Monday, October 4, 2010

"South Asian Security Complex and Pakistan-US Relations Post 9/11' (ABSTRACT)

Following is the abstract and Introduction of a Research Paper entitled 'South Asian Security Complex and Pakistan-US Relations Post 9/11' as appeared in Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) Journal Summer 2010, Volume X, Number 2.


South Asian Security Complex and Pakistan-United States Relations Post 9/11

Amer Rizwan*

Abstract

Post 9/11 Pakistan-United States relations are in many ways a new round of the same game. Although this phase is believed to be a fresh beginning that may usher in a new strategic and sustainable camaraderie between the two counties yet looking at this complex relationship through the prism of the interaction between the regional and global level security complexes points at the continuity of the old patterns. There may have been different paraphernalia to the macro-securitization of Terrorism and that of the Soviet Communism yet in both these cases Pakistan has been motivated to forge close relations with the US, less by the global concerns espoused by the latter, then by its regional security imperatives. The continual intersections between the two security complexes provide an interesting framework for the understanding of the otherwise complex interplay of factors. The current partnership has far reaching implications for all levels of Pakistan’s security i.e. global, regional and domestic. The paper investigates the invariable pros and cons of this quid pro quo partnership for Pakistan.

P

akistan-United States’ relationship in the post 9/11 era has been determined by yet another intersection between the global level trends and the South Asian regional currents. The paper attempts to explain this complex relationship with the help of Barry Buzan’s theoretical framework for security analysis at global, regional and domestic levels,[1] as modified in Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) and the concept of securitization.[2] The study underscores that Pakistan-US relations in the post 9/11 era have had a number of implications for Pakistan’s security at all the three levels i.e., domestic, regional, and global. The first part of the paper explores the issues related to Pakistan’s global and regional security whereas the second part attempts to analyze the impact of Pakistan-US relations in the post 9/11 era on Pakistan’s domestic security.




* Doctoral Candidate, Department of International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University , Islamabad.

[1] Barry Buzan, People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the post Cold War Era, (Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1991), p.193.

[2] Barry Buzan and Ole Waever, Regions and Power: The Structure of International Security. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). See also Barry Buzan and Ole Waever, “Macrosecuritisation and security Constellations: reconsidering scale in securitisaion theory”, Review of International Studies (2009), 35, 253–276 Copyright _ British International Studies Association doi:10.1017/S0260210509008511

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW:

http://ipripak.org/journal/summer2010.shtml

http://ipripak.org/journal/summer2010/Article3.pdf

"Not Like This Before" By Rumi

I wasn't like this before. I wasn't out of my mind and senses.
Once I used to be wise like you, not crazy, insane and broken down like I am now.

I wasn't the admirer of life which has no trace, no being.
I used to ask : "Who is this?
What is that?,"
and search all the time.

Since you have wisdom,
sit and think
that probably I was like this before.
I haven't changed much.

I used to try
to make myself better than everybody.
I hadn't been hunted
with the ever-growing Love before.

I tried to rise above the sky
with my ambition
yet I didn't know.
I was just wandering in the desert.
At the end,
I have raised a treasure from the ground.


Divani Shamsi Tarbrizi,
from "Magnificent One",
by Nevit Orguz Ergin.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

"Only Breath" by Rumi - "My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless"

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim,not Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural system.

I am not from the East or the West,
not out of the ocean or up from the ground,
not natural or etheral,
not composed of elements at all.

I do not exist,
am not an entity in this world
or the next,
did not decend from Adam or Eve
or any origin story.

My place is placeless,
a trace of the traceless.

Neither body or soul.

I belong to the beloved,
have seen the two worlds as oneand that one
call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner,
only that breath breathing human being.

from The Essential Rumi translations by Coleman Barks

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Education, Development & Enlightenment: With Special Reference to Pakistan

