War of Terror

A report published in The News sheds some light on the dark side of the State’s war in the northwest. In the aftermath of the recent suicide attack in Mingora, some 1,000 people were rounded up and “brought to Nishat Chowk in [the] pouring rain to undergo search.” The article closes by matter-of-factly reporting the mass detention of “1,500 suspects.” Whose brothers? Whose sons? Whose fathers? Who knows.

A separate incident in Charsadda, where four men were killed in an overnight military raid, prompted massive protests in the town that shut down a main road for several hours on Friday morning.

From the Army action in South Waziristan, late 2009 (via DAWN)

There has only ever been scattered independent coverage of the military operations in FATA and NWFP. Without exception, the little that has sneaked through the filters has been horrifying in the sheer barbarity it has chronicled. If I may, then–it is as Rosa Luxemburg said, one year into WWI:

Violated, dishonored, wading in blood, dripping filth – there stands bourgeois society. This is it [in reality]. Not all spic and span and moral, with pretense to culture, philosophy, ethics, order, peace, and the rule of law – but the ravening beast, the witches’ sabbath of anarchy, a plague to culture and humanity.

Help Internally Displaced Persons in Pakistan

Dear Friends,

Action for a Progressive Pakistan has joined with SINGH Foundation to help Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pakistan, now numbering almost 4 million, who are fleeing Taliban and military violence in the Swat region. SINGH FOUNDATION WILL MATCH EVERY DONATION DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR UNTIL WE REACH OUR TARGET OF $10,000! Your donations are tax-deductible to the fullest legal extent.

All proceeds will go to Sungi Development Foundation, a progressive community-based development organization that has been active in NWFP in Pakistan for more than a decade.

To donate by PayPal, click here.

To donate by check:
Make the check out to “SINGH Foundation” (please put “APP Swat Relief” in the memo)
Mail checks to:
SINGH Foundation
c/o Ramakrishnan
50 West 97th St., #15T,
New York NY 10025

Questions? Email us at progpak@gmail.com

THANKS for your support of humanitarian relief in Swat.

In solidarity,

Action for a Progressive Pakistan
https://progpak.wordpress.com

SINGH Foundation: http://www.singhfoundation.org

SUNGI: http://www.sungi.org

Reading on the New Refugees

A Weaver’s Welcome on the new refugees in Pakistan and how Pakistanis are coping. The author, Kathy Kelly, who also organized Voices in the Wilderness to end UN sanctions on Iraq, traveled with a delegation to Pakistan recently.  An excerpt of her article:

The trauma endured by the refugees is overwhelming. Yet, numerous individuals and groups have swiftly extended hospitality and emergency aid. We visited a Sikh community, in Hassan Abdal, which has taken in hundreds of Sikhs, housing them inside a large and very famous shrine. Nearby, we stayed for several days in Tarbela, where families in very simple dwellings have welcomed their relatives. The townspeople quietly took up a collection to support the refugee families….

Generosity in the face of such massive displacement and suffering is evident everywhere we go. But Pakistan needs help on a much larger scale. The U.S. has pledged 100 million dollars toward relief efforts. Two other disclosures about money budgeted for Pakistan should be considered in light of the unbearable burdens borne by close to two million new refugees. First is the decision to spend 800 million dollars to renovate and expand the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and to upgrade security at U.S. consular offices elsewhere in the country….

Read the full piece here.

Swat Refugees Fundraiser

Fundraiser for Swat Refugees

What: Special Benefit Concert featuring musicians from Swat

When: June 12th, 7pm

Where: Alwan for the Arts -NYC

Cost: $25. Please contact Bobby 917.440.9002 or Sahar 301.655.0245 for tix. or email us: progpak@gmail.com

Directions: 16 Beaver St, 4th Flr, NYC

TRAINS: 4/5 to Bowling Green; J/M/Z to Broad St.; R/W to Whitehall St.; 1 to Rector St. or South Ferry; 2/3 to Wall St.; A/C to Broadway-Nassau

BUSES: M1, M6, M9, M16, M20.

BIKE: Hudson Rvr. Greenway, East Rvr. path, Liberty St., Broadway, Water St.

**Can’t make it, but want to donate? Do it via paypal here: http://idp-relief.blogspot.com/2009/04/donate-now.html