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

[First published at http://blog.iFaqeer.com]

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. [First published at http://blog.iFaqeer.com]

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?

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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

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.]

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

I am not sure I completely agree with, or endorse the thought, but this bears quoting. It’s something Nowsherwan 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.

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

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

I apologise for the hit-and-run post, and though I have great respect for the man, I am not a Gandhian. But following everything over the weekend, I am left with a thought this morning that channels Gandhi; A War on Terror would be a great idea–if either the West or Muslims choose to take up the idea.

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Technorati tags applicable to this post: War on Terror

Just wrote this in reply to a birthday wish I got from a friend on Facebook, who mentioned that he will always remember this as the day we elected Mr. 10% as our President:

The supreme irony is that he got elected on a day that is celebrated as “Defence Day“.

You and I don’t have to like it, but the man–or should I say Da Man aka Maanroo Saeen–has more legal right to be President of Pakistan than Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ever did. He might be as corrupt as his wife, Nawaz Sharif, and Imran Khan rolled into one, but he’s also more politically savvy than all of them combined. Paradoxes are us, man! Democracy is messy, and all that cool stuff, what? After all, American elected–or gave 49% of the vote to–George W Bush not once but twice.

 

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In my last post, I mentioned the then breaking story that the Pakistan Telecomm Authority was in the process of blocking YouTube from the country. The “reason” given a video that was disrespectful to “An Hazrat, Maulana Mohammad, Rasul Allah”, as we are wont to say in Pakistan, or “The Gentleman, Our Lord, Mohammad, Prophet of God”. Of course, amongst our wonderful, patriotic Pakistanis, there were the immediate questions about whether that in itself was a rumour or documented. Well, please do take a look at one of the documents that went out from the Pakistan Telecomm Authority to the ISP’s on Siliconstani’s blog.

The suspicions on the part of the grapevine is that this blocking/censorship happened when it happened because of videos that were ending up on YouTube of vote rigging–both in Karachi and Lahore and elsewhere. Though the brunt of the suspicion is about videos of rigging in Karachi, and pro- the MQM.But, wait! There’s more!!! Breaking news right now is that the way the regulatory organizations for the Internet in Pakistan went about blocking YouTube has caused an outage/inaccessibility of the site globally! Check out the BBC report here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7262071.stmThe first thing that went through my head when I saw that story was that people like me often hear from fellow Pakistani expats that we should not discuss our home country’s dirty laundry in public–you know, like raising Internet censorship at meetings where Pakistan’s technology industry is being discussed. I wonder what they think of sweeping our issue under the rug till a SNAFU like this happens does for the much-maligned Image of Pakistan that our PUPPIES (Pakistani Yuppies) keep talking about.

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