Education helps an individual to improve his own individual and social life, and ultimately the overall social values and living standards of a society. Education, however, is not merely a social necessity; it is a religious obligation as well. Our Holy Prophet enjoined us to seek knowledge from cradle to grave. No nation can tread the way of progress until and unless its citizens are truly educated. It is a well-known fact that literacy and education are the essential prerequisites for acquisition and spread of knowledge. This helps a nation to improve its human resource development that is a vital factor in attaining growth and stability. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that seeking education is one of the basic rights of every man and woman. Education, being enlightenment, is the to development. "No education, no development" is, therefore, the correct formula to describe the importance of education.
There is no denying the fact that western hemisphere of our universe has reached the near climax of human civilization just because its inhabitants have equipped themselves with the true wealth of quality education. They continued "to strive, to seek and never to yield," with the result that they excelled in almost every walk of life. However, their quest for knowing more and more, and their urge for moving forward have yet to see a pause.
As a matter of fact, there are many facets of our national and social life here in Pakistan that needs to be looked at with greater degree of skepticism in this modern era of "Brave New World." Needless to say that illiteracy has taken a toll not only on the physical development of Pakistan but has also overshadowed every nook and corner of our socio-economic nay political life. The result is that Pakistan, today, has more illiterates than its total population at the time of independence. Despite this entire gloomy scenario, we used to spend lower even than the target recommended by UNESCO for education in developing countries. New education policy envisages spending about 4% of our GNP on education, which somehow conforms to that target.
Poverty, illiteracy, mismanagement of our scarce resources, and the male-dominated social structure that is hell bent upon maintaining the status quo have been mainly responsible for depriving most of the children of school going age, particularly girls, of this blessing that tends to turn one's eyes to light. Again, most of those who are enrolled leave the school before even going through this elementary phase, mainly, owing to negligence of parents, stereo-typed teaching, lack of funds and incentives on the part of the government etc. Now, the situation, as it stands, is, no doubt, disappointing, but is it depressing and intractable as well? Is there no light at the end of the tunnel?
Of course, nothing is intractable in this world. We are already moving in the positive direction, and as long as this onward movement continues, we have every reason to believe that the target of Universal Primary Education will see the dawn of life sooner than later. As a matter fact, literacy and education prove incremental in alleviating poverty, and in attaining development goals. Nay, it can help shatter our so-called taboos. For instance, the society can be made enlightened, healthier and progressive if it has an awareness regarding diseases such as Aids.
Establishment of Adult schools and Non-formal Basic Education Centres, giving incentives like providing free text books and implementing school nutrition TAWANA programmes, and extending stipends to girl students are but some of the steps that would go a long way in attracting people to schools. One may disagree with government spending tens of thousands of rupees on advertisements, yet the practice is not indefensible. After all this advertisement campaign in itself can be considered to be the inseparable part of this motivation drive.
However, we cannot afford to be content with just being philomaths. Not at all; we are to be proactive in our approach; we are to come forward and play an expeditious role in this regard. After all, we are part and parcel of this system, so getting education on our part, and, in fact, by our scions is not enough. We are to shoulder the responsibility of disseminating education. We must be committed to help coordinate the endeavours of the Government, N.G.Os, philanthropic organizations and media. We might be embers, but can we not kindle a fire? Let we follow the paradigm of "each one, teach one." We are to apprise the children that getting education is one of their basic right under UN Convention on the Rights of Child 1989; we are to motivate them and their elders to contribute and make "National Plan of Action" for "Education for All" a resounding success; we are to contribute in attaining "Universal Primary Education" goals.
For all this, we are to reach the disadvantaged population groups in rural and urban areas with emphasis on girl children. The people belonging to urban slums behind the façade of magnificence find themselves with one of the bitterest realities of the modern life. Although they are socially marginalized and, even ostracized, yet this yawning gap, both in material, as well as in psychological terms, can be minimized by providing them access to the centers of knowledge. It is so, because the urban life is a poly-tone that promises a myriad of opportunities to an individual for his material and intellectual growth. No doubt, it is by no means an easy problem to cope with, yet the more daunting challenge is to make inroads into the centuries-old mindset, in the mostly feudalistic rural set-ups, where male is more powerful and socially resourceful, where the absurd paganic traditions have been clothed with the attire of religion, and where the fair-sex is subjected to the ugliest of rigours.
Nothing, save education and awareness, can bring about change in this mode of life. Circumspection is the key word to describe the process of effecting a change here; it should be both tangible, as well as intangible, and should target both the genders, particularly men who hold the rein of the destinies of their respective families. No doubt, the worm of change has already started galling the forces of conservativism, yet the pace of all this is far from being satisfactory. It is to be realized that we are to work doubly hard on war footing to accelerate the process of change, nay to effect a virtual volte-face.
Imparting true religious education to both the genders can be one of the ways of doing that. For instance, it can be instilled in the minds, particularly, of the rural folk that getting education is a religious obligation, and that Prophet (PBUH) had called upon both his male and female followers to get education. Awareness has to be created among parents that a daughter has an equal right to the love and affection of her elders, and that sending her to centers of learning is our foremost moral, social and religious duty, because after all,
"My son is my son till he gets a wife, my daughter is my daughter all her life." — Robert Burns (1759- 796), Scottish poet
Only after creating, a sense of gender parity among the drivers of our social vehicle i.e. men, that women can be educated and thereby empowered. And unless that is done, the very concept of development would be lopsided.
The only panacea for inspiring the vision of "enlightened moderation" as has been enunciated by President Parvez Musharraf, is to educate the nation as a whole irrespective of the gender, origin and material status of the citizens of Pakistan. It is commendable that the present Government is spending unprecdentally more on education. While there can be no two opinions on this ground, yet I would condescend to expostulate that the bulk of the resources should be spent upon spreading education at the grassroots level, because it is there that the shoe pinches. Nonetheless, I would reiterate that major chunk of the responsibility rests on the members of the civil society; they have to "to shake shoulders of their lulled lot." They can no longer afford to be somnolent; they are to rise right now.
"Defer not till tomorrow to be wise, tomorrow's sun to thee may never rise" — William Congreve (1670-1729), English dramatist

