sexy funtime blog

A recent study conducted jointly by the law schools at Stanford University and New York University found that drones used by the US in Pakistan essentially operate as instruments of terror in civilian communities, killing unnecessarily large numbers of innocent people. America’s culture of intellectual freedom in its universities, which enables such a report to be produced, disseminated, and discussed, is to be lauded. In contrast, the human rights culture in the US or globally is constitutionally incapable of providing a basis for questioning the US, Barack Obama, or Leon Panetta about their moral culpability for the deaths of Pakistani civilians by drones.

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The End of Human Rights: The rhetoric surrounding the protection of human rights has been appropriated by Western nations that are only too complicit in the derogation of values once cherished around the world, writes Rohit Chopra.

The banal, everyday affirmation of America’s right to intervene in the affairs of sovereign nations, the justifications for military strategies such as drones, and the selective invocation of human rights as a principle of US foreign policy have given the imprimatur of legitimacy to a grossly unequal vision of the world in which powerful nations can capriciously decide the fate of weaker ones with no answerability to any higher standard or body.

One of the most comprehensive articles I’ve read.

(via mehreenkasana)

A Western media[’s] aversion to focusing on the victims of U.S. militarism. As long as you keep the victims dehumanized it’s somehow all right.

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—	Questions on Drones, Unanswered Still. (via mehreenkasana)

When it comes to drones, Americans and Pakistanis see the world through different lenses. Americans are looking through the eyes of remote-control pilots safely ensconced in bases in the United States, while Pakistanis are at the receiving end of the bull’s eye. Polls show to the two peoples as polar opposites: 83% of Americans support the use of drones against “terrorist suspects overseas”; in Pakistan, among those who say they know something about drones, virtually all—97%—oppose them.

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—	Medea Benjamin, Americans Take Anti-Drone Stance Directly to Pakistan via Antiwar.com (via jayaprada) The number of times I’ve tried explaining this to supporters of drone strikes is sickeningly high. (via mehreenkasana)

mehreenkasana:

frumiouslychimerical:

The Pakistani Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that members of the transgender community are entitled to every right enjoyed by other citizens.

Transsexuals and eunuchs have finally won recognition following some three years of interest shown by the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry disposed of the case and ruled that eunuchs were entitled to all the rights guaranteed in the Constitution to all citizens including the right of inheritance.

The apex court order said that eunuchs should not be deprived of their legitimate rights — particularly the right of inheritance of all movable and immovable properties and the right to adopt any profession.

The court directed that the judgment be forwarded to the chief secretaries, as well as the inspectors general of all provinces, for their information and to ensure adherence of their fundamental rights.

The issue had surfaced back in 2009 after police arrested some eunuchs by raiding a party in Taxila.

Dr Mohammad Aslam Khaki, an Islamic jurist and human rights activist, stood up for their rights upon discovery that not a single human rights group or non-governmental organisation (NGO) was working for the rights of this community in the country.

Consequently, Dr Khaki had filed a petition seeking the establishment of a commission to safeguard the rights of the transgender community.

He contended that these people were denied the right of inheritance and other fundamental rights that citizens of Pakistan enjoy.

While concluding the proceedings, the bench appreciated the appointment of focal persons among the eunuch community in all the provinces to represent the community and help address issues being faced by them.

The chief justice also directed the interior secretary and provincial police officers (PPO) to appoint a focal person in every district and tehsil to look after security-related issues of the neglected community.

In addition, the court directed all federal and provincial health and education secretaries and the chief commissioner of Islamabad to coordinate with the representatives of the transgender community in order to provide free healthcare and education to them.

In November last year, the court directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to speed up the process of issuing CNICs to eunuchs and later directed the Election Commission to register eunuchs as voters as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2012.

Yes. Jeetay raho, Pakistan.

mehreenkasana:

The Anti-Stereotyping Pakistan Independence Day Photo Collage

First part of the series. Thank you so very much for contributing from all around the world and from within Pakistan. What may seem as a simple little collage is actually an effort to dispel racist stereotypes about Pakistanis throughout the world. Mainstream media may not honestly work on fixing racist stereotypes but as long as people like you are alive, we’re good to go. We’re here to tell the world that it is virtually impossible to stereotype a population of 190,291,129 est. people into one racist, demeaning, hurtful character.

We’re diverse, we’re different, we’re humans just like you. Stop stereotyping. Stop the hate.

Love,
Pakistan.

P.S. More to come.

Pakistan Now Protects Transgender Rights Better Than Texas

mehreenkasana:

rylipop:

mehreenkasana:

pakistani:

Is Pakistan leaving the US in the dust when it come to LGBT rights? http://ping.fm/gPuO8 (via morningquickie)

I do not even know what to say. :c

Just a friendly reminder. :)

Happy Independence Day, Pakistan. Keep up the amazing work.

mehreenkasana:

Truck art. We’re famous for it around the world. #Pakistan (Taken with Instagram)

The collective conscience of [the Pakistani] society is still not dead.

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Dr. Farzani Bari, director of the Department of Gender Studies at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad and a rights activist, writes about the lessons learned from the Kohistan women episode.

The media brought the incident to public notice. Civil society swiftly reacted by protesting and demanding an inquiry into the incident. Political representatives (Bushra Gohar from the ANP in particular) took personal interest in the matter and demanded that the local administration provide information on the incident. The federal government agreed in no time to provide all the logistical support in the shape of helicopters for investigating the matter. The Chief Justice of Pakistan promptly took suo motu notice and sent a fact-finding mission, which included human rights activists and civil society representatives, to the area. We have proven through this collective response that the Pakistani nation qualifies to be in the comity of civilised nations.

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[T]he best thing is that the strong reaction by the judiciary, politicians, administration, media, human rights activists and CSOs has sent a clear signal to the rest of the country and to Kohistan in particular, that these jirgas are unconstitutional and that decrees of killing people will not be tolerated by the state and society.

Brilliant. And kudos to the Pakistanis who raised their voices for these women.

(via mehreenkasana)

US drones 'causing mental trauma' in Pakistan »

mehreenkasana:

Escalating drone strikes targeting armed groups injure many ordinary people in the country. Armed US drones have been blamed for more than 300 missile attacks in seven years in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The US government says that they target only armed groups, and that civilian casualties are minimal.

Independent investigations, however, show that between 391 and 780 civilians have been killed in drone strikes since 2004. Residents of Pakistan’s tribal areas say that they feel terrorised by the strikes, and doctors say that those who survive them often suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder met with the survivors of one such strike at a hospital in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Watch this.

simotron:

Trango Tower

Pakistan