All posts by Raza Jaffri

Time to say sorry

Foreign Policy of Pakistan, Human Rights, War and Peace, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

IN his recent “neighbourhood diplomacy” which took him to Dhaka and Colombo, President Pervez Musharraf took a major step in his bid to muster support for Islamabad in the region. He expressed “regrets” at the “excesses” committed 31 years ago by the Pakistan Army in what was then East Pakistan.

Thus he emerges as an army general with the moral courage and dignity to concede the wrongs done by his predecessors, the power-hungry rulers of the day who unfortunately also happened to be men in uniform. Earlier in 2001, he had released the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report, which exposed the wrongdoings of those at the helm in 1971.
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Education: the dividing factor

Education

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

SEPTEMBER 8 was International Literacy Day and the government observed the occasion as best as it could at a time when elections and politics are stealing the show. The media did not show much concern either, as the observance of such days has now become no more than a ritual.

This may sound cynical. But how else would one perceive Pakistan’s approach to literacy and education when after 55 years of experimenting with a variety of programmes and campaigns, those at the helm have not managed to make even half the population (above 15 years) literate?
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Pauperization of Pakistan

Book Reviews, Development and Poverty, Economy

Reviewed By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

A little over two decades ago, third world leaders were calling for a new international economic order. It was in the late seventies when the Algerian president, Houari Boumedienne, made his trail-blazing speech in the UN General Assembly in which he accused the industrialized countries of exploiting the developing world by laying down terms of trade unfavourable to the producers of basic commodities.
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Basic rights and power structure

Human Rights, Politics, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf’s constitutional packages have focused public attention on the political power structure in the country. True, this is important, since the wielders of power do have the options and opportunity to change macro policies which vitally determine the state of the nation.

But recent happenings indicate that many of our woes stem from the power imbalance within society itself. There are many other factors which also influence social attitudes and thereby the power structure in society.
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