Pakistan Press On Kamala Harris , Trumpism And Human Right Violations In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: New Age Islam's Selection, 11 November 2020
By New Age Islam Edit
Desk
11 November
2020
• Election Of Harris Reiterates That Immigrants
Are Not The Despicable Interloping Outsiders
By Rafia Zakaria
• Overview Of Human Right Violations In Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
By Yasmeen Aftab Ali
• Global Trumpism Lives On
By Zahid Hussain
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Election Of Harris Reiterates That Immigrants
Are Not The Despicable Interloping Outsiders
By Rafia Zakaria
11 Nov 2020
ON Nov 7,
2020, an ebullient Kamala Harris took the stage as the first woman and the
first woman of colour to be elected vice president of the United States. Her
history-making speech, delivered at the end of a long and trying week in America
(and much of the world), will undoubtedly be quoted widely. Harris’s candidacy
and her victory represent for Americans, and for others around the world, the
power of possibility.
Here was a
child of immigrant parents, a mother from South India and a father from
Jamaica, who had surpassed countless obstacles and made history. Women wept in
the audience and at home as Harris delivered her most memorable line, “I may be
the first woman in this office, but I will not be the last.”
In South
Asia, where women’s successes are, as a matter of habit and routine, looked at
with scepticism, there was less excitement. Some Indians immediately tried to
claim her, not because she represents the potential of Indian women, but
because she may deliver up choice tidbits of concessions to the Modi
administration. Many Muslims took the bait and immediately began to critique
and denounce Harris based on vague connections and support for Israel.
Neither, of
course, are correct; unlike many other Indian-American candidates (Tulsi
Gabbard, for example), she was not close to the pro-Modi diaspora Indian
community.
Kamala
Harris, like Barack Obama before her, is an expression of the amalgam of
cultures, languages and diaspora that is America today. Her mother, Shyamala,
arrived in the United States at 19 to pursue a PhD. Soon after, she met and
married Harris’s father, a Jamaican immigrant. When the marriage ended,
Shyamala decided to raise her daughters on her own, and that is exactly what
she did, working all the while as a cancer researcher.
The
election of Harris reiterates that immigrants are not the despicable
interloping outsiders Trump has made them out to be
In her
daughters, she instilled a tireless work ethic, a tough-as-nails sense of
fortitude and the belief that they could overcome any obstacles in their way.
After graduating from high school, Harris went to Howard University, one of the
historically black colleges and universities, before going on to law school.
Her career since has been a series of firsts, from becoming the first woman of
colour to serve as attorney general of the state of California, and then all
the way to the vice presidency a mere four years after she was elected to the
Senate for the very first time.
In
Pakistan, girls are often told that they, too, can be anything, but this is far
from the truth. When Pakistan did elect a female prime minister, she belonged
to a class of landed elite so powerful that it rendered her gender an
afterthought. In India, Priyanka Gandhi is undertaking the family business of
politics along much the same lines.
Even in the
United States, this very nearly happened. Unlike Kamala Harris, who is a truly
self-made woman, Hillary Clinton rode on the coattails of her husband, using
her access to the presidency to make a political career for herself. It would
be correct to say that had it been Hillary Clinton rather than Kamala Harris
who broke the glass ceiling and was elected, it would be a less compelling case
for the power of a self-made woman.
Given the
age of President-elect Joe Biden, it is entirely possible that he will choose
not to run for a second term. Even before Harris was selected, there were
plenty of rumors about how Biden’s vice presidential candidate would find
himself or herself running for president. It is possible, given this view, that
Kamala Harris’s speech was the beginning of her campaign for 2024. She is
already the first female vice president; she may soon be president of the
United States.
The
positioning of immigrants within American political discourse has been tested
in the past four years. Led by his xenophobic and Islamophobic adviser Stephen
Miller, Trump has done everything to undermine the possibility of ‘becoming’
American. The push to realise a white nationalist agenda has meant that the
definition of American has been theoretically and visibly reduced.
The
election of Harris thus represents a retaking, a reiteration, that immigrants
are not the despicable interloping outsiders Trump has made them out to be,
but, as in the case of Harris’s own parents, are raising the future leaders of
the nation.
