#beena sarwar

[beenasarwar]

Global community screenings of 'Democracy in Debt' conclude the first phase with enthusiastic engagement

The documentary has resonated far beyond Sri Lanka, with nearly 50 screenings in 14 countries across five continents. From bustling urban venues to intimate community gatherings, the screenings have sparked critical conversations on governance, transparency, and democracy. By Pragyan Srivastava/Sapan News The Pulitzer Center-supported documentary ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the…

[transtheology]

From the description:

"On July 14th, MPV-Boston hosted ‘Celebrating Love: Across Caste and Religious [Divide]. The purpose of the event was to highlight progressive work being done around inter-religious or inter-caste marriage and the social dogma associated with these relationships in South Asia. Many of these couples often go through tremendous social, family, and psychological pressures and face "honor” killings. Queer couples are also subjected to all kinds of atrocities. Speakers discussed these aspects and the power of love that is not bound by caste, religion, or sexual orientation. Speakers for this event were Beena Sarwar, Sanjay Bhagat, and Kandeel Javid. This event was a collaboration between Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC), Boston Study Group (BSG), Sapan and Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV). We were very delighted to have Hindus for Human Rights, Community Church of Boston, and Subcontinental Drift Boston as our co-sponsors."

[thefree-online]

What I’ve learned from Noam Chomsky-'he paid the price for his support of the Palestinians'

As news of Noam Chomsky’s failing health makes the rounds, I share some learnings from my interactions with a trailblazing public intellectual whose moral compass has impacted the world from thefreeonline on 21/6/24 by Beena Sarwar at Sapan News – The Free is now on Telegram: t.me/thefreeonline Noam Chomsky in Pakistan, 2001. Screenshot from VPRO news report by Beena Sarwar. I once asked Noam…

[krishnaprasad-blog]

Pakistani editor Beena Sarwar does the most unfashionable thing in contemporary media: sticks her neck out and spews peace

https://videopress.com/embed/95aG5Ogh?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0

While a vast majority of Indian and Pakistani journalists become megaphones for war-mongers and hate mongrels, the admirable Pakistani journalist and editor Beena Sarwar takes the high road.

#JungSeJungHai

#AmanSeAmanHai

Also read: TV anchors wrap themselves in tricolour, hail air strikes

[wafkarachi]

Sri Lanka urged not to violate fundamental rights in the name of combating terror

We the undersigned, who are from and live in the various nation-states of South Asia, express our deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones in the serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. We express our solidarity with those working tirelessly to address the needs of the injured in the aftermath of this carnage and to sustain interfaith and community relationships. While we support all justice efforts that seek to hold the perpetrators of violence accountable, we also urge the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that, in the name of combating terror and ensuring national security, fundamental human rights and dignity of all concerned are not violated.

