1. New uploads & pix at Dr Sarwar blog - http://www.drsarwar.wordpress.com:
- Those killed on Jan 7 & 8, 1953
- Article by Saghir Ahmed, High School Students Federation (Students Herald '53)
- Article by Shahid Husain on the student movement in PKonweb.com

2. INVITES:
- An evening with Prof. Jamal Naqvi: "Defend and Strengthen Democracy", Fri, Dec
11, 2009, 4:00 p.m., Karachi Press Club; Contact: Nasir Arain, Ph: 0300 8200718

- 8th Annual Hamza Alavi Distinguished Memorial Lecture, "Pakistan and the
Nature of the State: Revisionism, Jihad and Governance" by Khaled Ahmed,
Consulting Editor, The Friday Times, Lahore.
Wed, Dec 16, 2009, at 5 pm, Jinnah Medical College, Shaheed Millat Road,
Karachi.
Contact: Iqbal  Alavi, Irtiqa Institute of Social Sciences
0300-927-6504 & 021-3583-1807

3. Hilarious cartoon review of the Bollywood film Qurbaan in "Unintentionally
Funny, Must-Watch Bollywood Movies: Kurbaan" -
http://www.thevigilidiot.com/2009/11/21/kurbaan/

4. Asif Ali Zardari  op-ed in the New York Times, Dec 9, 2009 – "How to Mend
Fences With Pakistan" http://tinyurl.com/aaz-nyt - text below

NOW that President Obama has recommitted the United States to stand with
Pakistan and Afghanistan in our common fight against terrorism, extremism and
fanaticism, it would be useful for Americans and Pakistanis to consider what has
brought us to this point — and what the conflict's true endgame must be.

Despite the noise created by an often hyperactive press in Pakistan (an
essential and preferable alternative to the censorship that prevailed during my
country's military dictatorships), and the doubts expressed in America,
Pakistan's democratically elected government is unambiguously on the right path
toward establishing a moderate and modern nation.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and I are working closely with our
national assembly and our military and intelligence agencies to defeat the
Taliban insurgency and the Qaeda-backed campaign of terrorism. Simultaneously,
we are pursuing policies that will re-establish Pakistan as a vibrant economic
market and finally address the long-neglected weaknesses in our education,
health, agriculture and energy sectors. This isn't just rhetoric — it is an
active policy with new budget priorities and a reoriented national mindset.

Over the last weeks I have moved forcefully to re-establish the traditional
powers of the presidency as defined in the parliamentary model on which our
Constitution is based. Our Constitution was distorted and perverted by military
dictators who usurped the legal powers of Parliament. In accordance with the
manifesto of the Pakistan Peoples Party, I am working toward strengthening the
separation of powers of the presidency from those of the prime minister.
Recently, I voluntarily handed back the chairmanship of the National Command
Authority that exercises control over Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Contrary to
some of the commentary on the subject, this is not a sign of weakness, but
rather a demonstration of the vitality of Pakistani democracy.

As President Obama has noted, Pakistan's military has courageously executed
important actions in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan against terrorists who
threaten all of us. Pakistan has paid an enormous price in blood and treasure.
But this is a price we are willing to pay. Every day across our land, cowards
distort our religion of peace, Islam, by slaughtering innocent people. Three
thousand civilians, including my wife, Benazir Bhutto, and 2,000 soldiers and
police officers have been killed in the last eight years. Just last week 40
people died in a mosque while at Friday prayers, including 10 children. This is
our war as well as America's.

Yet in both countries there is deep suspicion toward the other. Many Americans
still wonder, despite our sacrifices, if Pakistan is doing all it can to fight
terrorism. Some resent what they believe is an absence of gratitude in Pakistan
for American aid. But consider the history as seen by Pakistanis.

Twice in recent history America abandoned its democratic values to support
dictators and manipulate and exploit us. In the 1980s, the United States
supported Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq's iron rule against the Pakistani people
while using Pakistan as a surrogate in the war against the Soviets in
Afghanistan. That decade turned our peaceful nation into a "Kalashnikov and
heroin" society — a nation defined by guns and drugs. In its fight against the
Soviets, the United States, as a matter of policy, supported the most radical
elements within the mujahedeen, who would later become the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
When the Soviets were defeated and left in 1989, the United States abandoned
Pakistan and created a vacuum in Afghanistan, resulting in the current horror.

