Archives Archives - Page 605 of 625

PAKISTAN: Identity Crisis (06/03)

NAFISA HOODBHOY May 30, 2005 NAFISA HOODBHOY

Pakistan is one of the Bush administration’s close allies in the war against terrorism. Yet anti-American sentiment there has been growing with unprecedented force since the US conducted a war in Iraq, another Muslim country in the neighborhood.

In March, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to oppose the start of the war. While the coalition of Islamic parties in the United Council for Action (MMA) led the opposition marches in major cities, they won considerable support from secular forces. The anger has been growing since 2001, when hundreds of ordinary Pakistanis living in the North West Frontier Province lost their lives in the US-led military operation against the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. read more

Microedit: Small is Liberating (06/02)

SCOTT ESPOSITO May 30, 2005 SCOTT ESPOSITO

International financial institutions like the World Bank, which erroneously assume that economic growth automatically benefits all members of society, tend to concentrate on increasing GDP. But the assistance they provide trickles down to the poor in slow, halting drops. In fact, according to one recent study, 75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas, yet the vast majority of international aid goes to developing mega-cities. Further, such aid often does little more than create bureaucracies and export markets. For example, 75 percent of the $30 billion in foreign aid sent to Bangladesh over the past 26 years ended up elsewhere, spent on equipment, luxuries, and consultants. read more

Nepal’s Convenient Emergency (03/02)

BARBARA NIMRI AZIZ May 30, 2005 BARBARA NIMRI AZIZ

How could remote Nepal – and the shocking murder of its king and members of the royal family last June – be connected with the global response to Sept. 11? One obvious link is the recent declaration by Nepal’s King Gyanendra, successor to his murdered elder brother Birendra, that the country’s six-year-old rebel movement is “a terrorist organization.” With this announcement, Nepal, like India, Israel, Pakistan, Colombia, and other regimes that may find the label useful in squashing public opposition to their policies, fell into line with the US-led strategy of routing out all resistance to its dictates. read more

Nepal: Military may have role in the murder of Birendra (08/01)

BARBARA NIMRI AZIZ May 30, 2005 BARBARA NIMRI AZIZ

The world abruptly woke up to revelations about Nepal’s internal problems on June 1, 2001, the day it was told that the kingdom’s crown prince had killed his parents and other royals, then turned the gun on himself. According to official reports, it was all the result of a dispute over the prince’s choice of a wife. The news sparked a nationwide trauma, and brought the world press to the streets of Kathmandu.

The massacre’s grisly details – though none of forensic significance – were dutifully reported to the world. The archaic funerary rites were also widely broadcast. But none of the bulletins offered real insights about the country: the poverty, the failing democracy, the army’s role in Nepal’s politics, or the insurgent Maoist movement that controls over a quarter of the countryside and has the support of as much as half the nation’s 23 million population, and possibly more. read more

Banning Enlightenment (5/01)

J. MICHAEL KRIVYANSKI May 30, 2005 J. MICHAEL KRIVYANSKI

On any warm day, visitors to public parks around the US may see people listening to Chinese music while making slow, graceful movements with their arms, executing slow-moving standing postures and stretching exercises, or even engaging in sitting meditation. Often, they aren’t practicing Yoga or Tai Chi, but rather an ancient Chinese system of mind/body cultivation known as Falun Gong.

“You can really feel it,” said Jayne Schmidt, after participating in a practice session at a local community park in Pennsylvania. “It’s like you’re holding electricity.” read more

Demilitarizing Okinawa (9/00)

Japanese Peace Committee May 30, 2005 Japanese Peace Committee

In July, the G8 Summit Meeting was held in Okinawa, a group of islands in Japan that serves as a US stronghold with huge military bases. In response, the Japanese Peace Committee called for international support end to this occupation. Here is the group’s statement:

Like a colony, Okinawa is burdened with US military bases, a situation with no parallel in other sovereign states in the world. Huge bases occupy more than 10 percent of the whole territory (20 percent of the main island). They were built in violation of international law. read more