We say this because in all our countries, investigations into terror and anti-terror legislation have been accompanied by consistent and continuing violation of civil and democratic rights. Furthermore, in the name of ensuring national security, successive governments in the region have sought to legitimise their various acts of impunity – directed against not only purported or possible suspects but entire sections of the civilian population. This has led to unaccountable loss of life and a steady erosion of democratic guarantees and institutions, including unaccounted for deaths and disappearances. We note with concern that media reports and remarks by state officials and political leaders in Sri Lanka have pointed to State inaction with respect to warnings by intelligence agencies about possible acts of terror. Such inaction and indifference, we regret to note, amounts to State complicity with the violence that subsequently unfolded.We are also concerned that the ‘owning up’ to these acts by the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (Daesh) might encourage Islamophobic attitudes and expressions, both on the part of the Sri Lankan Government and sections of civil society. Should this happen, Sri Lanka would be tragically drawn in to a familiar international discourse and practice to do with ‘Islamic terror’ with all the resultant tragedies, as we have witnessed across Asia. In a country that has barely recovered from decades of civil mistrust, war and violence, this cannot bode well for its sovereignty, civil peace and economic and social life. We wish to point out that the so-called war on ‘Islamic terror’ has resulted in large numbers of the Islamic faith being persecuted, both in their countries and across the world – and this sadly only enhances the appeal of those who seek to wage war in the name of Islam and what they perceive as Islamic concerns and interests. Thus is set in motion a cycle of violence that benefits no one but the arms trade and industries, and political powers that seek to establish their hegemony in the region at all costs. In this context: nWe support all struggles to ensure transparent and fair pursuit of justice for the victims of the blast. At the same time, we stand with those who are against undemocratic anti-terror laws in Sri Lanka, even if they are purportedly deployed for purposes of investigation and national security. nWe protest attempts to target or persecute those of the Islamic faith, in the name of countering terror, whether by the state or vigilante groups. nWe support Muslim communities in the region that have called for peace and are critical of voices from within that endorse extremist religious positions, which polarise everyday life and interactions, and vitiate meaningful dissent and dialogue. nWe affirm the resilience of diverse cultural and religious traditions in the region that have fostered longstanding habits of mutuality, trust and co-existence. We do not wish for the specificity of local beliefs and traditions, of all faiths, to be drawn into polarising global discourses of religious ‘unity’ and ‘singularity’ imposed from above. List of signatories: Afghanistan Massihullah, Kabul Afghanistan Sima Samar, Afghanistan Nepal Anju Kandel, Nepal Deepa Gurung, Nepal Hari Sharma, Kathmandu, Nepal Kaalo.101, Nepal Kanak Mani Dixit, Kathmandu Kunda Dixit, Kathmandu, Nepal NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati, Kathmandu, Nepal Niranjan Kunwar, Kathmandu, Nepal Sarita K.C, Nepal India Mangai, India Abha Bhaiya, India Abirami Jotheeswaran, India Amar Kanwar, New Delhi, India Anuradha Bhasin, Kashmir Times, India Anuradha Kapoor, India Arundathi V, India Ashish kumar Dey, India Bindu Doddahatti, India Deepti Sharma, New Delhi, India Dia Da Costa, India Dipta Bhog, India Farida Khan, India Forum Against Oppression of Women, India Geetha V, India Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, India Indu Vashist, India/Canada Iram Saeed, India Jinee Lokaneeta, India/USA K, Lalita, India Kamla Bhasin, India Khalida Saleem, India Madhu Mehra, India Mamta Singh, Women Right Activist, India Mary John, India Maya Sharma Vikalp (Women’s Group), India Meena Gopal, India Meera Velayudhan, India Mohan Rao, India Mrinalini R, India Nandini Manjrekar, India Nandita Shah, India Nastasia Paul Gera, India Neelanjana Mukhia, India Neeraj Malik, India Nupur Basu, India Pam Philipose, India Panchali Ray, New Delhi, India Ponni Arasu, India Poonam Batra, India Prathama Raghavan, Hyderabad, India Rafiul Alom Rahman, India Ramakant Agnohotri, India Rita Manchanda, India Ritu Dewan, India Ritu Menon, India Roshmi Goswami, India Sabeena Gadihoke, India Sahba Hussain, India Saheli Women’s Resource Centre, New Delhi, India Sameera Iyengar, India Sara Abraham, India Shohini Ghosh, India Shrimoyee N, Ghosh, India Snigdha Chakraborty, India Sujata Patel, India Svati Shah, India/USA Swarna Rajagopalan, India Tanvi