SAJA Panel Discussion on the South Asian Blogosphere

SAJA BRIEFING: The South Asian Blogosphere and How Its Changing the Media 8:35pm
Website: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2008/09/26/desiblogs

The South Asian Journalists Association presents an online panel discussion among some of the best-known names in the South Asian blogosphere. They will discuss the state of the blogosphere (South Asian and otherwise) and how it is affecting how news and information about South Asia and the diaspora is gathered and shared. Sabahat Ashraf of iFaqeer; Anil Dash of AnilDash.com; Karthik of Uberdesi.com; Maria Giovanna of Filmiholic.com; Arun Venugopal of SAJAforum.org

---

Technorati tags applicable to this post: iFaqeer - Blogging - South Asian Blogosphere - Indian Blogosphere - Pakistani Blogosphere

The More Things Change...

I am reminded of something my father said about 20+ years ago: "Over the decades, Pakistan has made wonderful progress in everything--except politics." [On my father, today, the 6th of Ramazan is his first "barsee", as we say in South Asia--the first anniversary of his passing by the Islamic calendar. Please do keep him, and us, in your prayers.] I am attaching an op-ed from the person who is Editor Reporting for The News in Karachi (one of the two largest English papers in Pakistan; this one is owned by the Jang Group) and is a family/childhood friend. Over the years, I have been amazed as I watched him evolve into something really rare--and almost unheard of in the US mainstream media today ;) --a truly objective journalist.

Two paras I'd like to quote in next comments:

"Pakistan is a somewhat strange country, one may concede. We are happy to give an unelected military general nine years in power but balk at allowing the same to be given to someone who is not rigging the elections. Only because we think one is a “decent man” and the other, in our eyes, is not. An officer who violates his own pledge to protect the Constitution is acceptable to us because of circumstances but a politician who breaks an agreement with a fellow politician cannot be trusted."

A word for "Non-Resident Pakistanis":

"Overseas Pakistanis, whose crucial remittances keep our boat afloat, are usually well meaning, but bitter at the same time. The fundamental difference between Indians and Pakistanis abroad, and here one is generalising, is that when Indians meet socially they talk about how to make things better for those back home. Pakistanis, instead, criticise what is happening in Pakistan and pat each other on the back for being lucky or fortunate enough to get out of the mess. It sometimes seems they take pride in predicting the end of Pakistan, as if by this happening their decision of leaving the country would be vindicated."

On issues that face Pakistan:

"Power of any kind is an issue. There are many who ask when our other power crisis will be over and who is responsible for the mess we are in today. The callous manner in which the Karachi Electric Supply Co has been handled leaves many questions in our minds. For example, what change was made by the army administered management when it was put in charge of the utility, apart from overcharging unsuspecting customers?

The selloff also had its critics, but the manner in which KESC was managed by its new owners left a lot to be desired. Then the upright German CEO was summarily dismissed, and finally the ownership again changed hands in very unclear circumstances. None of this happened in the time of Mr Zardari. But it is unclear what the present government has in store in terms of fighting the power crisis in the country. There seems to be no action on this front. Instead, as we have seen in the past, near and dear ones are being bestowed with cushy jobs."

And lastly:

"The bigger issue is whether Mr Zardari is up to the challenges before him. Possibly not. One of the reasons is that it is highly likely that there will be a power confrontation between the PPP and the PML-N. In this, the establishment is set to back the PML-N. With the exit of President Musharraf, all the old players are aligning with each other. Past friendships are being renewed. The Sharif brothers are more acceptable to our doubters at home and abroad."

And so the game continues. (Do read the whole Op-Ed here.)

Who benefits? Don't look now, but the most organized and well-thought-out force in Pakistan today is way to the right of any of us.

---

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Benazir - Pakistan - Zardari

Mohsin Hamid on Events in Pakistan

Mohsin Hamid's latest op-ed is pretty good. Recommended reading for anyone who wants to know how things looked/look from the perspective of the every day life in Pakistan. You can read it here, on the Washington Post site.

I attended a talk by him at Stanford last year, and my first reaction was that what he was saying, the world view and experiences were the experiences of any Pakistani of our age and station, so to speak. (I think he's about a year older than me.) And he writes well. It's good to have him around, with his facility with English and "global" culture to bring that voice, that view of the world to the table. And given his visibility and position as a globally-best selling author, to have what he says read and noticed.

