Mustafa Qadri

Pakistanis must challenge the routine prejudice that condemns an ancient transgender community to violence and ridicule

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 May 2010 18.30 BST

A great challenge for Pakistan has been crafting a sense of shared identity. But with much of the ensuing identity politics spiralling into sectarian and communal violence in recent decades, it isn’t surprising that minorities here face the worst forms of neglect and persecution.

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The former president has hinted at a return to Pakistani politics. Worryingly, it could be more than just a pipe dream.

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 February 2010 18.30 GMT

At no point do world leaders look more diminished than after leaving office, and Pakistan’s former president and military dictator Pervez Musharraf is no exception. So when he addressed a London audience this week, it was perhaps ironic that much of what he said was a reminder that little has changed in the way the west relates to the “AfPak” region.

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Negotiating with the Taliban is too little, too late – western allies need to fix the socioeconomic mess started long before 9/11

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 08.00 GMT

Memory spans are short in modern politics, but even by those standards the relative ease with which the discourse on Afghanistan has shifted from fighting the Taliban to negotiating with them is remarkable.

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Faced with terrorism, a flagging economy and a raft of potential lawsuits, how long can Pakistan’s president survive?

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 January 2010 15.10 GMT

With his chequered past and unlikely rise to the top, it is understandable that Asif Ali Zardari has faced constant calls to resign ever since becoming president of Pakistan two years ago. The central focus of the grievances has been Pakistan’s supreme court where a raft of charges have been submitted against Zardari and most of the senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Peoples party by a motley mix of political parties, private citizens, and the court itself.

But in the glasshouse that is Pakistani politics the risk is that perceptions of judicial independence will be shattered by all the stone throwing. To understand the fracas it is necessary to consider recent history. After public pressure forced the Zardari government to reinstate Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, there was widespread celebration that at last Pakistan had found one institution that was above the cronyism that has plagued political life here.

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The Diplomat’s Pakistan correspondent, Mustafa Qadri, meets refugees from the conflict in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and finds anger, trepidation and hope as they return home after this summer’s counter-Taliban military offensive.

Travelling along the road leading to the Swat valley is a memorable experience. As the narrow dual carriageway snakes around impossibly steep mountain ranges, the breathtaking vista of snow-capped peaks come into view as they loom over an emerald green valley pierced by the Swat River. It looks too perfect to be natural.

‘The beauty of Swat is unmatched in the world,’ says Ashraf, a Swati villager and journalist who agreed to take me to the region. When I ask if anyone maintains the near perfectly manicured grasslands and pine forests he laughs and shakes his head. Described in local poetry as heaven on earth, for centuries Swat has been home to saints and soothsayers–first those hailing from Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and in more recent centuries mystical Sufi Islam.

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The US has promised Pakistan $7.5bn of aid over five years – if it agrees to oversight of its most sensitive security issues

Mustafa Qadri
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 October 2009 20:00 BST

You would think that the citizens of a developing country promised $7.5bn over five years would be dancing in the streets. Instead, last week’s approval of the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, formerly the Kerry-Lugar bill, by Congress met with widespread howls of condemnation in Pakistan.

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The proposed truth and reconciliation commission is a fine idea. But a lack of historical distance will make it politically thorny

Grievance is at the heart of Pakistani politics. Almost all of the elites that dominate political life here have faced the deprivations – poverty, harassment, imprisonment or exile – experienced by the ordinary citizen at some point in their lives. When at the height of their strength, the powerful always invoke the myriad injustices that plague the common citizen to rally popular support.

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A snapshot of life in Pakistan’s refugee camps

Updated July 16, 2009 11:48:55

Although the fighting in Pakistan’s Swat valley has ended and some refugees have started to head home, many remain wary of returning.

An estimated 2 million fled the conflict between Pakistani troops and the Taliban, and some ended up at a displaced person camp two hours north of the capital Islamabad.

Presenter: Mustafa Qadri
Speakers: Purmanari, displaced person; Mohammad Yahya, a former town mayor; Ziauddin Yousufzai, School teacher; Mannu, school student

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Displaced Pakistanis speak out

by Mustafa Qadri

16 July 2009

Karachi, Pakistan - Pakistan is in the middle of its largest operation against the Taliban in the troubled Swat Valley and adjacent areas.

Although a small first wave of refugees has begun to return as part of the government’s efforts, up to 2.5 million people are believed to have fled the once quiet, scenic mountain ranges. At a camp in Risalpur, 50 miles south of some of the fiercest battle zones, I spoke with some of the displaced.

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Interviews with Pakistan’s “disappeared persons” for Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defender Magazine - June/July/August edition 2009.

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Thousands Displaced by War in Pakistan

By Mustafa Qadri and Tahir Ali
Displaced villager

“We are ready to leave [Katcha Ghauri] to make room for our brothers from Swat,” says Kushdhil, who was displaced from Bajaur Agency, to the west of the current fighting. Photo: Mustafa Qadri

Last week a number of quiet mountain villages became part of the deadly frontline in Pakistan’s battle with Islamic militancy, report Mustafa Qadri and Tahir Ali…

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Not everybody is in a position to write a column, but may have a profound experience or perspective to share. In this feature we seek out such people and report back so the Unleashed audience can absorb and discuss unique, fascinating or moving stories.

In our latest instalment of “Unleashed Voices” Mustafa Qadri meets a boy from Pakistan who has trained to become a Taliban suicide bomber.