Mishra, New Delhi, India The Queer Muslim Project, India Uma Chakravarty, India Vanita Nayak Mukherjee, India Veena Shatrughna, India Mamatha Karollil, India Afshana Bano, India Supriya Madangarli, India Pakistan Abeera Tanveer, Pakistan Ailya Khan, Pakistan Ajwah Nadeem, Pakistan Aminah Waheed Chaudhry, Pakistan Ammar Ali Jan, Pakistan Amna Durrani, Pakistan Amna Iqbal, Pakistan Amna Mawaz, Pakistan Anis Haroon, Pakistan Anoosha Shaigan, Pakistan Arooj Aurangzeb, Pakistan Asma Malik, Pakistan Awami Workers Party, Punjab Ayra Indrias, Pakistan Baila Anjum, Lahore, Pakistan Basmina, Pakistan-Afghan Border Beena Sarwar, Pakistan Beenish Muhammad Ali, Pakistan Bonnie Mende Candas Anjum, Pakistan Qasim Iqbal, NAZ Pakistan Faiz Younas, Pakistan Farida Batool, Pakistan Farida Shaheed, Pakistan Fatema Bhaiji, Pakistan Fatima A. Athar, Pakistan Fatima Butt, Pakistan FemSoc at LUMS, Pakistan Feroza Batool, Pakistan Fiza Khatri, Pakistan Furhan Hussain, Pakistan Ghausia Rashid Salam, Pakistan Ghazala Anwar, Pakistan Gwendolyn S. Kirk, USA/Pakistan Hadi Hussain, Pakistan Hameeda Hossain, Pakistan Have Only Positive Expectations – HOPE, Pakistan Hiba Akbar, Pakistan Hira Mohmand, Pakistan-Afghan Border Huma Fouladi, Pakistan Huma Majeed, Pakistan Humraz society, Karachi, Pakistan Jamaima Afridi, Pakistan-Afghan Border Jawad Anwar, Pakistan Kashmala Dilawar, Pakistan-Afghan Border Khawar Mumtaz, Pakistan Khushbakht Memon, Pakistan Kishwar Sultana, Pakistan Kyla Pasha, Pakistan Lubna Chaudhry Madiha Latif, Pakistan Maheen Asif Khan, Pakistan Malik Moeed, Pakistan Manal Yousuf, Pakistan Mani AQ, Pakistan Maria Rashid, Pakistan Maryam Hussain, Pakistan Maryum Orakzai, Pakistan-Afghan Border Masooma Fatima, Pakistan Mehlab Jameel, Pakistan Melanie D’souza, Pakistan Momina Jahan, Pakistan Momina Pasha, Pakistan Muaaz Ali, Pakistan Naazish Ata-Ullah, Pakistan Nabiha Meher Shaikh, Pakistan Nageen Hyat, Pakistan Naheed Aziz, Pakistan Naila Naz, Pakistan Nasim Begum, Pakistan-Afghan Border Nasreen Rahman, Pakistan Neelam Hussain, Pakistan Nighat Dad, Pakistan Nighat Said Khan, Pakistan Nimra Akram, Pakistan Noreen Naseer Pakistan O Collective, Pakistan Omer Arshad, Pakistan Outcast Magazine, Pakistan Palvashay Sethi, Pakistan Queer Karachi, Pakistan Quratulain Faraz, Pakistan Rafia Asim, Pakistan Rahma Muhammad Mian, Karachi Roohi Khan, Pakistan Rubina Saigol, Pakistan Rukhsana Rashid, Pakistan Saadia Haq, Pakistan Saadia Toor, USA/Pakistan Saba Gul Khattak, Pakistan-Afghan Border Sabeen Andleeb, Pakistan Sadaf Aziz, Pakistan Sadia Afridi, Pakistan-Afghan Border Sadia Khatri, Karachi, Pakistan Saima Jasam, Pakistan Saima Munir, Pakistan Saleha Rauf, Pakistan Saman Rizvi, Pakistan Samavia Malik, Pakistan Samina Orakzai, Pakistan Samina Orakzai, Pakistan-Afghan Border Sana Naeem, Pakistan Sarah Humayun, Pakistan Sarah Suhail, Pakistan Sarah Zaman, Pakistan Sehrish Tariq, Pakistan Shafeeq Gigyani, Peshawar Pakistan Shagufta Rehmat, Pakistan Shazia Shaheen, Pakistan Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre, Pakistan Shmyla Khan, Pakistan Shumaila Kausar, Pakistan Shumaila Shahani, Pakistan Syed Raza Haider, Pakistan Tabitha Spence, Pakistan Tahira Kaleem, Peshawar, Pakistan Tehreem Azeem, Pakistan The Enlight Lab, Pakistan Wafa Asher, Pakistan Women’s Action Forum, Pakistan Yusra, Pakistan-Afghan Border Zahra Durrani, Pakistan Zakia Majid, Pakistan Zeenat Afridi, Pakistan – Afghan Border Zeenia Shaukat, Pakistan Zehra Keshf, Pakistan Ambreen Ahmad, Pakistan Bangladesh Amena Mohsin, Dhaka Bangladesh Anusheh Anadil, Dhaka, Bangladesh Arup Rahee, Dhaka, Bangladesh Adilur Rahman Khan, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr Asif Nazrul, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr Hameeda Hossain, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr Ridwanul Hoque, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Dhaka, Bangladesh Faustina Pereira, Dhaka, Bangladesh Shahidul Alam, Dhaka, Bangladesh Shahnaz Huda, Dhaka, Bangladesh Fahmidul Haq, Dhaka, Bangladesh Firdous Azim, Dhaka, Bangladesh Galiba Rabbani, Bangladesh Gitiara Nasreen, Dhaka, Bangladesh Hana Shams Ahmed, Bangladesh/Canada Inclusive Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khushi Kabir, Bangladesh Nur Khan, Dhaka, Bangladesh Meghna Guhathakurta, Dhaka, Bangladesh Mirza Taslima Sultana, Dhaka, Bangladesh Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, Dhaka, Bangladesh Mohammed Iqbal Hossaion, Bangladesh Monika Biswas, Bangladesh Perween Hasan, Dhaka, Bangladesh Rahnuma Ahmed, Dhaka, Bangladesh Reetu Sattar, Dhaka, Bangladesh Rezaur Rahman Lenin, Dhaka, Bangladesh Rina Roy, Dhaka, Bangladesh Selima Sara Kabir, Bangladesh Shaheen Anam, Bangladesh Shamsul Huda, Bangladesh Sharnila Nuzhat Kabir, Bangladesh Shireen P Huq, Dhaka, Bangladesh Sultana Kamal, Dhaka, Bangladesh Zareen Mahmud Hosein, Bangladesh Others Aurangzaib Alizai, Thailand Kumkum Dey, New Jersey Rumah Pelangi Indonesia

