Thomas Friedman asks where are the Pakistani protests are about Mumbai. Fair enough question. If only he would look.
This is the English language stuff. I’m trying to figure out how to post the Urdu language material, you know, the actual language of most Pakistanis.
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Information about vigils:
DEC 4: Karachi, London, & Boston, Worcester (MA) & Providence, RI DEC 6: San Fransisco Already held: Dec 2, UPenn
Forthcoming:
Dec 4 (TODAY):
– KARACHI: 5.00 pm, Karachi Press Club, Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) & Peace Karachi, candle lit vigil for Peace against carnage in Mumbai & Karachi. “Plz join us & say no to War & every kind of Hatred.”
– LONDON: 6:00–9:00 pm, India House. Joint vigil by Pakistanis and Indians to express their grief over the Mumbai attacks and solidarity; extracts from the draft statement: “… If the objectives of the terrorists are to be defeated, that sense of brotherhood, shared grievance, and unwillingness to be driven apart must extend across the border, to Pakistan. We cannot allow ourselves to be manipulated and polarised through violence; we cannot allow the terrorists to win.”
– MA & RI: Simultaneous candlelight vigils at City Halls in BOSTON & WORCESTER, MA and on the State House steps in PROVIDENCE, RI, 6pm, organized by the Asian American Commission to remember the victims of the Mumbai killings. Contact: Raj Cell: 508-523-5784
DEC 6, SAN FRANCISCO: City Hall, peace rally by concerned South Asian Americans — Pakistanis and Indians — to condemn the recent Mumbai Terror attack and call for Pakistan and India to work together in promoting peace, justice, and prosperity in the region Press release at: http://docs.google.com/View? docid=ddkdhzkn_14fqhcz7fd
Event endorsed by: Friends of South Asia | http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/ Indian Muslim Relief and Charities | http://www.imrc.ws/ Pakistan American Cultural Center | http://pcc-ca.org Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation | http://paksef.org South Asia Disaster Relief Coordinators | http://sarelief.com Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) | http://www.asata.org
Re: vigil held recently, on Dec 2: Maria Khan at UPenn writes that students, including Pakistanis and Indians, held a candlelight vigil at campus on Dec 2 where they circulated a pamphlet (written by two Indian graduate students at Penn, one from Mumbai). Extracts from pamphlet, `IN THE AFTERMATH OF TERROR, THE TERROR OF THE AFTERMATH’:
“In the heat and hurt of the moment, we must not lose sight of important issues and their possible ramifications: “• …The need of the hour is to recognize the commonality of the suffering instead of falling prey to jingoistic nationalism… “• The call to Mumbaikars to get back on their feet is not an innocuous appreciation for their resilience; rather, such rhetoric allows the government to evade responsibility. The Indian government must be held accountable for the massive intelligence failure that has claimed so many lives. :• We condemn this act of terror but do not equate terror with Islam because not only does this false equation play into the hands of Hindu fundamentalists in India but it also feeds anti-Muslim sentiments that are being stoked globally in a post-9/11 world. “• We should act with caution when framing the attacks in Mumbai as “India’s 9/11.” We express solidarity with those who lost loved ones on 9/11, but are apprehensive about taking the analogy much further. We do not want the Indian government to replicate the US’s responses nor engender the consequences thereof – neither in its repressive domestic policy nor in the perpetration of acts of terror in other parts of the globe. “In the wake of this tragedy, we grieve those we lost and salute those who gave their lives to save others. We stand in solidarity with Mumbaikars and with those the world over who have been or continue to be victims of terror in all its myriad forms.