Of course, I am still very disappointed with him and others of our generation and/or background--and this even includes, to some extent, folks like Imran Khan, who made sympathetic noises--for initially supporting the military take-over in 1999. But more on that as and when I can write--or maybe some readers can comment and discuss that aspect.

---

Cross-posted on the iFaqeer, Wadiblog, ProgressiveIslam.org, and Pak Tea House blogs.
Technorati tags applicable to this post: Benazir - Pakistan - Mohsin Hamid

Nobel Prize Update: Well Played, Adil Bhai!

The news going around in Pakistani circles is the fact that one of our own is the one of the Convening Lead Authors in the team that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. [And of course, the team is chaired by another South Asian; Rajendra Pachauri.]

Pakistani scientist in Nobel team -DAWN - National; October 14, 2007
http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/14...
WASHINGTON, Oct 13: Pakistani professor Adil Najam, now teaching at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, US, is amongst the team of scientists and experts in the Intergovernmental ...

Over the years, I have come to know Dr. Najam rather well, and have learned from and been inspired by him:

http://ifaqeer.blogspot.com/2006/07/adil-najam-blogs-and-new-graphic-ethic.html

http://ifaqeer.blogspot.com/search?q=adil+najam

In the idiom of South Asian sport, Well Played, Adil Bhai; Bahoth Aala, Adil Bhai!

PS: From a comment Dr. Najam posted on Pakistaniat.com:

Thank you to all for their kind wishes and congrats. I should add, however, that the Nobel was awarded to the work of the IPCC (a panel of eminent global climate change experts), so I am just one of the many experts on that Panel. I have served on the IPCC for some 8 years, the last many as a Convening Lead Author. So, yes, it does feel terrific to have one’s work and research celebrated by the Nobel Committee, but it really is an honor shared by many (including by Dr. Tariq Banuri who played a leading role in the IPCC’s evolution in the past).
Some links: Dawn, Boston Globe, The Fletcher School.

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Adil Bhai - Nobel Peace Prize

Today, I am Proud to be a Muslim Journalist

I just heard the anchor--not a guest, the anchor--of a news show confront a member of the federal cabinet on live TV about their attitude towards the press. "Why don't you just go ahead and ban the press--put us all in jail?" he said.

And it wasn't the US of A (sorry folks!) or Western country--but it was in a Muslim country; the 2nd largest Muslim country.

And a lot of people--including Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer for the famous Chief Justice case--have been going around they are ashamed of their country today, and that the events in Pakistan on September 10, 2007 lower the moral standing of Muslims in this day and age. I am not.

I am very, very proud of Pakistan and Pakistanis today. And I am especially proud and honoured to have been a member of the Pakistani press; and a Muslim who works in media when I can.

You can watch Talat Hussain and the news organization he heads at:

http://www.aaj.tv/aaj_wedget.php

and and other Pakistani journalists live off Jump TV at:

http://www.jumptv.com/en/channel/PakistanPackage/

A lot of them free and a lot of them in English.

[PS: More on pride versus shame is in this post: http://blog.ifaqeer.com/2007/11/i-have-been-away-from-blogging-since.html , specifically, as Adil Najam put it, people see a picture and all they feel is shame for the 5 policemen beating up a lawyer; I feel nothing but pride, for I see one Pakistani putting his self on the line for his principle. People see a media blackout; I see journalists that a dictator has no choice but to ban.]

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Pakistan - Press Freedom

South Asian ("Desi") Immigrants and Immigration Reform

I have been meaning to write something on the topic of immigration reform and that whole hullabaloo. But as often happens while we work together as members the Friends of South Asia, Ramkumar Sridharan, a friend and fellow member steps up and says things so well that I then don't need to. Here's what he's sent around and all I can add is, as we say here in the US "What he said!::

Hi all,

You must be following the immigration reform debate, and the collapse of the immigration reform bill (S.1639) on the Senate floor last week. The primary reason the bill was voted down was because several senators thought it provided "amnesty". However, numerous immigrant advocacy groups also opposed the bill because of the devastating impact it would have had on immigrant communities.

Given the options on the table at the present moment, the death of the bill might have been the best possible outcome. But it is awkward and unfortunate that the bill was voted down for all the wrong reasons. Clearly the bill was at odds with the demands of the immigrant rights movement; and the failure of the bill only shows the strength of the ultra-right.