[peoplessvoice]

Bilawal’s talk at Harvard -by Beena Sarwar

Bilawal’s talk at Harvard -by Beena Sarwar

At a lecture at Harvard University, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari refuses to play to the gallery on how he plans to implement his welfare agenda

Martial arts experts are not just physically fit, they also tend to have great mental and emotional benefits. Traits like calmness, humility, respect even to opponents, straight speaking, persistence, endurance, loyalty. Watching a video of Bilawal Bhutto…

[thenorthlines]

Why Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a man of peace BEENA SARWAR For many Pakistanis, the late former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee stands out as the co-architect of the Lahore Declaration in February 1999 together with the-then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

[mikemortgage]

New Pakistan Prime Minister — Imran Khan — goes to bat for his country

The golden age of populists has a new rising star: Imran Khan.

The 65-year-old Pakistani cricketer-turned-hardline-reformer joins a glittering cast of strongmen led by Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi redrawing the global order.

But Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister in waiting, may have the toughest challenge, reversing the South Asian nation’s economic fortunes, after his party controversially won the national election in July.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party did not win an outright majority amid complaints of rigging by the two main political parties, but his brand of populism, tinged with nationalism, and Naya (new) Pakistan slogan has energized the despairing middle class and educated youth tired of the status quo, especially since neighbouring India has prospered in recent years

He has also brought a focus on tackling corruption and security — foreign investors’ biggest irritants — that, at least on paper, promises the nuclear-armed state of 207 million people will be the next economic dynamo, but it has repeatedly stumbled and lost its way in the past.

