Pakistan Press on American Backslide, Hinge of Prejudice and Syria: New Age Islam's Selection, 3 October 2020
By New Age Islam Edit
Bureau
3 October
2020
• The Great American Backslide
By Dr Ayesha Razzaque
• Divisions Created By A Paranoid Worldview
Never Sustain Tenable Identities
By Farrukh Khan Pitafi
• Geostrategic Consequences of the Syrian
Crisis Cannot Be Underrated
By Arhama Siddiqa
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The Great American Backslide
By Dr Ayesha Razzaque
October 3,
2020
The writer
is an independent education researcher and consultant. She has a PhD in
Education from Michigan State University.
The US is
home to most of the world’s best and most prestigious universities, and college
application season for 2021 is upon us. Last year, there were numerous reports
of the Trump administration making it more difficult for, or refusing
international students in graduate school programs, even at its most
prestigious universities, permission to work (and eventually settle) in the US
after graduating. These are precisely the kind of highly skilled immigrants the
Trump administration claims it wants, yet its actions show otherwise.
Then,
earlier in this summer, as the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was cresting
in many countries, American colleges were deciding how they could conduct their
fall and spring semesters this academic year – on campus, online or some way in
between. In the midst of this debate, the Trump administration announced that
international students at colleges and universities that would opt for online
classes will have to leave the country for the duration they do not have on
campus classes.
A few days
ago, on September 25, the Trump administration announced its intention to
change student visa rules again. Previously, students could legally stay in the
US as long as their university certifies them as enrolled students, even if the
date on their visa had expired. PhD students in particular, whose programs can
take anywhere from 4 to 10 years, often have to make use of this provision.
This provision also allows students to maintain their legal residency status if
they are unable to find a job immediately after graduation. The new changes
would restrict students to remain in the US for only four years, with the
possibility of applying for an extension, whose outcome would be highly
uncertain.
Students
from countries designated state sponsors of terrorism by the US (Iran, Sudan,
Syria, North Korea) and countries whose students have an overstay rate of
greater than 10 percent (a list that includes around 60 countries) will see the
validity of their visas further reduced to only two years. That is just enough
to graduate from an associate bachelor’s or master’s programs.
The message
to international students is clear: Come to the US, graduate within four years,
but leave immediately thereafter, maybe with a degree or maybe without.
Predictably, the effect of these changes has been chilling.
The cost of
tuition fee of a four-year bachelor’s program at most top-100 national
universities for international students is around $50,000-70,000 a year. Add in
the cost of living and you are looking at a total price tag of $250,000-400,000
for the entire program, depending on location. Understandably, when
international students invest this much in their education, many do so looking
beyond college and plan to work in the US, for a variety of reasons like
getting US work experience, recouping the cost of their education, or to
eventually settle in the US.
For host
countries, in this case the US, the economic case for retaining skilled and
educated international students is quite straightforward: Let other countries
spend their tax revenues and resources on schooling and bringing up children,
let them come for higher education while paying higher tuition fees at its
universities, and when they graduate and are about to become productive, pluck
them off by enticing them into staying. The host country gets a worker without
investment, while the home country gets to bemoan its brain drain.
Some of the
best years of my life were the ones I spent in graduate school in the US. It
was a time of learning, intellectual growth, new experiences and exposure to
new values, ideas and a diversity of people that changed me for the better.
That change flows both ways. In 2018, around 6,300 students (12.6 percent) of
Michigan State University’s 50,000 students came from 140 countries. While many
colleges are located in major urban areas, a great many are situated in small
towns that popped up around those colleges. When such large groups of international
students live as part of smaller communities, they change their character for
the better, creating small, liberal bubbles where locals would otherwise not
have the opportunity to experience such diversity.
Colleges
and their students, including international students, are valued as major
drivers of their local economies. In 2018, international students contributed
$45 billion to the US economy in the form of spending on retail, dining and
transportation alone (excluding tuition fees). In the America outside the DC
Beltway, and smaller communities in particular, they are ambassadors and
representatives of their home countries.
