Posts Tagged ‘ conversations ’

Hawking Women’s Rights

The invocation of women’s rights by the apologists for war helps obscurantist criminals like the TTP elevate misogyny to anti-imperial expression.  For advocacy to be successful, it has to come from a place of empathy rather than superiority. Many of the most vocal advocates of women’s rights in Pakistan today are also known for...
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Ask the Right Questions

Nov 2012

The question posed by the NYT erases the role played by the U.S. and the Pakistani army in creating the Taliban. The dastardly attempt by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to assassinate the young firebrand schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, has once again resurrected the tired arguments about the U.S.A.’s alleged responsibility to protect women’s rights in “Af-Pak.”...
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A Call for Complexity

Nov 2012
A Call for Complexity | Abira Ashfaq

We must ask complex questions and be willing to handle equally complicated answers. As sad and horrific as it is, when the media exploits the tragic shooting of a child to rally support for an overly simplified political position, you know something is wrong.  Reality is always more complex—and loathing the Taliban is fast...
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The Propaganda War

The struggle against patriarchy and other oppressive structures has been sacrificed to the imperatives of a propaganda war. It is easy to forget now that through much of the 20th century it was not the “Taliban” or “al-Qaeda” that imperiled “civilization” and “freedom.” Until only two decades ago, communism rather than terrorism constituted an...
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Reading Malala’s Diary

Nov 2012

Read an English translation of Malala’s diary entries here. For the original BBC Urdu series, click on the links below:  Part 1 |  Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 In 2009, Malala Yousafzai began writing a 10 part series, “Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl” at the BBC Urdu. Published pseudonymously under...
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