Category Archives: Media

The identity question

Media, Notable Personalities, Politics, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

AT a time when secular-thinking liberal Pakistanis are under attack from the Taliban, reading Azadi’s Daughter by Seema Mustafa (no relative) proved to be a thought-provoking exercise for me.

Sub-titled Journey of a Liberal Muslim — that is how the author describes herself — the book resonated with me powerfully although India and Pakistan are believed to be worlds apart politically, socially and culturally.

But are they? Fahmida Riaz created quite an uproar in New Delhi when she categorically pronounced a few years ago, “Tum bilkul hum jaisey nikley/ Ab tak kahan chupay thay bhai”. (You turned out to be just like us/ Where were you all along, brother?) Continue reading The identity question →

Remembering Baldia victims

Development and Poverty, Human Rights, Labour, Media, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

LAST week the 13th Akhtar Hameed Khan Development Forum came as a timely reminder of the injustice befalling the workers in a country where it is a crime to be poor. The forum focused on the Baldia fire tragedy, which has almost faded from public memory.

Now an annual Karachi landmark, the forum commemorates the philosophy and work of that iconic development theorist-cum-activist, whose insight into human nature and society was profound. Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan’s message of self-reliance and a participatory approach to development is most relevant today and has been kept alive by the Orangi Pilot Project, Research and Training Institute (OPP-RTI) under the able stewardship of its director Parveen Rahman. Continue reading Remembering Baldia victims →

2013—the year of the snake

Books, Media, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

Here we enter a new year and I wish all my readers a 2013 that is peaceful, happy, healthy and prosperous. I am a bit late but I know my friends will forgive me for being forgetful. Here are greetings for Christmas. I cherish the message of love and amity this occasion always brings for mankind.

How should one greet the new year? Hope? It may bring new tidings and prove to be a turning point in one’s life. Fear? All the dreadful events taking place in our lives can be scary. A step further, many look forward to predictions – especially of the soothsayers’ variety. But I  am not an avid champion  of horoscopes. They mean nothing riddled as they are with ifs and buts that nullify what is stated. Read this prediction, for example.

“The Chinese horoscope shows us that this 2013 year of the black Snake is going to be an exciting year for many. There will of course be both ups and downs, and for some the ups will be quite high and the downs will be quite low. For everyone, there will be good and bad and highlights and lowlights.” Continue reading 2013—the year of the snake →

Another stalwart bows out

Media

By Zubeida Mustafa

IT is never easy to write obituaries. The challenge increases when the person you are writing about is one you have had a long association with. This chapter in my life with Dawn closed today when M.A. Majid, who was a teacher, mentor and a friend of over three decades, said goodbye. We who worked with him were left with old memories of days by-gone. Another stalwart has departed – that is the thought that struck me immediately when I heard the news.

For over three decades we not only worked under the same roof. We also broke bread together. There were a few of us – Majid Sahib, Fazal Imam Sahib, Ghayurul Islam Sahib, Akhter Payami Sahib, M.H. Askari Sahib and I – who shared our meals and jokes to fuel our energies and our spirits for the remaining hours of the day which were more tiring and demanding. That is how newspapers function – the pace of work picks up as the day wears out. Continue reading Another stalwart bows out →

The lion won’t roar again

Development and Poverty, Media, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

IN January 2012, I wrote about Ardeshir Cowasjee after he had announced that he was “winding down”. It was a sort of farewell to him in these pages though ARFC wrote two more ‘ad hoc’ articles in 2012. But it was not the same as reading him every Sunday (or Friday, before 1997). Many readers had written to me asking if he could not be persuaded to continue writing.

On that occasion, Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi had vehemently stated, “My request to him is to roar again and again as in the past to keep all on their toes.” Continue reading The lion won’t roar again →