And then after 9/11, the United States closed its eyes to the abuses of the
dictatorship of President Pervez Musharraf, providing support to the regime
while doing little to help with social needs or encourage the restoration of
democracy. For Pakistanis, it is a bitter memory.

Public mistrust of the United States also stems from regional issues,
specifically policies concerning India. I know it is the conventional wisdom in
Washington that my nation is obsessed with India. But even to those of us who
are striving toward accommodation and peace, the long history and the unresolved
situation in Kashmir give Pakistanis reason to be concerned about our neighbor
to the east. Just as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute cannot be resolved without
accommodating the Palestinian people, there cannot be permanent regional peace
in South Asia without addressing Kashmir.

The recent upset in Pakistan over the Kerry-Lugar legislation, which President
Obama signed into law and which requires the secretary of state to report to
Congress on military and civil progress in Pakistan, shows how sensitive many
here are to what they see as unfair treatment by the United States. It would be
helpful if the United States, at some point, would scrutinize India in a similar
fashion and acknowledge that it has from time to time played a destabilizing
role in the region.

The perceived rhetorical one-sidedness of American policy often fuels the
conspiracy theories that abound here — theories that blame the West for all of
our ills. Pakistan's elected democratic leadership is itself a victim of some of
these conspiracy theories, but our American partners must understand their
origins and work with us to turn public opinion around.

Although we certainly appreciate America's $7.5 billion pledge over the next
five years for nonmilitary projects in Pakistan, this long-term commitment must
be complemented by short-term policies that demonstrate American neutrality and
willingness to help India and Pakistan overcome their mutual distrust. It could
start by stepping up its efforts to mediate the Kashmir dispute.

In recent days, I have thought often of something my wife, Benazir, wrote in the
days before her death: "It is so much easier to blame others for our problems
than to accept responsibility ourselves." Benazir added that conspiracy theories
and "toxic rhetoric" were "an opiate that keeps Muslims angry against external
enemies and allows them to pay little attention to the internal causes of
intellectual and economic decline."

The free world stands with President Obama in the effort to defeat the extremism
that threatens us all. Pakistanis are on the frontlines in this battle.

But we need help. We need the support of our allies in war but also to help
build a new Pakistan that promises a meaningful future to our children. We are
not looking for — and indeed reject — dependency. We don't need or want (nor
would we accept) foreign troops to defeat the insurgency, and we seek trade more
than aid from you in the future. It is an economically viable and socially
robust democratic Pakistan that will be the most effective long-term weapon
against terrorism, extremism and fanaticism. This is the necessary endgame. And
this is how history will judge victory.

(ends)

1. Pink glove dance - funny, rocking video for breast cancer awareness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw - enjoy!

2. 'Suicide bomber was my cousin' - Sahar Saba, Rawa (thanks, Secular Pakistan
secularpakistan.wordpress.com) - http://tinyurl.com/ybug68q

3. Nadeem Farooq Paracha: One Unit Faith - http://tinyurl.com/ygntl62 - "We are
a nation of various groups of diversified people who can remain united as a
country with the help of democracy alone" - well said

4. I enjoyed this satirical website Maila Times - www.mailatimes.com, mentioned
also in my recent column (text below) in Hardnews, India (www.hardnewsmedia.com)
and The News on Sunday Dialogue page (http://tinyurl.com/yje5nv5)

Nov 30, 2009

PERSONAL POLITICAL
The curse of living in `interesting times'

Beena Sarwar

Visiting newspaper offices in Sweden some years ago, I was struck by the
relative ease and routine manner in which journalists obtained information. Any
envy was overtaken by the comforting thought that at least it's never boring to
be a journalist in Pakistan. Someone obviously threw the proverbial Chinese
curse at us: "May you live in interesting times" and added, for good measure,
"not just interesting, but downright dangerous".

The roller coaster ride of Pakistan continues, with many passengers unsure
whether the seat belts and the mechanisms are in working order. As I write this,
speculations are rife about the `expected' change of face in government. But
then, if one were to believe the forecasts of newspaper and television pundits,
this would have happened months after the first elected government in 12 years
took over power in March 2008.

The government may be still standing because those who would love to send it
packing recognise the need for it to continue, if only for their own vested
interests.

