New York NPR Show Covers Lollywood...and Human Rights in Pakistan

Excuse me while I pick myself off the floor. Leonard Lopate has a segment today that covers human rights and the Pakistani film industry:

Focusing on Change

Independent filmmaker Sabiha Sumar and Mallika Dutt from Breakthrough discuss women’s rights and filmmaking in Pakistan. Ms. Sumar's film "Silent Waters" looks at fundamentalism and Islamic nationalism in Pakistan in 1979, and is screening at the 3rd Annual South Asian Human Rights Film Festival.

» View pictures from the film
» More on the 3rd Annual South Asian Human Rights Film Festival
» More on Sabiha Sumar

You can listen to the segment directly. The web page for that program is at: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/04072005#segment45845

Comments:

• Sabiha S does stay real about Musharraf; in terms of his government's reaction to the movie.
• She gives a good round-up of the peace process between the countries.
• It is a rather good representation, nuanced and descriptive; frankly better than I expected.
• There is a very awkward moment about 14 minutes in when Leonard mentions the recent incident of stoning women running a marathon outside Islamabad and the two guests don't have a clue. Though Mallika Dutt's feedback after he read the news report to her was very interesting.
• Sabiha S's next project is a documentary about Gen. Musharraf and his vision of a moderate nation...hmmm.

Over-all, refreshingly real in its depiction of not just Pakistan, but South Asia and modern Muslims, too.

From India, News of A Global Milestone

Even those of us who are not communist or even dyed-in-the-wool socialist/progressive would be well-served to pay attention. I remember having this thought on EMS Namboodiripad's death; he was the first communist anywhere on the planet to be elected to executive office. And this is a similar milestone not just in Indian, but in global political development: the retiring of a generation of communist leaders from about the only real group of communists anywhere on the planet--or at least the first--to have real electoral achievements:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050407/asp/frontpage/story_4584986.asp

Muslim Tantrika

There's been a bit of a tizzy in a few circles in reaction to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Asra Q. Nomani. On the Ladies of the Reformation (or the Babes of the Anti-Jihad, if you will; Nomani, Irshad Manji and Asma Gull Hasan), well, I need to get my thoughts together and will post/publish something on it as soon as I can. But my "Cultural Analysis" instructor in grad school always said "examine the margins"; they help you understand the outlines/borders/definition of a community/construct/what-have-you that you want to understand. And Manji and Nomani are definitely on the margins—but that's the point.

Follow-Up on John Paul II

• In all the hullabaloo, I am not sure a lot of folks have noticed that the Prince of Wales has postponed his marriage by a day to attend the Pope's funeral.
• Interesting, the global distribution of the College of Cardinals
• Transition timeline.

John Paul II, RIP

The first thought that goes through my mind is that, love him or hate him; respect him or loathe him, John Paul II was proof that one can have great influence and effect even on a global level, and even in this day and age, without any muscular power. That's a contribution worth noting.

Secondly, John Paul II was very closely tied with anti-communism and was definitely a conservative leader. As such, thoughts going through my own mind are similar to the thoughts that arose at the time of Ronald Reagan's death. On that incident, I found the best comment came from a gay radio host in LA. From an earlier post (http://ifaqeer.blogspot.com/2004/06/gipper.html):

One of the most tempered reactions I have seen to Ronald Reagan came from a gay journalist in Los Angeles. From Yahoo! News:

Jon Beaupre, a gay journalist and Los Angeles radio talk show host who is HIV (news - web sites)-positive, said Reagan's death "brought mixed feelings."

"The fact that he reflected the values of a lot of people was unmistakable. Clearly, Ronald Reagan was a man of principle and integrity," the 51-year old said. [Full article at http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1506&u=/afp/us_reagan_gays]

And here's a thought I'd like to leave you with:

Is the world ready for an African Pope? A Nigerian?

I say this because, being born in Africa, I have great respect for the African penchant for directness and speaking one's mind--remember when Mandela, standing a few feet from the President of the United States, said that those who would want us to forsake "our friends" (referring to Muammar Gaddafi) "can quite literally go and throw themselves in a pool." Pushed to the wall, even Kofi Annan recently said "Hell, no!" And of course, Francis Arinze, the Nigerian in question has been the previous Pope's point man on relations with other faiths...

My apologies if the speculation on successors is in bad taste so early.