It is hard
not to want to wish for the existence of similar possibilities in Pakistan.
Structural problems, a male-dominated and majoritarian society, the rapacious
constrictions presented as essential by clerics all collude to make this almost
impossible. Ideas of what a woman should be or must be revolve around clothing
or piety or domesticity such that the women who do want to do something more,
rise above and lead, are left to sob amid the wreckage of their dreams.
Pakistan
must change. The achievements of other women in other countries reveal a bold
new world where the primordial questions of skin colour or sect or whatever
else are being transcended. Connectivity enables exchanges within an instant,
and yet the Pakistani woman who may be a lawyer or doctor or scientist has to
worry about whether her mother-in-law will be upset if she stays late at work
in order to finish an assignment.
Soon, the
second most powerful woman in the United States, arguably the world, will be a
black and South Asian child of immigrants. The issues and enthusiasm around
this event have the power to galvanise and inspire women all around the world.
Pakistani women also need to think about transcending barriers and breaking
ceilings. As Harris’s election reveals, over 200 years of history, of obstacles
and exclusions all in the favour of white men, can be overcome if a woman and
her country come together.
----
Rafia Zakaria is an attorney teaching
constitutional law and political philosophy.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1589720/kamala-fever
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Overview Of Human Right Violations In Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
By Yasmeen Aftab Ali
NOVEMBER
11, 2020
The 34th
Annual General Meeting of HRCP was held on 8th November 2020 in Lahore. Among
reports of different chapters, the one that caught one’s eye was of Khyber
Pakhtunkwa. (Period September 2019-October 2020. The report was prepared by
Peshawar HRCP Chapter and presented by the newly elected Vice President of HRCP
KP Chapter Advocate Kamran Arif.
Some of the
pertinent points stick out like a sore thumb. These need urgent attention.
The merger
of formerly Federally Administered Tribal areas of Orakzai, Bajur, Mohmand,
Kurram, and North & South Waziristan with KP has not led to an increase in
quality of life for the people. It has rather led to regression. As Advocate
Kamran Arif said, “It’s not the FATA that has merged into KP. It’s KP that has
merged in FATA.” A puzzling statement until one understands the background.
FATA has
continued to be a legacy of the system established by pre-partition British
India. Little had transpired to change the socio-politico landscape of FATA. No
major initiative for the development of FATA was taken in 1980’s and in 1990’s
except the introduction of adult franchise in 1997. This was not supported by
extension of Political Parties Act to FATA, as a result; the impact was less
significant in general uplift of the tribesmen.
On June
25th 2013, on the front page of The Nation an advertisement was placed by the
FATA Grand Assembly Peshawar titled as “FATA Declaration”. This advertisement,
by the tribal elders, religious clerics, political and social activists,
students, women activists, lawyers, journalists, teachers and other citizens
from FATA claiming to have come together from all seven agencies had adopted
the Declaration. The Constitution of Pakistan 1973 assures all its citizens the
Fundamental Rights including right to fair trial, right to freedom of speech,
right to access to information, liberty, dignity, equal protection under law,
privacy of the home, so on and so forth. Similarly laws cannot be made that
ignore the principle of double jeopardy, detention without legal counsel,
retrospective punishment etc. The Declaration beseeched that these fundamental
rights must be ensured for the people of FATA. (Article 247 of the constitution
of Pakistan granted a special status to FATA, whereby no act of Parliament or
the jurisdiction of the High /Supreme Judiciary extendable to the region.)
Sadly,
honour killings from September 2019-October 2020 were 95. Out of this 53 women,
34 men and 8 children were killed. Also cases of sexual abuse were high. 91
sexual assault cases were reported including 52 minor boys, 28 minor girls, 9
women and 1 transgender
Lack of
awareness of residents of the newly merged districts regarding laws and
judicial system at large, make it tough for them to redress grievances. FCR was
abolished upon the merger. A law similar to FCR was introduced allowing the
system to run more or less the same. This was struck down by the Peshawar High
Court as being unconstitutional. At this point reportedly, the issue is in
limbo. Here comes the practical problem: there are no courts at any level so
far established in former FATA area and neither are there any jails. This is a
situation the government must address with urgency. Another related issue is
lack of computerized ownership of land.