Take the armed forces of Pakistan whose behind-the-scenes power is no secret:
they are unused to taking orders from or getting their money channelised through
`bloody civilians' (as one retired army officer put it in a letter to the editor
that sparked of a series of spirited rebuttals). But has to change with
Washington's policy shift towards working with an accountable, civilian, elected
government in Pakistan rather than a military strongman as it has traditionally
done.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who heads the country's second-largest
political party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is studiously
refraining from demanding mid-term polls. He apparently realises that the
Zardari-headed government will last at most for another three years. But a
military coup will mean struggling for another decade just to bring back the
democratic system.

"They should just impose martial law," said a friend, rattled by the closure of
educational institutes after suicide bombers hit the Islamic University in
Islamabad.

I can understand her frustration but this is hardly a solution. People put up
with prolonged periods of military rule that are responsible for the situation
we face today, but get impatient within months with civilian governments that
are allowed in to sort out the mess created during years of military rule.

True, civilian governments tend to be bungling, inefficient, and corrupt, more
concerned with power politics than with development and long-term strategies.
But the cycle of elections and elected governments completing their tenure has
to continue in order to weed out the inefficient and corrupt, and allow another
level of leadership to develop and emerge.

The impatience is fed by a frenzied 24/7 news culture that focuses on all that
is going wrong or is expected to go wrong. Journalists become partisan
nationalists, placing themselves at the centre of news events and overplaying
their own importance and crystal ball skills.

What gets left out of the dominant discourse is how for the first time a
Pakistani government has rejected the use of `terror' as a foreign policy tool,
tried to bring the army under civilian control and categorically stated that
`India is not the enemy'. Such thinking is anathema for certain elements within
the `establishment'.

But let's not speculate about will have happened by the time this appears in
print. Instead, let's end with the report `Pakistan Fashion Week Kills 90
Terrorists' in Maila Times, a satirical website started in February that updates
once a week.

Spoofing the overkill of comments on how Pakistan's first Fashion Week was a
bulwark of defiance against the Taliban, the report notes the terrorists'
inability "to `handle' the extremely `haraam' nature of fashion week". They were
"shocked to death – literally" after looking at pictures and videos from the
event.

"Interior Minister Rehman Malik was quick to point out that the PPP and the
President are supporters of the thriving fashion industry in Pakistan and that
the democratically elected government by the democratic loving people of
Pakistan voted for `sexy.'"

If speculative and sensational reports are going to be the order of the day,
might as well get a laugh out of it. After all, we live in interesting, if not
`maila', times.

(ends)

Below are some links and news items I've been wanting to share and finally
managed to compile and send. Enjoy – and while in Thanksgiving/Eid mode, spare a
thought and more for those less fortunate this season: "A manual sewing machine
for a widow or unemployed poor woman? Tuition Fees or books for a poor student?
Some money to ease the days for the unemployed people? A small monthly stipend
to the poor that may bring a ray of hope in their lives and may perhaps deter
them from abandoning their children to the fogs of terrorist factories?" – at
Temporal's Baithak
http://tinyurl.com/ykuueuv

Before going on to the links, a belated bit of good news and congratulations to
Dr Hassan Abbas, whom I've known since his journalist days in Lahore before he
became a police officer and then an academic. He has been selected for the QAU
Chair at Columbia U, well deserved. He has for years been stressing the need to
deal with many of the problems in Pakistan as regular law and order issues,
rather than blanketed under the `war on terror', and has suggested reforms to
the police sector including better training, pay and equipment. See his recent
police reforms paper at:
http://tinyurl.com/yb5a46n

Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists are having a field day in Pakistan, with much
unease at how some journalists are (mis) conducting themselves. I say let them
fulminate and froth. We've had fighting words from Zardari in his latest speech,
and he has come out swinging (to use Bilal Qureshi's term -
http://pakistan.foreignpolicyblogs.com/) in his interview to Express TV, online
at Pkonweb -
http://tinyurl.com/yhbaczn

The bottom line is that Pakistan army does not want to be under civilian control
– see report by Saeed Shah: 'Pakistan's military seen moving to undercut Zardari
over his close U.S. ties' 
 -
http://tinyurl.com/y9bzm3s

