Huma Yusuf

This article first appeared in The Herald, May 2005.

Professor Mushirul Hasan, currently the Vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, is arguably the region’s most respected historian. After completing his undergraduate degree from Aligarh Muslim University, Professor Hasan continued postgraduate work at Delhi University. Later, he proceeded to England for his doctorate at Cambridge University’s Trinity College. In 1981, he was appointed as a professor of history at Jamia Millia.

Over the years, Professor Hasan has authored several critically acclaimed articles and books on the political and constitutional history of the subcontinent during the twentieth century. These include Legacy of a Divided Nation: India’s Muslims since Independence, India’s Partition: Process, Strategy and Mobilization, Inventing Boundaries: Gender, Politics and the Partition of India and Nationalism and Communal Politics in India.

Recently, Profesor Hasan was invited to join the talks in New Delhi between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and president of the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid-e-Azam Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. In Karachi to deliver the fourth Hamza Alavi Distinguished Lecture titles “Khilafat Movement: A Historical Perspective”, Professor Hasan spole exclusively with The Herald about politics and peace, ideology and Islam.

 Mushirul Hasan

This article first appeared in The Herald, February 2006.

Interestingly enough, even Pakistan has been flirting with animation outsourcing as the Karachi-based Post Amazers has worked on several special effects and animated scenes for Hollywood flicks Exorcist: The Beginning and Son of the Mask. A six-minute pilot for a cartoon show by Post Amazers is also under review with a Canadian television channel. CEO Asif Iqbal confirms that “Hollywood is interested in local animation set-ups and we’ve been getting queries from abroad. Owing to the nature of outsourcing, animation in Pakistan will always be more for export purposes than local consumption.”

In addition to film and television programming, animation requirements for video games and mobile phone games are soon to be outsourced, creating yet another profitable international market. Great cash flow prospects aside, there are several reasons why government as well as private institutions should invest in and develop the local animation industry. Firstly, Pakistan has a long-standing fine arts tradition, further facilitated by the emergence of several reputable art schools. Since the backbone of good animation is good art, this industry offers a course of regular employment to young graduates who would otherwise waste their creative talent working for an advertising agency or painting on a small scale in their bedrooms. As Iqbal puts it: “Artists can be made animators but software technicians cannot be made artistic.” An added advantage of recruiting young fine arts graduates into the animation industry would be that women, who generally gravitate towards the arts, would be able to participate in the male-dominated information-technology industry.

Animated Aspirations

This article first appeared in The Herald, January 2006.

The fact is, an increasing number of young Karachiites, both men and women, hailing from affluent, well-educated an d prominent families are participating in gang warfare, petty crime and illegal substance abuse. No wonder then, on a typical Saturday night, Clifton Town Police Officer (TPO) Imran Shaukat has to deploy up to 50 per cent of his men around the commercial areas off Kayaban-e-Badr, Khadda market, Boating Basin and twenty-sixth street. Complaining that the antics of affluent youngsters are distracting his force from its primary duty, which is to provide protection against organized crime rackets, Shaukat says: “The youth of today has gone mad.”

His analysis of the situation may not seem very sophisticated but Shaukat is the first to admit that he is at a loss for words to describe how teenagers and twenty-somethings are choosing to spend their free time. “Young men from good families with high stakes in business and politics frequently get drunk and commit dacoities, harass people on the street, snatch cellphones, use authentic-looking toy guns to intimidate others, raid tuition centers at which they themselves study and blackmail others with incriminating video clips. While one is used to teenagers experimenting with drugs and alcohol, the trend towards criminal activity is completely out of control,” he explains.

 The Other Side of Midnight

This article first appeared in The Herald, January 2006.

No wonder then, youngsters who had gone abroad to pursue higher education became increasingly willing to return home to new shopping malls and coffee shops of the type they had become accustomed to in the US or UK. Moreover, the widespread disillusionment with the West that took root post-9/11 further propelled an influx of globalized youngsters with newfangled ideas about how to live their lives. It also helped that General Musharraf’s foreign policy was fostering a culture – however cosmetic – of ‘enlightened moderation’. “Things have chilled out,” says Anila, a 21-year-old model and television show host. “There is less ownership and we have more freedom to express ourselves.”

But all is not as hunky-dory as it seems. In many ways, the youth of today has yet to mature, both personally and professionally, into the roles that it has assumed across the Pakistani landscape. There is a severe disconnect between the aspirations of most youngsters and their reality. Young people have been recognized as a vital resource by the private sector but seasoned professionals complain that they are not yet prepared to participate in a productive way. The government has also realized the importance of harnessing their energy but has yet to implement a comprehensive policy to channel the charisma, capabilities and creativity of the nation’s young adults. In other words, Pakistan’s youth is still in its adolescence as a dynamic social force.

 Masters of the Universe

This article first appeared in The Herald, December 2005.

