MASS MURDER OF ISMAILIS BY FUNDAMENTALIST TERRORISTS IN PAKISTAN

Statement by Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians, May 15, 2015

The Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians offers its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack on May 13 in Karachi and to the religious community they belonged to, the Ismaili Muslims. We strongly condemn the perpetrators – religious fundamentalist terrorists who claim to be Muslims – of this cowardly attack on innocent and defenseless women and men.

The view expressed by some senior members of the armed and security forces and right-wing press that the attack was carried out by India is widely seen – and rejected – for what it is: a pathetic attempt to divert attention from the religious terrorist groups (jihadis in common parlance which carry out such heinous acts and maintaining the image of India as an arch-enemy to maintain their bloated budgets to combat that enemy.

In Pakistan violence against religious minorities has been used by vested interests to divert people’s attention from corrupt and authoritarian rule, exploitation, poverty, illiteracy, hunger, inadequate housing, water and sanitation and turn it against scapegoats, is almost as old as the country itself.

It was in the early fifties that the Ahmadiya community was targeted for which Maulana Maudoodi of the Jammat-e-Islami, amongst others, was identified as one of the key instigators, tried and condemned to death by hanging by the courts but later pardoned due to pressure from internal and external patrons.

After the Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus became the targets of violence and discrimination. In recent decades the Shia, too, have similarly suffered mass killings and the destruction of their places of worship; even sects within the Sunnis have not been spared by zealots and puritans claiming to uphold ‘pure’ Islamic values.

In Pakistan religion, rather than being a personal, private matter as had been envisaged by Jinnah and others, began to be fused with the state with the adoption of the ‘Objectives Resolution’ in 1949 – a melding greatly reinforced by the fundamentalist dictator General Zia-ul Haq (1977 – 1988).

Religious terrorist groups came into their own when Pakistan, regional reactionary countries like Saudi Arabia, allied with US-led imperialism, mounted their jihad against the April 1978 Saur Revolution in Afghanistan.

Since then religious fundamentalist terrorist groups, financed, armed and supported by influential sections of the Pakistan military and security apparatus, some civilian forces and the Saudi and Gulf kingdoms have been wreaking havoc in Pakistan.

(It should be noted that similar groups have been founded, armed and financed in the Middle East by the U.S. and its allies in the region).

The CPPC is of the view that the leaderships and members of the various religious minorities must publicly join the struggle for a secular Pakistan in which state and religion are separate and in which each citizen has equal rights regardless of religious beliefs. The law declaring Ahmadis to be non-Muslims, those discriminating against women and religious minorities and the ‘Blasphemy Law’ should be completely removed from the constitution.  

We reiterate that terrorist/fundamentalist groups like the Taliban, the Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, Jundullah etc. must be vigorously fought against; any Pakistani military officer or civilian giving them support should be prosecuted and all assistance to them and fundamentalist schools from the Saudis and the Gulf Emirates should be ended.

The Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians stands for:

* A secular society with separation of state and religion

* Equality of all regardless of gender, ethnicity and belief

* Peace – and against imperialist wars, Islamic fundamentalism and Islamophobia

* Genuinely democratic governments of the people, by the people, for the people, not by the 1%!

www.pakistanicanadians.ca                     info@pakistanicanadians.ca

 

 

Kafila

Letter of Solidarity with Greenpeace India: A Statement

APRIL 24, 2015

by Gautam Bhan

The move by the central government to freeze Greenpeace India’s bank accounts and block sources of funds, is a blatant violation of the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and association. It also seems to be an attempt to warn civil society that dissent regarding development policies and priorities will not be tolerated, even when these are proving to be ecologically unsustainable and socially unjust. These are dangerous signs for the future of democracy in India.

Specific allegations of legal violation contained in the Ministry of Home Affairs’ notice are aspects Greenpeace India needs to respond to. However, the notice also charges the organization with adversely affecting “public interest” and the “economic interest of the State”. These charges give the impression that Greenpeace India is indulging in anti-national activities, using foreign funds. However, dissenting from the government’s development policies, helping communities who are going to be displaced by these policies to mobilise themselves, and generating public opinion for the protection of the environment can by no stretch of imagination be considered anti-national, or against public interest. Quite the contrary, any reasonable policy of sustainable development (which the government claims to adhere to) will itself put into question quite a few of the mining, power, and other projects currently being promoted. ”

Civil society organisations in India have a long and credible history of standing up for social justice, ecological sustainability, and the rights of the poor. When certain government policies threaten these causes, civil society has a justified ground to resist, and help affected communities fight for their rights. This is in fact part of the fundamental duties enjoined upon citizens by the Constitution of India.

