Monthly Archives: July 2015

Handle with care

Constitution, Defence and Disarmament, Guest Contributor, Law & Order, Politics, Terrorism and Violence

By Rifaat Hamid Ghani

geust-contOur media feeds us news-shockers and pop intellectual celebrity responses to the latest political sin of omission or commission on a daily basis. The storm of noise obscures (perhaps unintendedly) that the root problem for national authorities in Karachi is the approach to Bilawal House and the PPP: How different can it remain from the approach already taken to 90 and the MQM? Thorny difficulties arise when handling principled and pragmatic aspects of the matter, whether deterrent authority dons a political velvet glove or shows a military iron hand.

The nettle will have to be plucked though, for Karachi truly is a cosmopolitan city: Its populace might not count for much other than statistically, but what happens there and to it has high visibility. Continue reading Handle with care →

Who pays the bill?

Development and Poverty, Economy, Education, Environment, Housing, Justice

By Zubeida Mustafa

ELECTRICITY and the energy sector have been in the news for a long time now in Pakistan. The enormous shortfalls in power generation have been the most talked about issue. The corruption factor has also figured prominently with circular debts and illegal connections drawing a lot of flak against the government. The heatwave in Karachi in June leading to the death of about 1,200 people and the proposal for a Heat Health Action Plan that came in its wake should focus public attention on a number of core issues.

Against this backdrop, I asked Yadullah Husain, a Canadian-Pakistani journalist, how he perceives the crisis. Husain was my colleague in Dawn 17 years ago and is today the energy editor at the respected Canadian paper, Financial Post. He has recently won the Newsmaker of the Year award given by the Global Petroleum Survey recognising the services of a journalist covering the oil and gas sector. Continue reading Who pays the bill? →

Interview with Yadullah Hussain

Development and Poverty, Economy, Environment, Health

yadYadullah Hussain joined Dawn as a trainee sub-editor in 1993, working at what was then called the Tuesday Review. He says, “I had the unique privilege of working under Ahmed Ali Khan, editor in chief of Dawn at the time. Through my frequent interactions with him I learnt the value of journalism and the quest for the truth. He once said to me, ‘I don’t want geniuses, I want hard working people.’ I took that to heart and it worked well for me as I am not the sharpest tool in the shed! The only way I could get ahead was to work hard.

“I also had the pleasure of working with extremely talented individuals at Dawn, but foremost was the Tuesday Review editor Uneza Akhtar, who gave me tremendous freedom to write on varied subjects and express myself. I would like to believe that at The Review we created a very special literary haven that showcased Pakistan’s artists and literary figures. Continue reading Interview with Yadullah Hussain →

Reconnecting with Nature

Environment, Health, Mental health, View from Abroad

 

By Zubeida Mustafa

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESGeorge Monbiot, one of my favourite columnists in the Guardian (London), wrote this week about a campaign to “rewild” Britain of which he is one of the pioneers. His column was headlined “Let’s make Britain wild again and find ourselves in nature”. This according to him can heal not only the living world but much that is missing in our own lives.

I realised the importance of connecting with nature when we paid a visit to the Niagara Falls on Thursday (16 July). Let me make it clear at the start that I must have visited the falls umpteen of times since 1992 when I first visited Canada. But the last time I had gone there was fourteen years ago when I had my 60th birthday photograph taken against the backdrop of the gushing waters of this natural wonder of the world. Continue reading Reconnecting with Nature →

Teacher in exile

Books, Children and Youth, Constitution, Development and Poverty, Education, Human Rights, Islamisation, Justice, Minorities, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

bernadette
Bernadette Dean

CAN we hope to hear news from Pakistan that brings some light to the end of the tunnel? It is a red-letter day when we do and one such day came recently when I read about a group of creative artists who have shown the courage to counter Pakistan’s biggest existential challenge — the indoctrination of youth by religious extremists and militants.

These artists have ventured to produce rational literature which they are disseminating among young readers to inspire some soul-searching within them. The graphic novel titled Pasban is designed to encourage the readers to ask questions on basic issues of the day and help them seek sensible answers.

This no doubt will be an uphill task considering the government’s own failure to counter the extremist threat. All it was required to do was to introduce liberal values through curricula reforms. The primary need is to teach children tolerance and Continue reading Teacher in exile →