One of Tariq Ali’s identities (activist, novelist, broadcaster and so on) is participant-observer of his native Pakistan.
The Duel is a highly timely, well-informed, readable, sometimes-not-very-chronological study of Pakistan’s political evolution. Peace activists will probably skip straight to chapters eight and nine, dealing with US influence on Pakistan (heavy), and recent Afghan-Pakistani interactions (mutually destabilising). There is a lot of interesting material here, but not…
US terrorism against Pakistan continues. Up to 21 people (including two women and a child) were killed in a US drone attack on 3 October; three were killed in a suspected US missile attack on 11 October; and at least nine people were killed in a US missile attack on a Pakistani madrassa in North Waziristan on 22 October.
The 22 October strikes came just hours after the Pakistani parliament passed a unanimous resolution demanding an end to US attacks. The resolution said: “The…
As suggested in last month’s PN, the US-UK war in Afghanistan is spreading to Pakistan, as US troops and drones mount attacks on border areas – against the express wishes of the Pakistani government. While Washington is banking on the acquiescence of the government, polls show Pakistani public opinion is outraged and the semi-autonomous Pakistani military appears set on confrontation.
As we mark the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October, Professor Paul…
During the last six years under General Pervaiz Musharaf, it has been a very rare occasion that, when we wanted to organise some public event, there has been no intimidation, threats or arrests
It happens all the time. A police inspector, a deputy or a senior superintendent will call our office or my mobile. Sometimes, it is one of the intelligence services that call. The message is almost always the same: “Cancel your event, postpone it, there is a section 144 imposed.”
…
From under the rubble of collapsed buildings, a gut-wrenching smell of decaying corpses now fills the town. The rats have it good; the one I accidentally stepped upon was already fat. If there is indeed a plan to clear the concrete rubble in and around the town, nobody seems to have any clue. But the people of Balakot are taking it in their stride - nose masks are everywhere.
From this destroyed mountainous tourist base town, situated on the banks of the Kunhar river, a relief group…
The most dangerous form of violence in South Asia is arguably the threat of nuclear war between India and Pakistan. It colours the statements made by the leaders of both countries and strengthens the extreme right wing in both countries, which feeds off and thrives on the fanaticism of its counterparts next door.
The rhetoric of war, whether it is made by George Bush, Ariel Sharon, Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Pervez Musharraf, gives the cue to these elements to indulge in more violence,…
“So how was Pakistan?” Friends eager to know more about my recent work in the Islamic Republic have had to wait patiently as I search my vocabulary for the appropriate words. My silence surprises me as well. Usually words do not escape me but this rare moment finds me struggling to do my experience justice.
Shall I take this brief exchange to explain that not all Pakistani women wear burqas (as some Americans believe) that cover their entire face? Shall I seize this opportunity to…
A Pakistani tribal council ordered the gang rape of an 18-year-old woman to avenge their tribal “honour” after her young brother's alleged illicit affair with a higher caste woman.
The teenager was raped in a room by four men, one of them a council member, reportedly while a large crowd of villagers laughed and cheered outside, in the remote village of Meerwala in southern Punjab on 22 June 2002. The young woman was threatened that if she did not accept the council's verdict and…
For an otherwise sane and normal world to so readily surrender its options, imagination, discretion and rationality - all in a single day - is a very disturbing realisation for the ordinary members of this human community.
You are either with us or with the terrorists - these are the only options, dead or alive are the only possibilities, war till victory is the only conclusion, and seeking revenge the only rationality. There is no space for dialogue. Simply take positions, join…