A Pakistani takes a selfie with Imran Khan, centre, head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, as he leaves a party meeting in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. The party won the most parliament seats in July’s general elections and is expected to form a governing coalition later this month.

“Pakistanis are hoping against hope that somebody is going to bring about change,” said Ayesha Jalal, a Pakistani historian and professor of history at Medford, Mass.-based Tufts University, who was in Lahore during the elections. “But I do think despite all the things Imran wants to do, there is a feeling that we may be in a scenario where much of the ‘Naya’ Pakistan may be a bit like the old Pakistan — more of the same.”

There may be some similarities between Khan and India Prime Minister Modi, but Pakistan is no India, its separated-at-birth neighbour that has blossomed into a US$2.2-trillion economic powerhouse, while Pakistan’s stunted economy of roughly US$300 billion has long been infested by a corrupt political regime that’s failed to provide basic necessities to its citizens.

Yet the country holds promise.

Goldman Sachs, which coined the famous BRIC acronym, puts Pakistan as one of the Next Eleven set of countries —alongside the likes of Vietnam, Nigeria and Mexico — that may become among the largest economies in the world this century.

Hope also springs eternal despite broken promises by a long list of Muslim countries that have tried to modernize, only to stumble and return to their old ways.

“The Turkish, Bangladeshi, and Egyptian examples have many lessons for Imran Khan as he begins to run Pakistan,” said Shahid Javed Burki, a former World Bank vice-president and a relative of Khan, who calls his victory a “game changer” for the country.

Poverty levels are high, but around 120 million people — or roughly the population of Japan — constitute an aspirational, young middle-class that present a ready consumer market that is fluent in English.

All of which makes Pakistan, located near the giant markets of China, India and the Gulf States, an enticing would-be investment destination and trading partner, if Khan can ever manage to get the house in order.

Who is Khan?

It may be too early for Modi and Trump comparisons, but Khan appears to be on the same trajectory as those two leaders.

An outsider, who put the established political parties under siege for the past few years, Khan holds strongly conservative views that have made many progressives uneasy. And, as the world’s eighth-most-followed political leader on Twitter, he has used social media as an effective weapon to mobilize an army of followers.

But there are also millions of Never Khaners.

“I don’t know if he will be good for the country, but he adds to the confusion in the narrative,” says Beena Sarwar, a journalist and activist who teaches journalism at Emerson College in Boston. “He is a polarizing force, like Modi and Trump. They do not discourage their followers from taking up divisive positions and abusing or attacking those who disagree with them.”

Michael Kugelman, an analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., said in a video podcast he disagrees with the comparisons to Trump, but Khan “does project himself as a new face representing the real interests of the people … He is a populist.”

Part of Khan’s appeal is his past. The one-time playboy became the cricket-mad nation’s favourite son in 1992 when he led a young team to an unlikely World Cup victory. On the verge of near-certain elimination, the captain took to wearing a T-shirt with a ferocious tiger illustration on it, as he strong-willed his unruly team to play like “cornered tigers.” The resulting win became folklore in the country.

Pakistan’s cricket captain, Imran Khan, waving a Pakistan flag, is cheered by his teammates after Pakistan defeated England in the World Cup Cricket final, in Melbourne, Australia in March 1992.

“As a cricket hero, he united the country, but as a politician, he is very polarizing,” Kugelman said. “He is a cult of personality and people are really attracted to him because of his charisma, but there are a lot of people in Pakistan who hate him. They think he has a soft spot for terror, are very much against some of his views towards women, some do not think he is very smart.”

