Monthly Archives: August 2004

Where political parties failed

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

The Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly, Mr Hashim Abdul Halim, who is also acting chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, had a brief stopover in Karachi on his way to Islamabad.

He is a suave man, a competent parliamentarian and has been the Speaker for 23 years. He says he wants to step down and resume his legal ractice but his party, the CPI-M, would not let him go. The party itself has been in power in Kolkata for 24 years.
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Afghan women’s new role

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

The process of change in Afghanistan is so subtle and the violence so pervasive that not many seem to have noticed the fact that the Afghan women are slowly emerging from the oblivion and coming into their own. According to one report nearly 40 per cent of the voters who have registered themselves for the October presidential elections are women.

That is an impressive figure given the fact that until recently women were not even allowed out of their homes, because of the obscurantist policies of the Taliban who were ruling the roost in Kabul until the end of 2001.
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