In two recent court judgments involving previous attempts by the government to muzzle Greenpeace India, the democratic principle of dissent has been upheld. In January 2015, the Delhi High Court observed: “Non-Governmental Organizations often take positions, which are contrary to the policies formulated by the Government of the day. That by itself…cannot be used to portray petitioner’s action as being detrimental to national interest.” In March, the Delhi High court observed that “contrarian views held by a section of people…cannot be used to describe such section or class of people as anti-national.” The court also observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that Greenpeace India’s activities “have the potentiality of degrading the economic interest of the country.”

It is shocking that despite these clear judicial pronouncements, the government has for a third time acted against Greenpeace India. We cannot but conclude that this is an attempt to divert attention from the serious issues that Greenpeace India and many peoples’ movements and NGOs are raising, regarding the need to respect the rights of adivasis and others who depend on the forests, wetlands, coastal areas, and other ecosystems, and the need to move towards policies that are ecologically sustainable and do not cause further climate change. Large-scale mining, such as in the areas that peoples’ movements are active, are a threat to forests and other natural ecosystems, to communities that depend on them including tribal peoples. These and other issues are highlighted by organisations such as Greenpeace India, which also generate significant information on the environment, crucial for taking the right decisions regarding sustainable well-being.

It is also shocking that while alleging violations regarding FCRA, the government ordered the blocking of even those accounts where Greenpeace India uses its domestic funding (and it is relevant here to note that the majority of its funds according to its audited accounts are from thousands of Indian individuals). It has even blocked its online donation facility.

The government should immediately take back these illegitimate, unfair, and repressive moves, and provide Greenpeace India a fair opportunity to respond. More generally, it must respect the freedom of speech that all Indian citizens have a constitutional right to, including the right to dissent, upheld by court judgments. The government’s attempts to browbeat civil society will not make the issues of social and environmental injustice disappear. We assert that long as these issues remain unresolved, civil society actors will continue to do all that is necessary towards a just and sustainable society.

Achin Vanaik, Retired academic, writer, and anti-nuclear campaigner, Delhi

A. Vaidyanathan, Former Member, Planning Commission

Achyut Yagnik & Ashok Shrimali, SETU: Centre For Social Knowledge And Action, Ahmedabad

Harsh Mander, Human rights worker and writer

Shripad Dharmadhikary, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Pune

Aruna Roy & Nikhil Dey, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Rajasthan

Gautam Navlakha, Peoples’ Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Delhi

Claude Alvares, Former Standing Committee Member MoEF, Goa Foundation, Goa

Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan

Madhuresh Kumar & Suhas Kolhekar, National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM)

Shailesh Rai, Amnesty International India, Bangalore

Ravi Rebbapragada & Ashok Shrimali, Mines Minerals & People (mmP)

Vinay Sreenivasa, Alternative Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore

Swami Agnivesh, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Delhi

Kavitha Kuruganti, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA)

Rajesh Krishnan, Coalition for a GM Free India

Ashish Kothari and Meenal Tatpati, Kalpavriksh, Pune

Sujit Patwardhan, Parisar, Pune

Madhuri Krishanaswami, Kisan Adivasi Dalit Mukti Sangathan, Badwani, Madhya Pradesh

Biswajit Mohanty, Conservationist, Bhubaneshwar

Bittu Sahgal, Conservationist, Mumbai

Justice H. Suresh, Former Judge, Mumbai High Court, Mumbai

Lakshmy Raman, Sanctuary Asia

Rajeev Dhavan, Senior Supreme Court Advocate, Delhi

Tapan Bose, South Asian Forum for Human Rights (SAHFR), Delhi

Aneesh Thillenkery, Ekta Parishad

P.M. Bhargava, Supreme Court Nominee to Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)