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Ms Windisch said residents were also anti-Connex after the company recently won a $500 million 30-year contract to operate an “apartheid” light rail system in occupied Palestine that would acquire many Palestinian homes.
(Thanks Antony)

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Here is my analysis of the Obama Administration’s new ‘AfPak’ policy for newmatilda.com:

Not All Terrorists Are The Same

Obama’s new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan is much more nuanced than Bush’s “war on terror”, writes Mustafa Qadri. As a starting point, it recognises that al Qaeda and the Taliban are distinct groups

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The matter came before the Supreme Court, The petitioners, Jews and Arabs, argued that this measure contradicts our Basic Laws (our substitute for a nonexistent constitution) which guarantee the equality of all citizens. The answer of the Ministry of Justice lawyers let the cat out of the bag. It asserts, for the first time, in [...]

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This is how the Taliban deals with its opponents:
At least 10 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in north-western Pakistan, local officials say.

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If you ever wonder how a group as harsh as the Taliban is capable of getting support from ordinary Pashtuns consider the Pakistan Government’s near total indifference to their suffering in internally displaced person camps:
…during three separate trips to Bajaur, we clearly saw the only way they could fight an entrenched Taliban was with scorched-earth [...]

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The Supreme Court ordered on Wednesday that the Punjab government regularise 97 ad hoc lecturers within three day…

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An advocate on Tuesday filed a petition with the Supreme Court charging former president Pervez Musharraf with ‘high treason’ and seeking his trial under Article 6 of the Constitution.

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The founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD) has given up on any solution coming from within Israel.

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The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Gaza, local Palestinian NGOs and mental health professionals are reporting increased incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault against women in Gaza since the beginning of 2009.
(Thanks Antony).

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My analysis of the reinstatment of Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry as Pakistan’s Chief Justice was published in Crikey.com.au today:

Democracy revitalised by Pakistan’s Chief Justice

By demonstrating the importance of functioning and accountable institutions, Pakistan’s lawyers may well have paved the road upon which the long road from its present hell may be charted, writes Mustafa Qadri.

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The Tehrik-e-Nifaaz Shariat Muhammadi, a militant group, ordered government judges not to show up for work “because we are establishing a true Islamic justice system,” said Amir Izzat Khan, a spokesman. The group is introducing Sharia law in the region as part of a government truce with Taliban fighters.

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Here is my report for NewMatilda.com from the lawn of the Chief Justice’s residence in Islamabad the day of his reinstatement.

Long March ends in triumph

Instead of violent confrontation there was jubilation in Islamabad yesterday as the Government bowed to protestors’ demands and reinstated the sacked Chief Justice. Mustafa Qadri reports

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My report for The Guardian from Islamabad the day of the Chief Justice’s reinstatement has just been published here:

Democracy has been revitalised by Pakistan’s Chief Justice

President Zardari’s decision to reinstate Chief Justice Chaudhry has stabilised the country – and saved his political career

Mustafa Qadri

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Here’s a list of breaking developments on the lawyers’ Long March to Islamabd (to restore the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry):
Allegations of torture of lawyers arrested by Police, from Imran Schah in Islamabad.
With the US and UK’s blessing, have Prime Minister Gilani and Army Chief Kayani given President Zardari an ultimatum to reach a [...]

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The crackdown began late Tuesday night, with the government invoking Section 144 of the 1860 Penal Code, a law from the British colonial era that forbids public gatherings of four or more people.

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The Guardian has an excellent photo essay on working conditions in Pakistan for those who make many of the medical instruments used by the UK’s NHS.

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A Gallup poll last month showed that 62 percent of Americans support either an investigation or prosecution of Bush administration officials for torture. Sources familiar with the administration’s thinking say Obama’s team has thoroughly thought through the concept of a torture investigation. President Obama, however, has remained cool to the notion in his public statements.

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The following piece, on the recent peace agreement between the Pakistan Government and Islamic leaders in the northern Malakand district, was posted on the Guardian Comment is Free website today:

Peace or appeasement in Pakistan?

The recent deal between religious leaders in tribal Pakistan and the government legitimates the Taliban insurgency…

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The transparency group Wikileaks has issued a press release regarding a confidential NATO report that details the dramatic increase in civillians deaths, the rise in civil disorer and the lack of basic health care and education in Afghanistan.
(Thanks to Reuben)

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Maulana Fazlullah, chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Swat chapter, on Friday announced relaxation in the ban on girls’ education by allowing students to attend school up-to fourth grade.

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The Australian Government has been gutless in its dealings with Indonesia over the five Australians detained in West Papua…

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The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has cancelled interviews with the BBC over its decision not to broadcast a charity appeal for Gaza.

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Remotely piloted Predator drones operated by the Central Intelligence Agency have carried out 28 missile attacks in Fata since last summer, killing at least 132 people.
The NYT, quoting Pakistani officials, reported that as many as 100 of them were civilians.

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The South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) and South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) have jointly decided to take a Peace Mission from Pakistan to New Delhi from 21st to 24th January 2009. The 19-Member Delegation will interact with civil society, media and political leadership of India to stress the need to keep the peace [...]

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Mohammad Saad breaks into sobs and gut-wrenching moans when he details six years’ humiliation, interrogation and ill-treatment under US orders in Egypt, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

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“Are Pakistani women not human beings? Or are they not considered citizens, deserving equal protection under the constitution and law?”

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I wasn’t able to get to Hyderabad so I went to a public rally by the deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, Iftikhar Chaudhry, in Karachi. It was a hot, humid day owing to the rain the previous evening. It got even hotter and more humid inside the hall where [...]

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