Read my recent article that explores on whether the closure of Guantanamo Bay is the tip of the ice-berg or a remarkable step on its own. The original article is published in Suite101.
Monday morning, last day of bank holiday weekend, and I was sleeping in late when a message from a friend in Egypt woke me up - "Osama bin Laden is dead" it read. Being my mother's daughter, any such news on TV and my first reaction is to run to the TV and staye glued to it for the next several hours, if not the next few days, flicking between news channels and hearing every political analysis possible. My first reaction? I thought Osama bin Laden died a few years ago! The next slightly saner reaction? Pakistan is screwed now! But the more and more I think about it, the conspiracy theorist within me continues to stare back at me saying "The war on terrorism is so not over...it might just be the beginning!" Victory is like an opium you get addicted to. The death of bin Laden is a symbolic victory as many are calling it, but it is a huge symbolic victory which makes his enemies feel more addicted to winning, and definitely invokes a stronger self-belief in th
The extremely sad assassination of Salman Taseer has shocked Pakistanis throughout the world and is a shrewd reminder of how Pakistan’s state of affairs have reached a point that not a day goes by without a disturbing news. Living outside of Pakistan, I am trying as quickly as possible to hover all the details, and reactions about the tragic death of a well-renowned governor of the country. There are articles over the net discussing groups that hold the assassin as a hero and others condemning the vileness that is attached with any murder. The incident is a sombre reminder of where Pakistan is coming from, and the direction in which things are leading. For me, it is an episode of bafflement, a reminder that things in the country are no longer wrong or right, they are chaotic and we have ended up in this in a complicated trail of events because of our own short-sightedness and lack of sensitivity. There are speculations on whether the murderer acted under the instructions of a bigge
As I sit here breathless in London, flicking channels between Al Jazeera English, BBC, CNN and France 24, in anxiety and excitement to see what Hosni Mubarak will announce within the hour, I cant help but realize what the last 14 days with Egypt has taught me. It's been a rush of emotions, for me in the last few hours, a non-Egyptian, feeling in one with the Egyptians standing on Tahrir Square, and all the revolutionaries around the world. I have been going to work every day but keeping my browser tabs open to Twitter, Al Jazeera English Live stream and BBC live stream following closely what the youth in Cairo and Alexandria were achieving by the mere power of their unity and patience. Power of People Hundreds of people sacrificed their lives in this struggle but it only strengthened the resolve of the activists from Maidan Tahrir (Liberation Square). Noam Chomsky has spoken about people power being a power to reckon with, that when united can confront the political-economic p
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