Further
confusion is created with passing of an Act in 2018 by the KP Provincial
Assembly, vide which all regulations which were applicable before the 25th
Amendment in the Constitution will be applicable as before; says Advocate Sher
Muhammad Khan.
The second
crucial emerging problem is re-emergence of splinter groups of Taliban. If left
to grow, the problem will spin out of control, destroying all the hard work
done. As per report 45 terrorism incidents were reported in 2019 alone. South
Waziristan topped the others with 25 incidents causing 17 deaths, and 26
wounded. Bajur & Khyber followed with 15 & 12 terrorists attacks each.
26 Security Personnel were killed in 2020 as opposed to 54 killed in 2019 with
107 security personnel injured in 2019. Increasing militancy is posing added
problems for a weak economy.
A third of
all mines in the district are high risk as per a survey that followed mine
collapse in Safi Tehsil of Mohmand tribal district that caused the death of 23
miners and injuring 20 others. The government must put the necessary mechanisms
in place to avoid a similar cave in as seen in Safi Tehsil. The government had
announced had approved a package of Rs, 500,000 and Rs 300,000 alternatively in
case of death, the same has not been so far released. An appeal through this
column is made to Dr Shireen Mazari, the Minister for Human Rights, to have the
amount released to the families.
Another
shocking fact that Minister for Human Rights must look into is issuance of B
Class domicile to minorities in Khyber district as opposed to A Class domicile
to locals which is a discrimination against the minorities largely consisting
of Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Likewise, job opportunities offered to them
are usually at lower level (particularly the Christians).
Sadly,
honor killings from September 2019-October 2020 were 95. Out of this 53 women,
34 men and 8 children were killed. Also cases of sexual abuse were high. 91
sexual assault cases were reported including 52 minor boys, 28 minor girls, 9
women and 1 transgender.
Transgender
are a target in KP. However, the provincial government had allocated Rs 321
million for the betterment of transgender people in 2017. The Human Rights
Minister may like to address this issue too.
“A nation
which accepts to live a third-class life is just a third-class nation! If a
nation wants to be called honourable nation, it must use the option to refuse
any kind of policy which is against human dignity! No refuse, no honour! If you
don’t refuse a bad government, you deserve it all the way!”
― Mehmet
Murat ildan
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Yasmeen Aftab Ali is a lawyer, academic and
political analyst. She has authored a book titled ‘A Comparative Analysis of
Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.’
https://dailytimes.com.pk/687736/overview-of-human-right-violations-in-khyber-pakhtunkhwa/
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Global Trumpism lives on
By Zahid Hussain
11 Nov 2020
DONALD
Trump may have lost the election but Trumpism is not defeated. The right-wing
populism that the outgoing American president championed is still a powerful
movement, as demonstrated by the surge in the votes cast in his favour. He
received more than 70 million of the counted votes, significantly higher than
what he got in 2016.
The
nail-biting contest only goes to show that Trumpian populism has taken much
deeper roots in four years of maverick rule. The heavy turnout of voters
illustrated the existing polarisation in American society that is likely to
intensify despite electoral setbacks for the right wing. The 2020 presidential
election has reinforced the view that American populism is there to stay and
may even take a more aggressive turn.
That should
come as a wake-up call for those who have predicted the ‘end-of-life cycle’ for
nationalist populism in the United States and beyond. Notwithstanding its
failure to deliver, the phenomenon is far from over. It is true not only for
the United States but also other countries swept by rising ultranationalist
movements.
Surely, the
rise of the current phase of national populism predates Trump, but his holding
sway in the world’s greatest power had given impetus to such movements that
have swept across a number of European and other countries. The Brexit vote in
Britain is a glaring example of the ascendancy of nationalism. It has become
synonymous with the nationalist isolationism and anti-globalisation wave that
brought Trump to power.