One of Zardari's `faults' in the `establishment's' eyes is his insistence that
India is not the enemy. Here, Pervez Hoodbhoy sums up essentially why Pakistan
and India need to work together:
"How can India protect itself from invaders across its western border and grave
injury? Just as importantly, how can we in Pakistan assure that the fight
against fanatics is not lost? Let me make an apparently outrageous proposition:
in the coming years, India's best protection is likely to come from its
traditional enemy, the Pakistan Army. Therefore, India ought to now help, not
fight, against it" – extract from Pakistan And India: A Common Defense? By
Pervez Hoodbhoy - http://tinyurl.com/yf5ybz9
[Not at all an outrageous suggesion. I made a similar point in my column
`Personal Political: Give the one upmanship a rest' -
http://tinyurl.com/y89edzh]

Ending on a note of compassion (thanks Kamran Arif, Peshawar)  - Please see
http://charterforco mpassion. org/ (text below), signed by, among others,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Goldie Hawn, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Queen Noor of
Jordan, Abdus Sattar Edhi and the Dalai Lama. The Charter of Compassion led me
to this link of a short video, Karen Armstrong unveiling Charter for Compassion
http://tinyurl.com/y8mlz6g

Also worth viewing and hearing: this talk by Karen Armstrong accepting the 2008
TED Prize - http://tinyurl.com/6cecdq

TED stands for Technology Education Development - http://www.ted.com – and the
Ted Talks are amazing. Here is the link to a recent Ted Talk in India - Pranav
Mistry, an Indian PhD student at MIT on the thrilling potential of SixthSense
technology http://tinyurl.com/yavmmd9 - truly mind-blowing

Over to
THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION
A call to bring the world together…

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and
spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be
treated ourselves.Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the
suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our
world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every
single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute
justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and
empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite,
chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to
anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial
of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live
compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the
name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre
of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any
interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is
illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful
information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a
positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an
informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as
enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our
polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness,
compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious
boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human
relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and
indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

Affirmers

His Holiness the Dalai Lama
H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan, Chair, King Hussein Foundation
Paul Simon, Musician
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Sir Ken Robinson, Author
Deepak Chopra, Author
Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt
Professor Candido Mendes, Spiritual Director, Arsha Vijan Mandiram
Goldie Hawn, Actor
Dr. Abdul Sattar Edhi, Founder, Edhi Foundation

(:)

We are holding an event in Karachi Jan 9-10 to honour and take forward the
legacy of the 1950's student movement. How you can help: contribute to the
solidarity fund, spread the word, volunteer at the event and share event on your
Facebook wall (details below).

Here's an interesting story from that time.

Students around the country rallied in support of their Karachi colleagues
following the January movement when police firing killed several students and
passers-by on Jan 7 and 8, 1953. Demonstrations in Lahore, Dacca, and other
cities drew hundreds and thousands of students, according to the Students'
Herald). Encouraged by this overwhelming response, an Inter-Collegiate Body
(ICB) delegation visited other cities to link up with other students and work
towards the National Convention (eventually held in December). Here is how they
managed this `grand tour':

The Principal of Nishtar Medical College, Multan invited the Dow Medical College
Principal Col. Malik to inaugurate a new hostel. Col. Malik nominated the
President of the Dow Medical College Union, Mohammad Sarwar - something unheard
of for a principal to do. He also agreed to let Sarwar use the ticket money to
take three other students from the Inter-Collegiate Body (ICB), traveling by
second-class train. At the Multan railway station, a somewhat taken-aback
Nishtar Medical College Principal warmly received them with a welcome committee,
garlands and all. The Karachi students used the trip to make contact with
students at colleges in Multan, Lyallpur, Peshawar, Pindi and Lahore and form
ICB units there.

Read Convention Chairman Mohammad Sarwar's account of the trip, including the
efforts by the Jamat to disrupt their meetings and to discredit them at 'Forward
to the National Convention; ( 'ICB tour and meetings with students in other
cities, Feb 1953 - report by M. Sarwar' on the Dr Sarwar blog -
http://drsarwar.wordpress.com/

Below, details of an event being held in January to honour and take forward the
legacy of the 1950s student movement:

January 8 has traditionally been commemorated as `Martyrs' Day', to remember the
students and passers-by killed by police firing on their peaceful procession in
1953. The students were marching for `Demands Day', urging the government to
revise the fee structure (make fees payable monthly instead of six-monthly), to
provide laboratory, library and hostel facilities, to make a proper University
in Karachi (where none existed) and to provide security of employment. Demands
Day was organised by the Democratic Students Federation (DSF) and the
Inter-Collegiate Body (ICB) that linked the student unions.