In fact, most media managers believe that their decision to stream disaster footage – in many cases raw and unedited – provoked the immense public response to the quake and spurred on the dynamic volunteer effort. “Initally, people criticized the fact that we were airing what they termed uncensored footage from quake-affected areas. But if the suffering of people from the northern areas had not been shown honestly, the public’s reaction would not have happened,” says Azhar Abbas, the news director at Geo. On the same lines, Hussain adds that “the media shook up people’s living rooms, forcing them to react to the earthquake.” No doubt, being presented with ground realities did move many to action. But observers state that the editorial decisions behind much of the quake footage that has been aired reveal the immaturity of Pakistan’s barely three-year-old electronic media industry.

 Blurred Vision

This article first appeared in The Herald, October 2005.Indeed, the institutional apathy that confronts rape victims is staggering by any standards. Not only is the infrastructure available for investigation rape allegations and gathering incriminating evidence severely lacking but as Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid also points out, “the law and legal procedures are heavily weighed against a victim.” Although the authorities have not carried out a study on rape at the national or local level – another indicator of their indifference – the few statistics available speak volumes.Approximately eight women are raped every 24 hours but the number of reported cases represent only 10 to 25 per cent of the total. According to the Madagar Help Line Database Unit, 957 Pakistani women reported being raped in 2002, 1,024 women reported rape in 2003 and 728 in 2004. A majority of these cases tend to be gang rapes. For instance, Justice Zahid cites an example from 1996, where 50 women reported being raped within 10 days in one district of the Punjab. Eighty per cent of those victims had been gang-raped. Similarly, statistics compiled by the Aurat Foundation between January 1 and June 30 this year show that 23 women from Sindh have reported being gang-raped while 21 have been raped by one man. Another four women were raped before being murdered.Torn to Shreds

This article first appeared in The Herald, August 2005.

The evacuation of gang leaders from Lyari has not been the only result of the police operation. Many of the men killed or arrested during the operation were key players of Rehman and Pappu’s gangs. For instance, most of Rehman’s activities in Lyari and S.I.T.E. have been suspended since the death of Mohammas Ghaffar alias Dhobi, one of his main lieutenants. According to Lyari Town Police Officer (TPO) Omar Shahid, smaller independent gangs – such as those headed by Mohammed Raees alias Raeesu and Noor Mohammed alias Baba Ladla – have also disbanded since their leaders have been killed or forced into hiding. As a result, criminal activity, including intimidation, drug dealing and the collection of bhatta, has decreased sharply.

 Uneasy Calm

This article first appeared in The Herald, July 2005.Not surprisingly, Advani’s remarks infuriated Hindu hardliners of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), who termed the BJP president a “traitor”. Following widespread criticism from his party cadres, Advani, who refused to retract the statements he made while in Pakistan, resigned from the BJP on June 7. Although the parliamentary board rejected Advani’s resignation, his comments have revealed a rift within the BJP as well as the conflict of interests that plagues the politics of the Hindu right. Indeed, many still believe that Advani’s remarks in Pakistan were unnecessary and avoidable.In an exclusive interview with The Herald, Tarun Vijay, the editor of the Panchjanya – an RSS mouthpiece publication and the most widely circulated Hindi weekly in India – discusses the ramifications of Advani’s trip to Pakistan. Vijay also comments on the role of Hindutva in modern-day India, the need for the BJP to reinvent itself and the challenge Advani faces as the party’s president.Tarun Vijay

This article first appeared in The Herald, April 2005.But the fall out of these gang wars is less glamorous than anything in the movies. Every day, the area’s teenagers join the gangs’ ranks, seduced by the idea of street fame and easy cash. Sohail explains how, at night, Kalakot, Kalri, Naya Abad, Rangiwara and Singo Lane resemble a war zone. “Aerial firing goes on until 4:00 am on most nights and you can hear is from every direction. If you go out after dark, gangsters with search lights rough you up.” Meanwhile, Imran, a resident of Chakiwara, describes how shoot-outs disrupt daily life: “All the shops pull their shutters down and people run in every direction. Sometimes, gangsters with megaphones roam the streets at night warning that an incident is planned for the next day. In that case, people don’t venture out of their homes and shops remain shut all day.” Asiya adds that women remain too scared to even mention the gang wars to each other while walking in the street. “If a prominent social worker like Anwar Bhaijan can be killed for talking, then what assurance do we have?” she asks.Living with Sin

This article first appeared in The Herald, March 2005.Recognizing the urgent need to formalize the low-income housing sector in Karachi, the Sindh Katchi Abadis Act 1987 and its subsequent Regularization, Improvement and Development Regulations, 1993 were promulgated. As It stand, the Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority (SKAA) is meant to acquire federal government property and then regularize it or lease out land that has been illegally occupied by abadi residents. Surveying and developing the land us also a function of the SKAA. Simultaneously, 274 of Karachi’s 539 Katchi Abadis are being regularized by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK). Although the granting of leases kicked off in 1991, the process, not surprisingly, is still underway.Thanks to Karachi’s turbulent politics, the paralyzing fine print of bureaucracy, incessant bickering between SKAA and the CDGK and a mandatory dose of corruption, the leasing process has been sporadic at best.Living on the Edge