NI 445 - Pakistan - daring to hope - September, 2011

NI 445 - September, 2011

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Pakistan - daring to hope

A note from the editor

Ziauddin Sardar

A brighter future for Pakistan?

While in Pakistan earlier this year, I visited an art exhibition at the Indus School of Art and Architecture in Karachi. It was called ‘And Nothing But the Truth’. It was so well attended that I could hardly get in the gallery; and once inside, it was difficult not to marvel at the quality of art on display. The exhibition explored rumours, risks, negotiation and political complacency. It illustrated not just what Pakistanis are thinking but also what they cannot put into words.

There is a great deal of despair and despondency in Pakistan. But there is also hope. It is provided by all the young people I met at the exhibition and on buses and restaurants in the country. For them Pakistan is not a failed state, but a young country – both in terms of demography and chronology – struggling to shape a viable future. It is a country where art and culture are flourishing. Civil society is alive and fighting. The highly independent media is fearless in the face of fatal danger. We should not underestimate the buoyancy of its people.

We’re also delighted this month to feature an interview with Arundhati Roy, who talks cogently about the state of democracy in her country (India) and elsewhere. And regular columnist Mark Engler reflects on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and argues that the ‘war on terror’ should never have happened.

Ziauddin Sardar for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

In the balance: a stunt rider at a Pakistani travelling circus mesmerizes the crowd. The country's future, too, is finely poised.  Ed Kashi/Corbis

In the balance: a stunt rider at a Pakistani travelling circus mesmerizes the crowd. The country's future, too, is finely poised.

Ed Kashi/Corbis

Pakistan on the edge of hope

Despite its turbulent past, Ziauddin Sardar finds reasons for optimism in Pakistan's future.

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Features

Starting over: a woman plasters the new home she has built.Iva Zimova / Panos

After the floods... A North Frontier village makes a comeback

Merryl Wyn Davies visits a remote village in Northwest Frontier to find out how it is recovering from last year’s devastating floods.

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Pakistan - the facts

Pakistan - the facts

An infographic covering population, religion, quality of life and more.

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A guiding light: a Labour Party supporter remembers political workers killed in the 2007 Karachi riots. The Pakistani Left has since regrouped and hopes to lead the way in the country's future.Athar Hussain/Reuters

The Pakistani Left is re-grouping

The Pakistani Left has a history to be proud of and is regrouping to fight in new battles, as Qualandar Bux Memon and Ali Mohsni report.

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Alternatives

Christie Walk – green and welcoming.

Eco-city dreaming comes true

Brian Loffler on how some blue-skies thinking created a green inspiration.

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Blogs

‘Complete knowledge for long life’ – Ayurveda leads the way

‘Complete knowledge for long life’ – Ayurveda leads the way

A visit to an ayurvedic doctor convinces Mari Marcel Thekaekara that we need to balance the way we live.

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Opinion

Should foreign investment replace aid for Africa?

Should foreign investment replace aid for Africa?

Donu Kogbara and Dereje Alemayehu go head to head - join the debate in this month's Argument.

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Agenda

I am the first to divorce for Guatemala

I am the first to divorce for Guatemala

Guatemalans go to the polls on 11 September - but despite an embarrassment of candidates, many fear it's a case of simply hoping that the least bad option wins.

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Tajik women rally after divorce-by-text

Tajik women rally after divorce-by-text

Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan is experiencing a strange new disintegration of its own. Angela Robson reports.

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Regulars

Stallholders at the spice, vegetable and fruit market in Yerevan. Rita Willaert (under a Creative Commons licence)

Armenia

Facts, figures and ratings in our latest country profile.

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Kim Longinotto

Kim Longinotto

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto on her latest film, Pink Saris.

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Letter from Cairo: the struggle for a free press

Letter from Cairo: the struggle for a free press

The independent press has gained strength from the revolution, writes Maria Golia.

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Interview with Arundhati Roy     Stuart Freedman/Panos

Interview with Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy speaks out: on the moral police of India's anti-corruption campaign, on the silence surrounding civil wars, and on despotism and democracy.

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