For the Wall Street Journal: Hundreds of men crowded the plaza in front of the Mosque of Martyr’s in Islamabad, Pakistan earlier this month after Friday prayers, lining up to pay their respects to an opposition politician executed in Bangladesh for committing war crimes during that country’s 1971 struggle for independence. Abdul Quader Molla, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader, had a strong support base in Pakistan, the country whose eastern flank was cut off during the war to create Bangladesh. “His only crime was to try and…Continue Reading “In Pakistan, Blame and Regret Over Bangladesh”
For The Wall Street Journal: Nawaz Ali Muhammad, a fisherman from the small village of Shah Bunder in southern Pakistan, went missing during a cyclone over the Arabian Sea in 1999. His wife believed he was killed in the storm. But six years later, she heard he was alive, in an Indian prison. A fellow Pakistani fisherman had been released from the prison, and upon returning to Pakistan said he had met Mr. Muhammad. It took another year for the Indian government to acknowledge that Mr….Continue Reading “The Lost Fishermen of India and Pakistan”
For the Wall Street Journal: According to the United Nations Development Program, more than 60% of Karachi’s residents live in illegal housing areas, many in unplanned slums like Orangi. These settlements are off the grid and often the scene of deadly shootings between rival gangs. Orangi’s residents are now turning to confront who owns the land they live on and OPP has expanded its work to help residents get rights to land and clean water. But by widening the focus, the NGO says it has…Continue Reading “In Asia’s Largest Slum, Development, Danger”
For the Wall Street Journal: Rights groups welcome Pervez Musharraf-era reforms to Pakistan’s electoral system, which helped put religious minorities on an equal footing with Muslims. But Ahmadis say they were left out, and some other religious minorities say they still don’t have adequate representation in Parliament. “We want to be part of the mainstream, but they [the government] won’t let us. They are keeping us out of elections,” a spokesman for Pakistan’s Ahmadi community said. Muslim extremists in Pakistan persuaded the government to pass…Continue Reading “The Pakistanis Who Won’t Vote”