We have planned a two-day programme on the weekend of Jan 9-10 (Sat-Sun), 2010,
focusing on the January 1953 student movement that embodied student unity across
political or class divides. We hope that re-visiting and claiming this past will
inspire today's youth, activists and students and feed into the process of
strengthening progressive politics in Pakistan at a time when such politics are
direly needed.

Please visit www.drsarwar.wordpress.com for chronology of the student movement
and other material in the tab `1950s student movement'. Details also available
at Event created by the Dr M. Sarwar Facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199053450934&ref=mf


Programme

DAY ONE: Honouring the legacy
Jan 9, 2010, Arts Council,
4.30-8.00 pm
Open to the public

Compere: Sania Saeed

1. Honouring the surviving January '53 movement activists
Introduced by Anis Haroon, chaired by Zakia Sarwar
•      Dr Haroon Ahmed – DSF worker (DSF founder-member)
•      Zain Alavi – Treasurer DSF
•      Saleem Asmi – Unit Secretary DSF at S.M. College
•      Moizuddin Farooqui, General Secretary Urdu College Union
•      Sibghat Kadri, High School Students Federation and DSF
•      Dr Ghalib Lodhi – DSF activist (beaten and tortured in prison)
•      Jamal Naqvi – Vice President Islamia College Student Union
•      S.M. Naseem – editor Students' Herald
•      Adib ul Hasan Rizvi – Vice President, Student Union, DJ College
•      Mazhar Saeed – General Secretary, Student Union, DJ College
•     Ghazi Salahuddin – High School Students Federation
2. Documentary film on the 1950's student movement
by Sharjil Baloch & Beena Sarwar
3.  Fehmida Riaz - poetry
4. Looking back and looking ahead: brief speeches by young activists     Varda
Nisar, Amar Sindhu, Aalia Amirali, and Ali Cheema
5. Tina Sani – renditions
6. Concluding Remarks - I.A. Rehman, Director HRCP
7. Tea break
8. Music by the popular band Laal

DAY TWO: Re-evaluating and looking ahead
Roundtable Discussion: "8th January and The Way Forward" 

Jan 10, 2010, PMA House,
11.30 am – 1.30 pm
Moderated by I.A. Rehman
By invitation (please contact us if you are interested in participating)

SOLIDARITY CONTRIBUTION: We will be happy to accept whatever friends and
well-wishers want to contribute to the event. We will acknowledge the names of
such individuals and organisations in the brochure (unless they ask not to be
mentioned).

I think I circulated this link before but anyway, here it is again because
now VJ Movement is open to the public. Feedback and comments welcome.



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The cause of progressive politics in Pakistan suffered two major losses over the
past week, with the passing away of veteran journalist M.B. Naqvi, 81, on
November 7th, and Prof. M. Nauman, 58, on Nov 15th. I know they would both have
been present at the event planned for Jan 9-10 in Karachi to honour and take
forward the legacy of the 1950's student movement – and they remain with us in
spirit and through their ideas, work and commitment (the note below is from the
Dr Sarwar blog - http://www.drsarwar.wordpress.com - which also has photos of
both)

The last time I saw Naqvi Sahib was at a peace seminar in Karachi, held to
honour Nirmala Didi. He played an active role in the Pakistan India People's
Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and the Pakistan Peace Coalition. He
contributed regularly to The News opinion pages while I was Op-Ed editor there
and I felt sad when his column stopped being published.  The South Asia Citizens
Wire contains a collection of his columns, which reflect his commitment to the
cause of peace and rational thought (thanks Harsh Kapoor) -
http://www.sacw.net/auteur31.html
His daughter Aaliya Naqvi-Hai in California maintains a website-
http://www.pakusonline.com - scroll down to the section to leave comments about
M.B. Naqvi (thanks Shaheryar Azhar, moderator, The Forum for this information)

Prof. M. Nauman, an associate professor at the NED University of Engineering and
Technology, was a social activist and well-known Marxist. He was a prominent
student leader associated with the National Students' Federation during the late
1960s and the early 1970s. He actively participated in the upsurge against
military dictator General Ayub Khan in 1969.
See Riaz Haq's note on Chowk http://chowk.com/gallery/1935/48173
Condolence page at http://tinyurl.com/yh5kz96