I am
grateful for my American experiences and remain a well-wisher of the American
people. That is why it is so painful to see the regression, this backslide of
the valuation of diversity, talent and expertise, and the growth of boorish
ignorance and hostile nationalist pride. Soon after Trump won the 2016
elections, a good American friend of mine messaged me to say it is a good thing
I had returned to Pakistan when I did, because things were turning ugly. At the
time, I thought this may be an exaggeration by someone not used to seeing
social and cultural upheaval, as we are in Pakistan. Almost four years of an
administration that has consistently shown that, when given a set of options,
it is sure to choose the one most hostile to minorities, communities of color,
immigrants and visitors, I stand corrected.
Meanwhile,
state universities have seen significant cutbacks in state support since the
financial crisis in 2008. They see international students, who they charge
multiple times the tuition fee of in-state students, as a means to cover the
shortfall. Their PR departments are in damage control mode, trying to contain
the fallout from the administration’s statements and actions.
This
unwelcoming attitude is reflected in the number of international students
coming to the US since the current administration took office. According to a
report by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in 2016-17 (the last
academic year before the Trump administration) the US had about 1,080,000
international students. In the chilled climate of the following year, in
2017-18, that number grew by only 1.5 percent. The year after that, in 2018-19,
it grew by an almost imperceptible 0.05 percent!
Pakistan’s
share in this number in 2018-19 is only around 8,000 students (0.7 percent),
ranking it at #22, but at a rate of 5.6 percent year-over-year its share is one
of the fastest growing. Pakistanis’ long-standing conviction that a good
education will lead to a better life is, to me, our culture’s most redeeming
value that leaves me with hope for a better future.
You may
ask: if the stagnation in the number of international students in the US is not
a secular trend, what countries are picking up the slack? Over the same time
period, 2016 to 2018, Canada saw a growth of more than 36 percent in its
international student population. Even the UK, while in the throes of Brexit
and where international student numbers have plateaued in the previous decade,
saw a more than nine percent increase in this period. Talent is globally
mobile, seeks out economic opportunities, quality of life and places it feels
valued and welcomed and votes with its feet.
According
to CNN’s poll of polls, 43 percent of Americans are prepared to vote for the
incumbent Trump. This stacks up with the solid 35 percent floor of support
Trump has been enjoying at even the lowest moments of his presidency. If Trump
wins in November, we can expect a deepening and entrenchment of these policies.
In 2024, that could leave the vast stretches of America outside its liberal
urban bubbles a fearful and suspicious version of its former open self,
receding from the world and unrecognizable from the country I once knew. If he
loses, prospective students may hope to see at least a partial unwinding of his
administration's policies.
However,
whether Trump wins or loses this November, the last few years the US has shown
the world that almost half of its people, more than a small fringe, are not too
bothered by Trump’s isolationist worldview and the policies that spring from
it. Both the world and the US are poorer for it.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/723691-the-great-american-backslide
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Divisions Created By a Paranoid Worldview Never
Sustain Tenable Identities
By Farrukh Khan Pitafi
October 02,
2020
On
September 30, a special court in Lucknow robbed India of its democratic
credentials. Democracies usually have fully functioning institutions where some
semblance of impartiality is always maintained. The verdict of the Babri Masjid
demolition case, which came after 28 years of the incident, was unique. All 32
accused in one of history’s most well documented fanatic campaigns, which left
2,000 (mainly Muslims) dead and incurred a loss of around $3.6 billion, were
acquitted citing absence of evidence. In 1992, LK Advani, flanked by the ruling
BJP’s leading lights including one Narendra Modi, had led a chariot march which
culminated into the mob frenzy that brought the Babri structure down and a
bloodbath all in plain sight. If a couple of them were spared it would have
been expediency, if only a few of them were punished it would have been
tokenism, but when all of them walked free this had to be a message. The
stranglehold of the RSS and its inspired political parties on Indian state and
society was complete. I have already pointed out in a separate piece that in
1988, Girilal Jain, the then editor of The Times of India and a far-right
ideologue, had used the term “clash of civilisations” to describe the Babri
Masjid dispute.