Friday, October 1, 2010

Youth, Women, TV with Reference to Pakistan



Youth, Women, TV with Reference to Pakistan
by Amer Rizwan Copyrights@amerrizwan
TV Drama in Pakistan has been used to target and impact Pakistan¡¯s youth. Idealized beauty standards, irrelevant cross gender relationship, and domestication are only some of the ways that young women in the media are portrayed today. This trends besides the inescapable negative fall outs on the youth in general and the young woman in particular has contributed in effecting a greater understanding among the different strata of the society as well. Although in most of the cases like in classical TV Dramas such as ¡®Deewarain¡¯, ¡®Jangle¡¯ etc. woman has been shown as an abject thing; a property of the dominant gender of the society yet some of the plays such as ¡®Unkahi¡¯, ¡®Tanhanian¡¯ have given her a new vision of confidence and a proper place in the traditional society. Let¡¯s be honest, the average woman/girl in this country does not look like Vaneeza Ahmad, Nadia Khan. Veena Malik, Mahnoor Baloch or Amna Haq. So why is it that average women are not represented in mass media formats? It¡¯s actually a simple answer. Idealized beauty standards are seen everywhere from commercials, to TV shows and movies. We are constantly being bombarded with advertising, opinions, images and stories which appear to be forcing us to conform to a specific image of how we are supposed to be, whether it be thinner, more intelligent or prettier, and no matter how much we try to persuade ourselves that we are...
The media industry in general and TV in particular is one that has a major effect on how young women are viewed in society. Young women often have roles as passive and vulnerable characters that tend to leave the tough, strong and assertive roles to men. Women¡¯s roles are written with irrelevant relationships – their characters¡¯ primary function is to please men. It is clear that images of young women in the media have a tremendous impact on young people everywhere. Whether it is through film, music, or any other mass media format the public is constantly pressured to fit into today¡¯s ideal of what beauty is. Young people are influenced to act like the characters they watch on TV. It seems that now more than ever in an industry obsessed with youth, there is no better way to describe what really matters than presenting feminine charms as the sellable commodity.
Fehmida Ki Kahani Ustani Rahat Ki Zabani is an unforgettable play and a yardstick to measure any future endeavours in drama writing, production and histrionics. The different strands of the story would centre round life¡¯s vicissitudes, characters from all walks of life, and lines that would be impregnated with philosophy and meaning that would permeate the heart, mind and soul of any viewer. The leanings of modern society depicted through strong characterization and brilliant histrionics would be handled deftly, and the end would portray a transfer of ideas and thoughts from the elderly to the younger, confused set. A complex of generation-gap issues and woman related dilemmas were handled in a most thought-provoking manner, something especially characteristic of Ashfaq Ahmed¡¯s plays.
The performance by Khurshid Shahid in this classical PTV plays continue to spellbind viewers even today, after several decades. One remembers her magnificence as an actor in the mother¡¯s role whose young daughter dies of depression. The play, Fehmida Ki Kahani Ustani Rahat Ki Zabani, is so compelling that despite being aired 20 years ago; it is still very popular with viewers.
Almost all of the scenes, including the last intense scene, were so moving that long after the scene was over, that viewers couldn¡¯t help crying. The story hovers round a middle class girl, Fahmida, the sensitive and pulsating daughter of a hard-working but school teacher called as Ustani Rahat. Fahmeeda tries to emulate the daughter of the affluent parents – their landlords and develops a sort of depression that ultimately takes her life.
Similarly, ¡°Baityian¡± is a typical drama highlighting woman issues. All the three daughters of a poor father are still to be wedded in a society where far from providing any social security, the social vultures are bent upon pouncing upon the poor souls. The hapless father is compelled to announce in the Masjid that he intends to marry off his daughters with any pious Muslim. The starkest social dilemma, the youngest one is married off to a person of the age of her father. More tragically, the so-called bridegroom has already a wife. One of them while looking for jobs, has to face many problems including getting permission to that effect from his father. When she gets one, she develops an understanding with a colleague, but the latter¡¯s parents do not allow him to marry her. The sister younger than the older one is of dark complexion and is unable to hunt any suitors for her.
Aahat (An Approaching Sound) is the story of a young couple, their dreams, social pressures and the consequences of having too many children too soon. The television drama of six one-hour episodes is an outstanding example of the success of the Enter-Educate concept in diffusing family planning messages. It marked the first highly visible collaboration between Pakistan TV and the National Population Program, signaling a positive change in high-level government commitment to family planning communication in Pakistan. As in many Muslim societies, family planning has long been considered too sensitive a topic for mass media. However, the overwhelmingly positive response that the drama received has quieted such misconceptions and given high visibility to family planning. Originally scripted in Urdu, followed by an English subtitled version, the drama was broadcast on Pakistan Television (PTV) beginning October 1, 1991. Aahat, a drama woven out of the human issues at the heart of family welfare, was shaped by key research findings on the process of family planning decision-making. The drama aimed at increasing husband-wife communication on issues of birth spacing and increasing demand for contraceptive services.