Leo Saldanha, Environmental Support Group (ESG), Bangalore

Seema Kulkarni and K. J. Joy, SOPPECOM, Pune

Ramasamy Selvam, Tamil Nadu Organic Farmers Federation

Shabnam Hashmi, ANHAD, Delhi

Kuldip Nayar, Snr journalist and columnist, Delhi

Praful Bidwai, Sr Journalist & columnist, Delhi

N.P. Chekkutty, Editor, Thejas daily, Kerala

Neeta Chalke, India Habitat Forum (INHAF), Pune

Pratibha Sharma & Dharmesh Shah, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)

Malati Gadgil, Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), Pune

Aparna Susarla, SWaCH, Pune

Yogeshwar Y. Dudhapachare, Green Planet Society, Chandrapur

T.R. Shankar Raman, Snr. Scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF)

Shubhranshu Choudhary, CGNet Swara, Chhattisgarh

Radhika Rammohan & Sangeetha Sriram, reStore, Chennai

Tarun Joshi, Vanpanchayat Sangarsh Morcha, Nainital

Xavier Dias, Editor, Khan Kaneej Aur ADHIKAR (Mines minerals & RIGHTS)

K. Ramnarayan, Himal Prakriti, Uttarakhand

Malika Virdi, Maati Sangathan, Uttarakhand

S. Faizi, Ecologist / Board member, CBD Alliance, Trivandrum

Neeraj Jain, Lokayat, Pune

Ingrid Srinath, Hivos, Mumbai

V.B. Chandrasekaran, Chatti Mahatma Gandhi Aashramam, Andhra Pradesh

John D’Souza and J. John, Centre for Education and Documentation (CED), Mumbai/Delhi

Prasad Chacko, Human Development and Research Centre (HDRC), Ahmedabad

Mansoor Khan, Film-maker, author, climate activist, Coonoor, Tamil Nadu

Parineeta Dandekar, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), Pune

Sudha Bharadhwaj, Trade Unionist and Human Rights Lawyer, Chattishgarh

Rachna Arora, Public Awareness on GM Food

Henri Tiphangne, Chairman, Forum Asia, Madurai

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Sr Journalist, Political Commentator, Filmmaker, Delhi

Maja Daruwala, Human rights activist, Delhi

Sethu Das, Founder Chair, Friends of Tibet, Delhi

Sudha Reddy, Eco-Foundation for Sustainable Alternatives, Bangalore

Shankar Sharma, Power policy analyst, Delhi

Paul Divakar, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDR), Delhi

K. Baburao, Advisor, NAPM, Andhra Pradesh

Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker, Mumbai

Uttam Jagirdar, Filmmaker and social activist

Ashok Chowdhury, All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP)

Souparna Lahiri, All India Forum of Forest Movements (AIFFM)

