Mar 29 2015
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