I wrote the following Op-Ed (published in the print edition of this week's India-West, dated Jun 29) in conjunction with SAALT before the bill was voted out. I wrote it in response to a general tendency amongst my some of friends and peers (H1-B workers in the tech industry) to view undocumented immigrants as their adversaries; and that policies that attempted to (or appeared to) provide even a modicum of relief to mitigate decades of injustice to undocumented folk (sloppily at that, like the current bill) were "unfair" to H1-B and other "legal" folk.

Ramkumar

=================

South Asian Community Urged to Stand Up for Immigration Reform It is time to realize that immigrants of all status are our true allies—and that it is in our interest to fight for fair immigration laws for everyone.
By RAMKUMAR SRIDHARAN. India-West, June 29, 2007 (Page A8)

Immigration reform is a hot topic these days in my circle of friends and peers in the South Asian community– many of whom, like me, are first-generation Indian immigrants on H-1B visas. As the debate in the Senate proceeds again, it is refreshing to note that South Asian immigrants are becoming more engaged in understanding the impact of the proposed legislation (S. 1639) on our community. But while we try to understand how the bill affects immigrants, it is also important to look at the legislation–and immigration reform policy—as a whole to see if it is really fair to everyone across the board.

The proposed immigration bill in the Senate is controversial for many reasons. It contains provisions that would affect families and workers negatively, for example. It also creates a merit-based point system for obtaining green cards. The Senate bill is problematic for a range of immigrants, including people in situations like mine. I am in my seventh year as an H-1B worker, and personally empathize with the call to reform the immigration system. My employers filed an application for a green card on my behalf in 2003. My application languished in the system for four years before the first stage of the process—the labor certification–got approved a few months ago. Ahead of me is a wait of approximately 3 years, perhaps more, given the nature of today's immigration process.

Clearly, immigration reform legislation could improve or worsen the lives of H-1B workers. The Senate bill under consideration right now does not pave a rosy path for H-1B visa-holders. For instance, it offers less flexibility and control for employers over the process, and reduces the overall numbers of employment-
based visas from 140,000 to 90,000, exacerbating the current visa backlog.

As we analyze the impact of the Senate bill, it is also important to keep in mind that green card holders, undocumented immigrants, and workers of South Asian descent all have a stake in immigration reform. We are intricately linked and share common aspirations as immigrants to this country. We also are products of immigration policies that are generally not made with our interests in mind.

The argument thrown around in some South Asian circles is that any immigration reform legislation should benefit skilled workers first and foremost. Some say that immigration reform should not benefit undocumented immigrants, who have "violated the law" and not "played by the same rules" as legal immigrants. Let's examine some of these arguments more closely.

First, the definition of who is "legal" and who is "illegal" has historically been a constantly changing one based on economic needs. We have to realize that a vast majority of undocumented immigrants had no legal means to come work in the U.S. in their job categories, while H-1B workers and other immigrants had that option. If there were legal paths for undocumented immigrants, would they have had a need to break the law?

In the context of the Senate bill under consideration right now, it is clear that undocumented immigrants are actually disadvantaged due to a merit-based point system that assigns a range of criteria to determine who obtains green cards. The merit-based point system would in effect establish an explicit class-based discrimination system by ostensibly preferring"skilled" over "unskilled" workers. The criteria used to determine who gets green cards include education, employment and English-language ability.

Under the point system, working class South Asians such as cab drivers or domestic workers will obtain fewer points than individuals with educational degrees or work experience. Some may argue that this is fair from an economic standpoint–they say that the U.S. economy, to compete and remain a leader in the world, needs more skilled workers than unskilled ones. But is that argument fair or humane?

The bottom line? The Senate bill is antifamily and antiworker. If the bill is passed in its current form, it will have far-reaching negative consequences for all immigrants including South Asians. We, the H1-B workers, were conspicuously absent last year when the immigrant rights movement needed us. Now, as we become more engaged in the debate and the possibility of a new immigration law looms ahead of us, it is time to realize that immigrants of all status are our true allies—and that it is in our interest to fight for fair immigration laws for everyone.

(The author is an H-1B visa holder living in Santa Cruz, Calif. He is a member of the San Francisco-based Friends of SouthAsia and Washington, D.C.-based South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow.)

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Immigration Reform - Legal Immigrants - South Asian Immigrants