Chhaya Datar, Women’s rights expert

Mira Shiva, INES/ Diverse Women for Diversity, Delhi

Joseph Xavier, Indian Social Institute, Delhi

Nityanand Jayaram, Writer, teacher, social activist, Chennai

Usha Soolapani, Thanal, Kerala

Dunu Roy, Hazards Desk, Delhi

D. Roy Laifungbam, Centre for Organization Research and Education, Manipur

E. Deendayalan, The Other Media, Bangalore

Ravi Nair, South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRD), Delhi

Akila Balu, Students’ Sea Turtle Conservation Network, Chennai

Debi Goenka, Executive Trustee, Conservation Action Trust (CAT), Mumbai

Sridhar Lakshmanan, Founder, Basecamp Social Research Foundation

Organic Farmers Market, Chennai

Safe Food Alliance, Tamil Nadu

Balaji Shankar, Thalaanmai Uzhavar Iyakkam, Tamil Nadu

V.R. Anantha Sayanan, Founder, Tharcharbu Iyakkam, Tamil Nadu

J.C. Kumarappa Foundation, Tamil Nadu

Tula India, Chennai

Amit M. & Sreedevi L., Urban Leaves, Mumbai

Uzramma, Handloom supporter, Hyderabad

Blaise Joseph, Freelance artist, Belgaum, Karnataka

Sajeed Khalid, Welfare Party of India, Kerala State committee

S.P. Udaykumar, Activist, Tamil Nadu

Tara Murali, Architect, Chennai

Usha Rai, Development journalist, Delhi

Amala Akkineni, Actress, Hyderabad

Lalita Ramdas, Educator and activist, Maharashtra

Jai Sen, Researcher and editor, Delhi

Geetha Iyer, Consultant – Education, Suchindram, Tamil Nadu

Gautama G., Educationist, Chennai

Nandini Oza, Researcher and activist, Pune

Seetha Ananthasivan, Educationist, Bengaluru

Sharad Lele, Researcher, Bengaluru

Seema Purushothaman, Academic, Bengaluru

Benny Kuruvilla, Researcher, Delhi

Rohit Prajapati, Environmental Activist, Ahmedabad

Anant Phadke, Health worker and activist, Pune

E. Theophilus, Conservationist, Uttarakhand

Asad Rahmani, Conservationist, Mumbai

Palla Trinadha Rao, Advocate, Andhra Pradesh

Rajni Bakshi, Journalist and author, Mumbai

Arindam Biswas, Photographer, trekker, wildlife enthusiast, Kolkata

Lavanya Suresh, Academic, Hyderabad

Bipasha Majumder, Freelance communication consultant, Mumbai

Lisa Fonseca, Organic farmer, Coonoor, Tamil Nadu

Dionne Bunsha, Journalist, Mumbai

Shivaji K. Panikkar, Ambedkar University, Delhi

Rana Roy, Student

Sagar Rabari, Activist, Ahmedabad

B.K. Manish, Tribal rights activist, Raipur

Cedric Prakash, Director, PRASHANT, Ahmedabad

Akhilesh, Academic, Bhubaneshwar

Aseem Shrivastava, Author and economist, Delhi

Palak Aggarwal, Sustainable Development Practitioner, Odisha

Mohan Hirabai Hiralal, Forest rights activist, Chandrapur

Harsh Kapoor, Human rights activist, sacw.net

Raj Kishore Das, Retd officer, teacher, Bhubaneshwar

Arun Wakhlu, Training and leadership professional, Pune

Satya Rai Nagpaul, Filmmaker, Mumbai

Ghanshyam Shah, Social researcher, Delhi

Persis Ginwalla, Ahmedabad

Shishir K. Jha, Academic, IIT Bombay

Nagmani Rao, Academic, Pune

Chandrasekaran P., Software engineer, Chennai

Aparna Krishnan, Homemaker, Chennai

Suresh Lakshmipathy, Entrepreneur, Chennai

Sandeep Pattnaik, Researcher, Bhubaneshwar

Hardika Dayalani, Program Coordinator, Hunnarshala Foundation, Uttar Pradesh

Sabita Parida, Development professional, Delhi

Mona Mishra, Strategic Planning consultant UNDP, Sexual Health and Rights activist, Delhi

Snehal Shah, Research consultant, Delhi

Krishna Srinivasan, Social worker and Enviro-Legal Researcher, Pune

Neeraj Bhatnagar, Action Aid, Mumbai

Aravinda Maheshwari, Auroville, Tamil Nadu

Jasmin Maheshwari, Auroville, Tamil Nadu

Gajanan Khatu, Economist, Mumbai

David Selvaraj, Visthar, Bangalore

Gajanan Khatu, Economist, Mumbai

Shreenivas Khandewale, Agronomist, Nagpur

Bindu Desai, Human rights activist, Mumbai

Balaji Shankar, Organic farmer and writer, Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu

Balachander Swaminathan, Software professional, Tamil Nadu

Shashank Kela, Writer, Chennai

Subhayu Mishra, Member, Wild Orissa, Mumbai

Atul Gupta, Filmmaker, Dehradun

Venkat T., Researcher, Chennai

Suhas Paranjape, Water specialist, Pune

Louis Menezes

Joe Athialy, Activist, New Delhi

Avin Deen, Conservationist, Bengaluru

Ananda Vadivelu, Institutional economist, Delhi

G. Chandrasekhar, Cardiac surgeon and sustainable farmer

Sumitra Purkayastha, Researcher, Kolkata

Yatish Mehta, Businessman and activist, Mumbai

Sahba Fatima, Jr. consultant, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi

G. Baskaran, Ravi Kunjwal, Amritanshu Prasad, Rahul Siddharthan, Sitabhra Sinha, V.S. Sunder, & T. Vinod Kumar, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