Also, though Khan’s cricket cabinet is brimming with trophies, his political resume is thin: he established a mostly free cancer hospital in memory of his mother, and he has doggedly fought the political establishment for the past 22 years by tapping into the youth vote — mostly middle-class, educated and urban — who retweeted and shared his gospel of change, and the dream of a Muslim welfare state.

But the Oxford-graduate also generates a strong visceral reaction from progressives who don’t believe his come-back-to-Islam spiel.

Imran Khan and London socialite Gemima Goldsmith on their wedding day in 1995.

The arc of Khan’s adult life begins as a tearaway fast bowler, a Don Juan on the London social scene who eventually became close friends with the late Princess Diana. His series of affairs with the ladies of London’s high society culminated in a marriage to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of London financier Sir James Goldsmith.

But Khan turned his back on his Western lifestyle, amicably divorcing Goldsmith, and reinvented himself as a born-again Muslim espousing conservative views that grew ever more orthodox.

A disastrous second marriage lasted 10 months, with his ex writing a scandalous biography weeks before the 2018 elections that revealed lurid details about his sex life and alleged drug use.

His third marriage to a fully veiled spiritual leader, confirmed to his critics that he is no reformer, but part of the orthodoxy that’s weighing down the country.

What now?

Khan has pledged to target economic growth of six per cent over the next five years, create two million jobs each year, cut taxes, overhaul basic services and crack down on corruption. But his first order of business when he assumes office this week will be to stabilize the economy.

“We have to escape this economic crisis,” he said during a slightly premature victory speech in late July while votes were still being counted. “No one is coming to save us.”

Ill-conceived economic policies in the past have brought Pakistan to the brink of many fiscal disasters and bailouts. It needs another one now, of between US$6-12 billion.

“Pakistan urgently needs another IMF arrangement to boost its international reserves, which have declined to critical levels (equivalent to less than two months of import coverage),” Garbis Iradian, head of Middle East and North Africa research at the Institute of International Finance, said by email.

Imran Khan and the late Princess Diana were close friends.

Iradian believes foreign investors will welcome any economic reforms that the new cabinet would likely implement in the context of a new IMF arrangement. Khan’s government has already held talks with the Asian Development Bank, Chinese and Saudis for assistance.

Vaqar Ahmed, deputy executive director at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad, said the economy is going to be task No. 1.

“But Khan ran on throwing away the begging bowl — how do you change that narrative? There might have to be some belt-tightening on the horizon.”

Despite the upheavals, the country’s investment profile has improved. Last year, index provider MSCI upgraded the Pakistan Stock Exchange to emerging market status, a move that caught the eye of investment guru Mark Mobius, who had initially been skeptical.

“There have been a number of recent positive changes ensuring Pakistan’s public equity markets have been able to continuously operate with no closures/suspensions of the local exchange,” Mobius said in an email exchange. “The increasing market cap has also enabled index providers to re-categorize Pakistan. The size of the population and economy justifies an upgrade.”

The country’s untapped potential has also lured Montreal native Richard Morin to head the Pakistan Stock Exchange and boost its international and domestic profile.

Morin, who once worked at the Montreal Stock Exchange and at a unit of National Bank Financial Group, said he lives a “privileged” life in Pakistan, complete with security staff, and enjoys a strong social network, playing golf, sailing and hiking.

“My impression of Pakistan is very positive,” he said during a phone interview from Karachi. “And the challenge to turn around and develop this capital market is really exciting. We have got very positive signals from the incoming government.”

Morin, who also ran the Mauritius Stock Exchange, said he plans to bring in exchange-traded funds, index and stock options to attract institutions to the PSX.

“Foreign investors are quite active on Pakistan’s market,” he said. “Many of them have been investing in Pakistan for a number of years and have done extremely well.”

PSX was among the world’s best-performing markets in 2016, but much of those gains were lost in 2017 amid political turmoil and currency devaluation. The market has risen since Khan’s election on hopes the new government will inject confidence in the economy.

But Mobius cautions a tough road lies ahead.