Shahid Husain's obituary `Prof Nauman bows out' - http://tinyurl.com/yldqlrv
Article on the Kalabagh controversy by M. Nauman and A. Ercelawn, ` Damming
Kalabagh: State versus Community, Center versus Territory, Nation versus
Federation', The News, June 21, 1998 -http://www.sanalist.org/kalabagh/a-14.htm

Honouring Pervez Masih, the janitor at the International Islamic University who
was killed when he stopped a suicide attacker (reportedly in women's clothes)
from entering the cafeteria for female students on Nov 16th. His heroic stand
saved the lives of more than 300 students leading many to remember him as a hero
-- but as his mother told a CNN reporter, `My hero is dead' -
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/pakistan.hero/
According to the CNN report which predictably focused on the religious aspect -
`Christian janitor died saving Muslim students' - his family had to borrow money
for his funeral and were behind on paying their rent.
Islamabad based activist and artist Fauzia Minallah says the IIU administration
helped the family with Rs. 10.000 for the burial costs, employed his widow
Shaheen as a sanitory worker and promised to help with his three-year-old
daughter Diya's education. Maham Ali, a student of Behria University, collected
Rs. 52,500 for Pervez Masih's family, and bought toys and clothes for Diya.
'Diya - a hero's daughter' - note with photos on Fauzia Minallah's blog
http://funkorchildart.blogspot.com/2009/11/diya-and-maham.html
(according to which, despite publically announcing compensation for the bereaved
family no one from the Interior Ministry has contacted the family so far)

1. Mark the dates:
Event to honour and take forward the legacy of Dr Sarwar and the 1950's student
movement ie. Nation-wide student unity based on issues concerning students,
independent position (non-alignment to any political party or ideology), and
organisation.
DAY ONE: Jan 9, 2010, Arts Council, 4.30 pm - I.A. Rehman to preside, Sania
Saeed to compere; Anis Haroon to introduce surviving January movement activists
(commemorating Jan 7-8, 1953 when police firing killed 8 students), documentary
film by Sharjil Baloch and Beena Sarwar, presentations by young activists Varda
Nisar, Aliya Amirali, Amar Sindhu and Ali Cheema. Poetry and music: Fehmida
Riaz, Tina Sani, Laal
Day TWO: Jan 10, 2010, PMA House, 11.30 am - roundtable discussion with
surviving activists, later leaders and today's students (by invitation)
Details at http://www.drsarwar.wordpress.com

2. Some recent articles I wanted to share:
- Let the democratic process continue... A must-read: I.A. Rehman's article in
Dawn, Nov 12, 2009, 'The Locus of power' -http://tinyurl.com/iar-aaz
Extract: "All elected prime ministers, from Mr Bhutto to Mr Nawaz Sharif, tried
with varying degrees of earnestness, to get rid of the halter around their necks
and all of them came to grief. Now that it is possible to think of democratic
advancement the reasons for their failure must be thoroughly examined and
adequately addressed."

- Another good piece worth reading: `Defending President Zardari' – extract: "It
is easy to blame all the mess and corruption on the politicians because it is
otherwise a risky enterprise for the politicians during their brief sojourn in
power to expose the crimes of real power wielders. One typical instance is a
news report (BR 11.11.09) headlined: Submarine deal, Zardari accused of
receiving dollar 4.3m in kickbacks…"
by Syed Shahid Husain, Business Recorder, Nov 13, 2009 -
http://tinyurl.com/ygedqjr

- Excellent piece by Raza Rumi on how Hillary Clinton's recent visit exposed
Pakistan's identity crisis: Anchor-less ramblings
http://www.razarumi.com/2009/11/11/anchorless-rambling/

3. Documentary on Faiz - also up at the drsarwar.wordpress.com site:
'Jab Tujhe Yaad Kar Liya'  - a short documentary tribute to Faiz Ahmad Faiz on
his death anniversary last year, directed by Sharjil Baloch for the BBC, Nov 20,
2008  – featuring interviews with Dr M. Sarwar, Dr, Haroon Ahmed, and Saleem
Asmi, memories and music by S,M,Shahid, and recitals by Khalid Ahmed
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8zekdR6Hek&feature=channel
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8zt7nEQAwc&feature=channel


4. Aisha Gazdar's documentary `The Invisible Force: Women workers in Pakistan' 
at the Canadian Labor International Film Festival (Cliff) -
http://labourfilms.ca/cliff/2009/11/10/the-invisible-force-women-workers-in-paki\
stan/