T.S. Vijaya Raghavan, Advocate, Chennai

V.R. Anantha Sayanan, Activist, Chennai

Vineetha Bambasala, Environmentalist, Bengaluru

N.D. Hari Dass

Kiran Seth, Academic & founder, SPICMACAY, Delhi

Roy Jacob, Farmer, Kerala

Meera Rajesh, IT Consultant & environmentalist, Bengaluru

Walter Mendoza, Pune

Reva Dandage, Educator, Udaipur

Shobana Ramkumar, Teacher, Chennai

J.R. Ganesh Babu, Chennai

Chithra V., Teacher, Chennai

Daya Lakshmi, Chennai

S. Annapoorni, Homemaker, Chennai

D.W. Karuna, Researcher, Chennai

Satyarupa Shekhar, Researcher, Chennai

Mahi Puri, Wildlife researcher, Bengaluru

Narasimha Reddy Donthi, Hyderabad

 

Address for correspondence: Meenal Tatpati, meenaltatpati@gmail.com

 

Copy to: Shri L.C. Goyal, Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, Central Secretariat, New Delhi 110 001

 

 

Right to Exist, Right to Resist:Expose and Oppose Harper & Modi and their War on the People

International League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS) statement on the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Canada.

 

From April 14^th to 16^th the Canadian State will be rolling out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was previously denied a visa to enter Canada because of his role in the 2002 mass killings and attacks on Muslims in the State of Gujarat.  The visit demonstrates a growing closeness between the Modi and Harper regimes based on the common interests of the Canadian imperialist ruling class and the Indian comprador ruling class.  In coming to power, Modi and Harper have mobilized chauvinistic and racist ideology to build a reactionary electoral base and sell themselves to their ruling classes as leaders capable of safeguarding the continued exploitation of working class communities, the plunder of Indigenous peoples lands and resources, and a highly militarized and repressive international order.

Plunder of the People to Profit the Ric

Canadian mining companies are heavily invested in India and involved in the plunder of resources from rural communities and Adivasi (Indigenous) peoples, destruction of the natural environment on which these people rely, and extreme repression and human rights abuses by Indian state and paramilitary forces.  Modi invites more of this exploitative and oppressive ‘investment’ in his bid to boost India’s economic growth and make a tiny super-rich minority even richer.  Policies such as Modi’s Land Acquisition Ordinance are intended to facilitate the dispossession of poor farmers and intensified plunder for the benefit of international mining companies and Indian elites.

Mining plunder and super-exploitation abroad are an extension of Canadian imperialism’s colonial policy and theft and plunder of Indigenous lands within the borders of so-called Canada.  As in India, Indigenous communities here continue to resist encroachments on their lands but face serious coercion and repression as resource extraction, particularly oil and gas development, are viewed as the new frontier for big profit making for the Canadian ruling class.

This imperialist and colonial plunder of Indigenous lands and resources stacks on a broader anti-people agenda in both Canada and India of slashing of social programs that benefit poor and working class people, increased spending on military, policing and prisons, and tax cuts to corporations and the rich.  In India the rural poor, peasants and landless workers, already squeezed under the neoliberal policies of Congress and other previous governments, face intensified land-grabbing and super-exploitation under the Modi regime.

As the grinding exploitation of monopoly capitalism becomes more acute and unbearable for the masses in its neoliberal articulation, the security apparatus and capacity for repression must be continually strengthened to contain the growing resistance and rebellion of  the people.

War Against the People: From Operation Green Hunt to Bill C-51

In both India and Canada rapacious exploitation of people, communities and the land is accompanied and supported by a strengthened regime of repression, bolstered by racist and Islamophobic ‘war on terrorism’ rhetoric.

In India, over 1 million military and paramilitary personnel have been deployed internally to repress Adivasi and communist forces resisting development aggression in the North and East of India and to continue its brutal military occupation of Kashmir. Extrajudicial killings, torture and other human rights abuses on a massive scale accompany this deployment.  The same repressive force is used against those who question the roots of massive social and economic inequality in India and seek to organize the masses for social and economic justice.  Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba, held in prison for more than a year on trumped up charges, is just one example of targeting those who resist, even as political organizers and intellectual.

In India and Canada, listing of so-called ‘terrorist organizations’, uses the cover of reactionary violence (by actors like al Qaeda and ISIS, with clear links to imperialist intelligence agencies and imperialism’s close regional allies) to attack, isolate and use gross state terrorism against genuine peoples struggles for national and social liberation.

