Dear readers,
After an unfortunate hacking incident, I am currently in the process of changing and updating this website. Please check back in a few days for a complete archive of all my published work.
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Thank you,
Huma.
Nilaja Sun’s one-woman play “No Child,” currently being staged at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, is a phenomenal mix of storytelling, journalism, activism, and civic engagement. The 70-minute performance isn’t bogged down by intricate sets, costume changes, or dazzling lighting design. Instead, Sun uses three chairs, a broom, and her ability to embody and humorously animate a dozen characters to start a meaningful conversation about education reform. The fact that it is as tech-free as a theater performance can get without leaving the audience literally sitting in the dark should serve as a lesson for everyone aiming to use new technologies to facilitate social justice.
Karachi, Pakistan
THE SHOCK and confusion I feel after learning about former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is strangely familiar. One incarnation of Benazir, a woman I thought I knew and wanted to be, died on Sept. 19, 1996, when she was implicated in the death of her estranged brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, who was brutally shot, allegedly by police officials in a planned attack outside his home.
More stories like this:
Karachi, Pakistan - When Tourism Minister Nilofer Bakhtiar came under attack from hard-line clerics after she was photographed embracing a man in public, Benazir Bhutto was quick to defend her.
"Benazir and I grew close when she issued a strong statement from Dubai in my favor. Her words were very encouraging because at that time, even my own party was not giving me any support and was, instead, asking for me to step down."
The relationship between Pakistan and the US is one of operatic dimensions, with at least two leading ladies and a slew of contenders for the lead male role oscillating between love and hate. The US has often interfered in Pakistani politics, with cryptic public statements, sanctions, harsh admonitions, and long phone calls in the middle of the night determining the course of this nation’s history. Now, however, a role reversal seems to be underway. Pakistan–with its centre-stage positioning in the 2008 presidential race–is all set to influence the course of US politics and thus, indirectly, the global landscape.
Remediation
Misery, they say, loves company, which is why I can’t help but turn towards Kenya to make better sense of what is happening here in Pakistan. On December 27, 2007, while we were frantically flipping between television channels, reluctant to accept that Benazir Bhutto had in fact been assassinated, Kenyans were informed that Mwai Kibaki had been re-elected as president in what seems to be a shamefacedly rigged election. Since that fateful date, swathes of Sindh have erupted into flame, stocks have plummeted, banks have burnt, Pakistan Railways has been derailed, and senseless arson and violence have claimed the vehicles, and worse, lives of many. Meanwhile, according to the Kenyan Red Cross, over 300 Kenyans have been killed in post-election turmoil; while up to 100,000 have been displaced. The image of a smouldering church in which 50 people fleeing election violence — most of whom were children — were burnt alive is seared in the minds of horrified onlookers across the world. Much like Sindh, western Kenya remained ablaze for days.
