congo’s atrocities are very deliberate.

The atrocities committed against the people of Congo are not arbitrary, like my cancer. They are systematic, strategic and intentional. At the root is a madly greedy world economy, desperate for more minerals robbed from the indigenous Congolese. Sourcing this insatiable hunger are multinational corporations who benefit from these minerals and are willing to turn their backs on the players committing femicide and genocide, as long as their financial needs are met. I am lucky. I have been blessed with a positive prognosis that has made me hyper-aware of what keeps a person alive. How does one survive cancer? Of course – good doctors, good insurance, good luck. But the real healing comes from not being forgotten. From attention, from care, from love, from being surrounded by a community of those who demand information on your behalf, who advocate and stand up for you when you are in a weakened state, who sleep by your side, who refuse to let you give up, who bring you meals, who see you not as a patient or victim but as a precious human being, who create metaphors where you can imagine your survival. This is my medicine, and nothing less will suffice for the people, for the women, for the children of Congo. Full article.

Yediot reports on damage to settlement industry caused by targeted boycott

The decision made on Monday by the Norwegian oil fund to divest from Africa Israel and Danya Cebus on the grounds that they are involved in illegal construction in the territories, is only the latest in a long series of decisions by governmental and private companies in Europe to boycott Israeli companies for political reasons. In most cases, the argument is that the products were manufactured over the Green Line, and are therefore in the “occupied territories.” At times, this refers to a political protest against Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians, for example, in response to the flotilla events. One thing is not in question: In recent months, there has been an escalation in the boycott of Israeli brands for political reasons. Full article.

Man Held in Anti-Muslim Stabbing of Cabby in New York

The man charged with the anti-Muslim slashing and stabbing of a cabdriver was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime, first-degree assault as a hate crime and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

An emergency medical technician said that had the cut been any deeper or longer, the driver would have died, prosecutors said.

Judge ShawnDya L. Simpson ordered the man, Michael Enright, 21, held without bail.

James Zaleta, an assistant district attorney, said in court that Mr. Enright hailed a taxi near 24th Street and Second Avenue on Tuesday evening. Mr. Enright asked the taxi driver, who was from Bangladesh, whether he was Muslim, Mr. Zaleta said.

After the driver said he was, Mr. Enright responded with the Arabic greeting, “Assalamu alaikum,” according to the criminal court complaint.

Then Mr. Enright said, “Consider this a checkpoint,” before pulling out a Leatherman utility knife and slashing the taxi driver’s throat, Mr. Zaleta said. The driver turned and Mr. Enright slashed him in his face and forearms, Mr. Zaleta said. Full article.