Harper’s Bill C-51 attempts to extend the chill, criminalization and repression of those who question the reactionary policies of his government, Indigenous people who actively resist development aggression and colonization, and people who support liberation struggles abroad that have been labeled as so-called ‘terrorists’.

Canada and India’s increasingly cozy relationship with the racist colonial Israeli State constitutes an international dimension to the same strategy of violent repression and colonial encroachment.  Canada unconditionally backs Israel’s war crimes in Palestine and continuing occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, with Harper proudly declaring himself as Israel’s best friend. India has become the largest purchaser of Israeli weapons and is rapidly increasing trade and military cooperation with the zionist state.  Harper, Modi and Netanyahu represent a particular strategy of the ruling classes in their respective countries to mobilize chauvinism and racism behind a strategy of brutal and violent repression of those who stand in the way of profit maximization and super-exploitation.

Right to Exist, Right to Resist

We can’t defeat the Harper-Modi reactionary agenda by voting in the electoral alternatives who function as the ‘loyal opposition’. These  liberal or social-democratic parties always prove themselves willing to implement the same anti-people policies, but give themselves a human face by peddling a “kinder, gentler capitalism” and using NGOs, liberal artists, academics, and other such apologists to propagate their line.

We can only turn this tide by organizing for genuine people power and by steadfastly upholding the right of people to exist with justice and dignity; to resist the repressive forces of imperialism, occupation and exploitation; and to rebel and struggle for liberation!

Right to Exist, Right to Resist!

No to the Modi government’s war on the people!

No to operation Greenhunt!

No to Bill c-51: Scrap the so-called terrorist list!

Long Live International Solidarity!

 

Mar 29 2015

by Jadaliyya Reports

On Thursday, the Pakistani state said it was considering a request to join the US-backed Saudi-led coalition that is bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen. The official Saudi news agency, SPA, stated that Pakistan is one of the countries that have “declared their willingness to participate” in the military campaign, even as it has indicated that it will not send in troops for the moment. It is with this in mind that we have organized the statement below to declare immediately a principled opposition to any existing or proposed involvement of the Pakistani military in Yemen.

– Madiha Tahir and Saadia Toor

STATEMENT

We, the undersigned, strongly oppose the Pakistani state’s involvement in any capacity—military or otherwise—in the current assault by a Saudi-led coalition on Yemen. We stand in solidarity with the people who bear the brunt of the Pakistani military’s violence, be it at home or abroad.

Signatories:

Saadia Toor, Associate Professor, Sociology, College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY)

Madiha Tahir, PhD student, Columbia University

Neelam Hussain, feminist activist, Executive Coordinator, Simorgh

Rubina Saigol, feminist activist

Lala Rukh, feminist activist and artist

Shahnaz Rouse, Professor, Sarah Lawrence College

Asim Rafiqui, Photographer/Writer, NOOR Images

Amal Rana

Iftikhar Dadi

Zohra Ahmed, Attorney

Alia Ali

Tariq Ali

Abira Ashfaq, Lawyer

Sonia Qadir

Sahar Shafqat, Professor, St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Hashim bin Rashid

Rakshanda Saleem, Associate Professor, Lesley University

Mahvish Ahmad, Awami Workers Party

Mehr Un Nisa, PhD student, University of Rochester

Shmyla Khan, Supreme Court of Pakistan

Kyla Pasha

Qalandar Bux Memon, Editor, Naked Punch Review

Sadia Shirazi, doctoral student

Orbala, blogger and doctoral student

Kamran Asdar Ali, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin

Zehra Husain

Hafeez Jamali, Ph.D., Anthropologist, University of Texas at Austin

Hamzah Saif, editor, Tanqeed Magazine

Ayyaz Mallick

Tayyaba Jiwani

Waqas Mirza

Dr. Idrees Ahmad, Lecturer, University of Stirling

Noor Mir, anti-war organizer, Washington, DC

Mehreen Kasana

Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts University

Majed Akhter, Assistant Professor, Indiana University

Jahanzeb Hussain, Editor, Ricochet Media

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, Baloch nationalist

Ziyad Faycal, Awami Workers Party

Pirdhan Baloch, activist

Amanullah Kariappar, Lecturer, Namal College

Sarah Suhail, Lawyer

Beena Sarwar

Malik Siraj Akbar, Editor, Baloch Hal