On
September 29, at the debate stage, President Trump shocked a global audience
when he visibly and unambiguously failed to condemn white supremacy. While it
may further lend credence to the “Trump is a racist” narrative, the reality is
far more complicated. When invited to condemn it, he asked the moderator to
give him a name so that he could denounce it. When he was offered the name of
Proud Boys, the best he could do was to ask the group to “stand back and stand
by”. Since then the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist, male only group with white
supremacist roots has gone to town in celebration and printed T-shirts with
Trump’s words. Originally a part of the alt-right, Proud Boys soon split ways with
the big tent movement citing its reservations about the focus on race. They
claim to defend the Western civilisation and Western values rather than the
white race. The group is connected to Trump campaign’s high-profile surrogates
like Roger Stone and is often the first to confront any far-left protest rally
challenging President Trump. You can see why he would be reluctant.
On
September 25, a 25-year-old man of Pakistani origin was arrested in Paris for
carrying out a knife attack ostensibly to protest Charlie Hebdo’s decision to
reprint the contentious caricatures. Charlie Hebdo’s decision was apparently
meant to mark the trial of those involved in the 2015 terror attack. Usually
when an attack of this sort takes place the media usually mentions the country
of origin not the city of origin. But reports about the apprehended man, who
initially lied about his name and age but remarkably not the country or city of
origin, carried the name of the city of his origin — Mandi Bahauddin. And while
the Pakistani media was still wrapping its head around the development, the
Indian media was already running the interview of the said man’s father
claiming how proud he was of his son. Granted India is very close to France
these days, because of the Rafale deal of course, and it habitually obsesses
about anything that brings the Pakistani state and society into disrepute but
this whole affair appeared too picture perfect. It does not hurt that such
events further enhance the current Indian ruling elite’s claim that a clash
exists between Islam and the West.
On July 24,
Turkey’s President Erdogan led the first prayer in Hagia Sophia to mark its
conversion into a mosque. When asked to comment on the subject, I told the
questioner that I did not see the reason behind the move because right next to
Hagia Sophia stands the historic Blue Mosque which can accommodate 10,000
worshippers at a time, where prayers are organised five times daily and has
never been seen running to capacity. Erdogan’s decision reverses the order of modern
Turkey’s founder and a personal favourite Kemal Ataturk who decided to give it
the status of a national museum and ties neatly into the incumbent President’s
project of connecting directly to the Ottoman past. Naturally, it also
convinces Huntington’s followers that they are on the right path.
You may
notice three major trends here. First, the rise of far-right stronger around
the world. Two, a push to homogenise their respective societies. Three, an
attempt to other anything that does not reinforce this homogeneity, demonise
heterogeneity and weaponise cultural boundaries. And while studying these
patterns you are shocked by another interesting aspect. The Indian media’s
obsession with such stories. Take for instance the above-mentioned stories and
google them. You will be surprised to find a disproportionate coverage of all
four. This despite the fact that stories like over one year of continued
Kashmiri suffering, cow vigilantism in rural UP, the unfolding human tragedy in
Indian Assam, economic meltdown and similar major issues are often dropped to
accommodate such coverage. What is going on? Has India’s hatred towards China
and Muslims in general created a blind spot which does not let it see the
plight of its own citizens? Or is it a manifestation of Ajit Doval’s Defensive
Offence doctrine? I know it can be dismissed as paranoia but sadly many in the
Indian diaspora have not been able to extricate themselves from the negative
influence of Modi and his cohorts especially now that they control the powerful
Indian state. And while the South Asian diaspora remains deeply divided it has
gained a lot of power and influence in the West. It would be great if it could
for once decide that it will not support extremism of any kind.
I bring
this matter up again and again because my long-held belief is now proven beyond
any shadow of doubt. Divisions created by a paranoid worldview never sustain
tenable identities. They give birth to the ever-growing sickness of prejudice
which tears societies apart. In India, this may lead to casteism, provincialism
and linguistic divides, in the Muslim world to sectarianism and in the West to
racism.
