NB: Those of us who see the events of the late 1940’s in black and white terms ought to study the complexity of historical events as well as of the views of the actors in those events. Some may be surprised to read B. R. Ambedkar’s views on the transfer of population on a communal… Read More Jogendranath Mandal hoped for Dalit-Muslim unity in Pakistan. He’s remembered as a ‘villain’
Members of Pakistan’s Scheduled Caste communities are making inroads in the country’s political landscape and being honoured at the highest levels. But without affirmative action, systemic change and implementation of laws and court orders that uphold rights, their struggle for equality continues. By Shaeran Rufus SOURCE: Sapan News www.sapannews.com Kishore Kohli*, 39, an agricultural labourer in Pakistan… Read More Pakistani Dalits struggle for dignity in their land of birth
Akhtar Balouch; November 4, 2015 Jogendra Nath Mandal has the distinction of representing the Muslim League as minister in the 1946 pre-partition political setup of India. Later, he presided over the historic session of the Constituent Assembly on 11th August 1947, where Mohammed Ali Jinnah was sworn in as the first Governor-General of Pakistan. Jinnah… Read More Jogendra Nath Mandal: Chosen by Jinnah, banished by Pakistan’s bureaucracy
Her first audience was the sheep and horses she herded in rural Pakistan, but she became a national hero. So why is this folk music icon reduced to living in a makeshift house? Aina J. Khan In a bootleg video from the 1990s, an entire audience of Pakistani men in shalwar kameezes stare transfixed as… Read More The Nightingale of Peshawar
First posted November 28, 2011 Archer Kent Blood (March 20, 1923 – September 3, 2004) was an American diplomat in Bangladesh. He served as the last American Consul General to Dhaka, East Pakistan. The Blood telegram (April 6, 1971) was seen as one of the most strongly worded messages ever written by Foreign Service Officers to the State Department. It was signed… Read More The Blood Telegram
“When my ambulance takes a wounded person who is in pain to the hospital, when people reach the hospital, I find peace in knowing I helped an injured person who was in pain,” Edhi told Reuters in an interview in 2013. “My mission is to love human beings … Each day is the best day… Read More Legendary Pakistani Social Worker Abdul Sattar Edhi (1928 – 2016)
By Farhat Javed / BBC 100 Women For centuries, Pakistan’s Wakhi shepherdesses have trekked to remote mountain pastures to graze their flocks. The income they generated has been pivotal in transforming their community, helping to pay for healthcare, education and the first road out of their valley. As their way of life dies out, BBC… Read More The last of their kind: The unique life of Pakistan’s Wakhi shepherdesses
War, we were learning slowly, is a terrible thing that turns men into beasts, women into zombies and children into scarred and introverted human beings for the rest of their lives… Mrinal Pande When in primary school, we did not know or care about the Partition. Why would neighbours suddenly begin resenting each other enough… Read More Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Really?
First posted January 05, 2016 NB: This interview taken by Dr K. Sohail with Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy was dated February 2000; but the link at which I first pocured it is now inactive. Those capable of searching for it could start with this link. DS Sohail: When I read your book “Islam and Science’, I was… Read More How difficult it is to help people change their thinking: Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy (Canada 2000)
I am reminded of a conversation years ago with Pakistan’s defence attaché in London, who later became the Director-General (Analysis) in the Inter-Services Intelligence. I got a call from Brigadier Javed Alam asking what I was doing then. I responded that I was working on my doctoral thesis and a chapter titled ‘threat perception in… Read More India calling itself Bharat fulfills Pakistan’s age-old wish
After the truth-shower 