Tag Archives: pakistan

Summer of Pakistan

Harbor in Karachi /photo by eutrophication&hypoxia

One of the finest and most extensive audio journalism series’ I’ve heard in all the years podcasting has existed, is being produced this summer by Chris Lydon’s Radio Open Source.  His focus has been Pakistan, past, present, and future.  As part of his series, “Another Pakistan,” he has spoken with a cross section of people from politics, industry, activism, entertainment, immigration and more.  In a country that is so important on the world scene, home to cities with a larger population then some countries in Europe, the information contained in these programs is not only interesting, it is vital.  When it comes down to it, what you can learn from such a thorough series is better then anything you’ve learned in high school or that one class on South Asian politics/history you may have taken many years ago.

My favorites out of the series:

1- The Fisherman of Karachi

2 – The Peace that Could Save Pakistan

3 – Pakistan’s Revenge of the 40’s, The the 80’s

bm255 Bihari People; Forgotten and Left Stateless in Bangladesh

Imagine having no rights, no home, and no country. Now imagine that on top of that, you live amongst hundreds of thousands of other people in a makeshift camp for over 30 years. This is just part of the story that the people known as Bihari’s endure everyday in Bangladesh. My guest, documentary film maker Shafiur Rahman has made a film on this very topic, helps explain the past, present, and all the details that the world seems to ignore on a regular basis, of how an entire population can be declared stateless and without rights.

His film, The Promised Land (available via amazon.uk)

His blog, Imperfect World

The wikipedia entry on the Bihari people

Music:

Courtesy of Shafiur, from the film.

note: (there is alot of white noise in this recording as I was recording it under unfamiliar circumstances and Im under alot of stress these days so no need to complain about it, thank you.)

On the Road

24 Hours in Amsterdam has not allowed me to prepare a podcast. Mostly it involves unpacking, repacking, cleaning, and preparing my equipment for the 24C3 in Berlin.

If you have not yet seen the documentation video from last years Chaos Communication Congress, here is the link.  I say a few lines in it, as do some nice folks that I know.

Some people might wonder what I say about the Bhutto assasination, sorry to disappoint but I don’t have much to say.  They knew full well the risks they took and I commend her and her people for facing death so bravely.  I’m not a huge Bhutto admirer, but the way she has carried herself in the face of so much pressure and hatred, I commend her and regret that this has happened. Unfortunately they will once again re-write history and hijack a tragedy by making this an excuse to dedicate more money for their crusade entitled “the war on terrorism”.

bm235 Online Community and State of Emergency

At a time when the Pakistani government is using the state of emergency declaration to crack down on opposition and media, many citizens are turning to the internet. Amer Sarfraz, one of the people responsible for the Pakistani online community Buzzvines, joins me to describe life under the state of emergency both online and off.

We Discuss:

  • Daily Life
  • Crackdown and Opposition
  • Internet Usage in PAkistan
  • What types of uses
  • Government crackdown in cyberspace
  • The limits of the government’s reach

Inviting Friends in Pakistan

Upon arrival in Brussels today I was pleased to receive an email from the Pakistani blog community I had written to, requesting their participation in an upcoming podcast about what people are writing about during this “state of emergency.”

Throughout the long train ride today, it seemed like every podcast I listen to was covering the situation. I heard that same Musharraf speech about not letting the country commit suicide, over and over. Many of the public radio podcasts included callers in the US, most of Pakistani descent, calling to express their disapproval of the situation or in some cases, approval for the Pakistani presidents strong arm tactics.

As I walked into Blueberry Girl’s apartment here in Brussels, I heard that an old classmate of ours has been assigned to the German embassy in Islamabad. Seems like everything is turning up Pakistan for me this week. And rightfully so when so many lives hang in the balance.

I’m curious to hear the thoughts of the people on the blog community. Skimming the site, it is obviously still very new and just like in the US and communities like livejournal, people seem pretty self absorbed with work problems and personal reflection. Despite that fact, I’m looking forward to hearing from people running the site about their experience launching this community and how it relates to how Pakistani society, especially on the internet, is reacting to what is happening in their country.

Friendship Express Rolls On

Last week, as I was doing the usual middle-of-the-night TV news network watching, the story of the train bombing aboard the Pakistan-India Friendship Express came up. Initially they called it a fire, and the details were few. I sat here, uneasy, as Im sure many observers did… that this was more than a fire and worst of all.. this was an attempt to break the peace process between the two countries.

It almost seemed typical. In my minds eye I could see India blaming Pakistan, and vice-versa.. then the train would be cancelled forever as would other travel links… and then it would be back to testing missiles and living on the brink of human annihaliation. As the next few details appeared on the television, I was already low on hope.

In fact that is NOT what happened. At least it doesn’t seem so, one week later. The Pakistani dictator-turned-president condemned the thing and vowed to keep working for peace. The Indian Prime Minister said the same. People mourned the tragedy, but in the news articles and editorials that I read, they didn’t call for blood. Which is some small way, seems encouraging.

Normally in the world, history repeats iself. Over and over. No lessons are learned, or at least, not enough lessons are learned by the people making decisions that can end or enhance human lives. Yet every now and then, I think we’re seeing an adjustment, a change. And in this case, I wonder if it isn’t a true change for the better… for peace between two longtime enemies.