South Asia Citizens Web

Last week’s riots, which were instigated by a religious attack, brought a long-oppressed community’s fury to the fore. In that sense they are a sign of things to come. Anyone walking the streets of Pakistan would do well to remember that.

“India and Pakistan are neighbours who are open to the world but closed to each other” - Pakistan’s foremost human rights activist and public intellectual I A Rehamn said in New Delhi at a memorable Seminar on Understanding Pakistan Today aimed at challenging the dangerous myths and prejudices that are manipulated by self serving elites and institutional interests with utter disregard for the common concerns and futures of the peoples of the two countries.

Veteran leader of the left movement, Tahira Mazhar Ali, passed away on Monday. Though she had been unwell for some time, her death has been met with a profound sense of loss by those who knew her. (Posted here are messages from PILER, Pakistan Peace Coalition and from the Awami Workers Party; These are followed by reports from DAWN, Pakistan Today and an editorial in The News)

This paper is appearing in: Communalism in Post-colonial India Changing Contours Edited by Mujibur Rehman; Routledge India (forthcoming, 2016)