“Given Pakistan’s strong opposition parties, there are doubts if the new government will be able to implement real and long-lasting reforms,” he said.

Pakistani opposition leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman, right, and Shahbaz Sharif, left, the younger brother of ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and head of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), attend an All Parties Conference in Islamabad on July 27, where a group of political parties announced a protest demanding new elections following allegations of rigging in the nationwide polls that were won by cricket hero Imran Khan’s party.

For the most part, Western nations have largely ignored Pakistan’s potential because of security concerns.

For example, Canada, which is seeking new markets, currently has around a $1-billion trade relationship with Pakistan.

“From Canada, there has been expressions of interest in the dairy sector, construction and pharmaceuticals, but in terms of numbers, it’s minuscule,” Ahmed said.

But China has opened its chequebook. It is building a mammoth China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that cuts across the length of the country, connecting China to the Indian Ocean — a controversial project that many feel tramples all over Pakistan’s sovereignty.

The US$62-billion development, part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, culminates at a deep-sea port in the south, connecting China to Middle Eastern and African markets, away from the threat of the U.S. Navy.

Khan’s economic plan includes targeting wealth funds from China and the Middle East for investments in energy, minerals and infrastructure, and privatizing state assets. But the army, which still calls the shots on foreign policy, may thwart his overtures to India and the U.S.

“While the PTI victory is undeniable, it’s not a victory that translates into solid governance and that’s the No. 1 question in Pakistan,” Tufts University professor Jalal said.

The one thing even Khan’s harshest critics may concede is his stubbornness, or arrogance, to take it upon himself to do the improbable.

“We really have been through the fire,” Khan said at the start of the 1992 World Cup final, donning the by-then famous tiger-emblazoned T-shirt, before going on to trounce England. “It looked like we were knocked out and to have come back from that has given me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction.”

He might need to start wearing that T-shirt again.

yhussain@postmedia.com

Financial Post

from Financial Post https://ift.tt/2vNQVkB via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

[beenasarwar]

Ahead of Sri Lanka presidential elections, ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ documentary goes global

Screened at several venues in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and USA, the film is now crossing more borders, its universal relevance highlighted with a series of ‘Global Community Screenings’ in a dozen countries around the world, with major cities like London, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Vancouver among them. Those interested in joining may submit an online form By Pragyan Srivastava | Sapan News |…

[timrileyauthor]

Favorited Tweet by beenasarwar

Interesting that he's asterisked and lower-cased this - president*

— beena sarwar (@beenasarwar) August 31, 2017

from http://twitter.com/beenasarwar via IFTTT

[urdukhabrain-blog]

بھارتی بینڈ کا پاکستانیوں کیلئے

Urdu News on https://goo.gl/WVk3yd

بھارتی بینڈ کا پاکستانیوں کیلئے

جیسے جیسے پاکستان کا 70 واں یوم آزادی قریب آرہا ہے، ملک بھر میں اس دن کا جشن منانے کی تیاریاں زور و شور سے بڑھتی جارہی ہیں، رواں برس ایک بھارتی بینڈ نے بھی اس دن کی مناسبت سے پاکستانیوں کو ایک خوبصورت تحفہ بھیجا ہے۔

اس بینڈ نے پاکستان کے قومی ترانے کا ایک ورژن اپنے انداز میں گا کر ریلیز کیا۔

2 منٹ دورانیے کی اس میوزک ویڈیو میں بینڈ کے افراد ہاتھوں میں پلے کارڈز لیے موجود ہیں، جس پر تحریر ہے کہ ’اس آزادی کے دن پر ہم ایک گانا اپنے پڑوسیوں کے نام کرنا چاہتے ہیں، ایک ایسا گانا جو یقین، فخر، طاقت اور پرفیکشن پر مبنی ہے‘۔

اس گانے میں کسی قسم کے آلات موسیقی کا استعمال نہیں کیا گیا اور اسے سُننا واقعی کسی ٹریٹ سے کم نہیں۔

اس میوزک ویڈیو کو دونوں ممالک میں موجود عوام کی جانب سے ملے جلے ردعمل کا سامنا کرنا پڑا، لیکن بہت سے افراد نے اس گانے کی تعریف کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ یہ دونوں ممالک میں اچھے پیغام کو پروموٹ کررہا ہے۔

The world needs more of it.

