This war could be lost, not because territory was seceded but because the Taliban would have taken over Pakistan’s air waves. A country of 180 million, many of whom are in the rural and under-served areas are accessing unregulated illegal radio stations run by the...
Pulished by Global Information Society Watch By Aisha Sarwari, Gul Bukhari and Shahzad Ahmad www.bytesforall.pk PAKISTAN Introduction This report seeks to provide a broad overview of the status of women’s rights in Pakistan, to identify unique areas peculiar to Pakistan, and to contextualise them in terms of the impact and...
Published in The Daily Times on February 16, 2014 By Aisha F. Sarwari The cure to the exploitation and oppression of women is more freedom for them, not less. The Taliban do not agree. In fact, women factor in the equation as the ones to be eliminated, purged,...
Published in Daily Times on February 02, 2014 By Aisha F. Sarwari In 1878, the US passed the Ku Klux Klan Act, also known as the Third Force Act, to authorise President Ulysses S Grant to declare martial law, impose penalties against terrorist organisations and use military...
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2013. Underneath the fierce nationalism of some statesmen, a new narrative has emerged. It talks of the cultural repression of Muslim women, the drift towards bigotry and the wondrous architecture of buildings and language — this narrative says that...
Published in the Daily Times on October 29th 2013. Any exposition on the murder of Salmaan Taseer points to the fact that the Pakistani media was squarely responsible. Not just that, the pundits made a hero out of the killer. It’s déjà vu. In a ratings...
Interview on NPR on October 25, 2013: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/25/240749015/do-pakistanis-support-us-drone-attacks?ft=1&f=1014# Drone strikes in Pakistan are in the spotlight after that country's Prime Minister visited the U.S., and a new report detailed hundreds of civilian casualties from American attacks. But how do people in Pakistan view drones? Host Michel Martin...
Our message to young girls reads as: you can be shot in the head for fighting for your right to an education; you could be imprisoned if you are framed for blasphemy, and you could be gang-raped for being what 5-year-olds are: vulnerable. The stories...
Published in Daily Times on August 6th 2013. Picture shows total number of anti-Ahmedi stories run by the Urdu Pres since 2007. “That looks very biblical,” I said out loud while approaching the place Ahmedis call their sanctuary, Rabwa. Incidentally, the name of the city was changed...
“There will never be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” Susan B. Anthony – 50 Shades of Feminism Published at PakVotes on May 3rd 2013 Picture: Courtesy http://www.english.pakvotes.pk None of the key issues Pakistani women face will ever find the right solutions unless...