Like
microbes crawling on a tiny pebble ashore an infinite ocean, we sit on planet
earth and bemoan shrinking resources and plot against each other when we know
it all will hurt us in the end. Instead of investing in hate, prejudice and
paranoia true national security concerns ought to invest in the scientific,
humanitarian and pluralistic enterprise. The world society is far too intermingled
to sustain a push for homogeneity. That way lies only ruin.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2266712/the-hinge-of-prejudice
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Geostrategic Consequences of The Syrian Crisis
Cannot Be Underrated
By Arhama Siddiqa
October 02,
2020
On
September 7, at the Masnaa Border Crossing (between Lebanon and Syria),
17-year-old, Zainab Mohammed Al Ibrahim collapsed and died. Though the cause of
death has not been identified, it was determined she was part of a large group
of Syrians on their way to their homeland. They had been barred entry since
they could not pay the $100 (SYP 51,317) entrance fee that the Assad regime
mandated in July 2020. Zainab Al Ibrahim’s death comes a month after the Syrian
government declared that irrespective of nationality, all those wishing to
leave Syria have to pay a $100 departure fee. The official line is that this is
remuneration for Covid-19 tests conducted for those people departing the
country. However, the tests are a cover-up for the regime’s desperation for
acquiring hard currency to counter the economic ramifications of the United
States’ sanctions imposed through the Caesar Act earlier this year.
Another
impediment the Syrian regime has set for its citizens is lack of certification.
The now nine-and-a-half-year war, which has killed hundreds of thousands and
forced millions to flee, has left a majority of the Syrians lacking various
types of civil documentation necessary for accessing healthcare, education and
aid. The scatter caused by the war has resulted in complete disconnect of many
Syrians from the Syrian bureaucracy — the only authority that can officially
issue paperwork and legal documents.
Safe to say
that the Syrian government’s regeneration plans offer no outlooks for safe and
dignified refugee return.
Moreover, to
further stoke up the already bad situation, since 2011 the Assad regime has
initiated more than 50 laws on housing, land and property matters. These have
provided legal cover to the state to decimate areas formerly under opposition
control and complicate and prevent the return of civilians to certain areas.
The most alluded to act is Law No. 10 (passed in 2018) according to which
Syrian inhabitants have a year to showcase proof of ownership of property, in
an area marked for reconstruction purposes. Failure to do so will result in
transfer of proprietorship to the regime. On the rare occasion that correct
documentation is presented, citizens have the options of getting land shares or
creating companies to invest in and develop the reconstruction area. This
process of selective reconstruction is deepening existing socio-political
fissures. The Assad regime’s strategies are designed to benefit only their
coterie at the expense of public interest by strengthening existing and new
regime backers. This in itself is proof that for the Syrian administration,
consolidating power is the top priority — one they will go to any lengths for.
Even if it entails crushing their own populace in the process.
The Syrian
economic situation keeps deteriorating. Hyperinflation has reduced people to
boiling weeds for sustenance. Long queues, spanning miles, at petrol stations
are the norm. Syria’s oil production is now a sixth of what it was before 2011,
60% of businesses have shut down and those that remain are barely surviving. To
protect its banking system, the regime has limited withdrawals and forbidden
dollar transactions. Despite all this, fighting continues unabated in many
parts of the country. Regional and global powers are bent on pursuing their
vested interests. ISIS also rears its head time and again. The promised US
troop withdrawal never materialised. Instead US soldiers are now helping Kurds
secure authority over the oil rich fields in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate.
The
geostrategic consequences of the Syrian crisis cannot be underrated. Even after
nearly a decade of war, the regime is unfit to address the increasing number of
challenges it faces on all fronts. If Syria’s economic collapse continues, a
new wave of restlessness, this time from regime loyalists, will inevitably
rise, thus amplifying projections for intractable conflict, destruction and
disintegration.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2266706/attaching-price-tags
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