Indian Acapella Band VoxChord sing Pakistan National Anthem as a gift for their… https://t.co/W94zavQlW8

— Being Woman (@TweetBeingWoman) August 11, 2017

Pakistani national anthem by Indian acapella band voxchord *BEHTAREEENNN* ?❤️

— sNs (@iam_sNs) August 11, 2017

What a beautiful gesture, rendered with so much finesse, love and care #music #India #Pakistan Thank you VoxChord… https://t.co/QbDJWQB4JA

— beena sarwar (@beenasarwar) August 11, 2017

کیا پاکستانی بھی ہندوستان کے لیے ایسا کوئی گانا بنا کر جواب دیں گے؟ اس کے لیے ہمیں انتظار کرنا ہوگا۔

قالب وردپرس

[beenasarwar]

As Bangladesh struggles for stability, 'peacemongers' express solidarity and gear up to converge at the India-Pakistan border on Aug 14

PERSONAL POLITICALBy Beena Sarwar / Sapan News At midnight on 14 August, several hundred Pakistani and Indian peace activists plan to converge at the Wagah-Attari border with candles, placards, and music, to jointly celebrate Pakistan and India’s independence days after a gap of about a decade. This year, I hope to be among them. The tradition of a joint celebration began in 1996, following a…

[beenasarwar]

What I've learned from Noam Chomsky

As news of Noam Chomsky’s failing health makes the rounds, a journalist and peace activist from Pakistan shares some of her learnings from interactions with a trailblazing public intellectual whose moral compass has impacted the world. By Beena Sarwar I once asked Noam Chomsky how he manages to remember so many facts and figures and hold audience attention. He replied that he didn’t convey any…

[beenasarwar]

Hope, wisdom and cynicism: Voices from rural Sri Lanka

The lakes, paddy fields and forests of the ancient village of Dutuwewa are a world away from Colombo’s high-rises and colonial buildings. As elsewhere, decisions taken by ‘old men’ in the corridors of power impact life here, just as these rural voters will impact politics nationally. PERSONAL POLITICALFROM DUTUWEWA WITH LOVE By Beena SarwarTimes are tough and it’s hard to make ends meet. A…

[beenasarwar]

A South Asia theatre festival in Boston

We had not planned to stay on beyond ‘Madho’ but couldn’t bring ourselves to leave - up next was a one-woman show by Pakistan-born York-based Natalya Samee, in which a data analyst uses spreadsheets to combat her romantic idealism.

Off-Kendrik started over 16 years ago, “committed to building a broad platform for South Asian theatre groups and the next generation of South Asian Americans through theatre and storytelling”.  PERSONAL POLITICALBy Beena Sarwar I went to see ‘Madho’ last night with my mother at the Third South Asia Theatre festival, SAATh 2024, in the Boston area. A musical play set in Lahore, it is written…

[beenasarwar]

A South Asia theatre festival in Boston

The last play of the festival is Laxman-er Shaktishel, based on Lokkhoner Shaktishel, an early 20th century farcical retelling of an episode from the Ramayana. The original "has been one of the most enduring children's plays in Bengal".

Off-Kendrik started over 16 years ago, “committed to building a broad platform for South Asian theatre groups and the next generation of South Asian Americans through theatre and storytelling”. PERSONAL POLITICALBy Beena Sarwar I went to see ‘Madho’ last night with my mother at the Third South Asia Theatre festival, SAATh 2024, in the Boston area. A musical play set in Lahore, it is written and…