There are a
number of other countries that are now ruled by right-wing nationalist populist
regimes with authoritarian tendencies. National populism often combines
right-wing politics and populist rhetoric. Hungary, Brazil, the Philippines,
India and Turkey may be the most prominent examples of nations ruled by
populist leaders. But there are many other countries that are witnessing the
rise of this phenomenon in different shades and forms.
The surge
in right-wing nationalism in France, Germany, Italy and some Eastern European
countries points to this. The economic downturn, rising unemployment and a fear
of growing immigrant populations are major factors reinforcing right-wing
nationalist sentiments in these countries. The ultranationalist groups in
Europe are generally associated with ideologies similar to Trump’s, such as
anti-environmentalism, anti-globalisation, nativism and protectionism. They are
all known for their strong opposition to immigration from Muslim countries.
In recent
years, European countries have witnessed growing support for nationalist
populist movements, such as the National Rally (formerly the National Front) in
France, the League in Italy, the Party for Freedom and the Forum for Democracy
in the Netherlands, the Freedom Party of Austria, and the UK Independence
Party.
There are
some strong indications that extreme right-wing nationalist groups could be
swept into power in some of these countries. Some recent incidents of violence
involving Islamist extremists come in handy for the right-wing groups to whip
up nationalist sentiments in France close to the elections. Most of these
groups have drawn encouragement from the rise of Trumpism in America. For
national populist leaders around the globe, Trump became a source of
inspiration, and many of them imitated his style too.
The rise of
neo-Nazism in some Western countries is a symptom of their racist politics and
populism. Most worrisome is the prospect of Trumpian populism prevailing in
other countries. Over the past years, there has been a notable rise of more
virulent nationalism. Anti-immigration sentiments have strengthened right-wing
extremist nationalism.
Populist
leaders often use anti-elitist and anti-establishment rhetoric, and claim to be
speaking for the ‘common people’, but their politics mostly strengthen elitism.
National populist regimes, though coming into power through democratic
processes, invariably become authoritarian and suppress democratic rights.
Democracy has suffered in almost all the countries ruled by nationalist
populist leaders, as is the case of India and Turkey.
Muscular
nationalism, majoritarianism and populism are the most definite manifestations
of the fascistic ideology that now seems to be on the rise in various parts of
the world. The ascendancy of authoritarian strongmen is causing the rollback of
liberal democratic values. The most dangerous fascist trait is the new virulent
nationalism that seeks to assert racist, political and cultural hegemony, thus
threatening not only democratic processes within states but also regional
security.
India under
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been losing its secular character and
establishing oppressive majoritarian rule. The Indian action to annex the
occupied territory of Kashmir and attempt to destroy Kashmiri identity is also
a part of muscular nationalism under a Hindu majoritarian regime. It is not
just a matter of territorial occupation but also a move to turn a religious
community into a minority. Driven by RSS ideology, Modi is trying to turn India
into a Hindu rashtra and marginalise other religious communities.
Trump had
developed excellent personal relations with muscular nationalist leaders like
Modi. Trump’s friendly ties with the India leader were well-known. The American
president expressed his solidarity with Modi at a massive rally in Houston last
year at a time when the Indian leader was being castigated for a law
discriminating against Muslims. Earlier this year, Trump praised the Hindu nationalist
leader, saying, “He wants people to have religious freedom and very strongly.”
It is not
surprising that Indian and other right-wing nationalist leaders had bet on
Trump’s victory. With Trump’s exit, the right-wing autocrats and nationalistic
movements across the globe have lost their ideological patron. But it is not an
end to global Trumpism that has gained ground in many European and Asia
countries.
Trump’s
strong showing in the election keeps alive his radical nationalist ideology
that has not only divided America but has also impacted the world. His narrow
defeat may embolden the global arch conservative and nationalist populist
movements. The new American leadership faces a massive challenge not only to
bridge the divide in America intensified by Trumpism but also to change the
country’s foreign policy course. It is certainly not going to be easy to unite
an extremely polarised nation and a disrupted global order.
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Zahid Hussain is an author and journalist.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1589721/global-trumpism-lives-on
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