Turbulent times in Pakistan: Violence & Censorship

Ok folks, so it's Thursday evening (May 20, 2010) and I'm writing this post from the library in CWS' Karachi office that has been turned into my bedroom for the night. I came down to Karachi this morning for a series of meetings today and tomorrow. As soon as I arrived in Karachi, I found out there were clashes between two political factions yesterday – the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – better known by its acronym MQM and the ANP – Awami National Party. No one really knows what triggered the clashes but apparently there were targeted shootings around the city that killed approximately 23 people and Karachi is under a semi-lock down. More details are in this news report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8693681.stm). One of the shootings happened in the Saddr district of Karachi, which is where our staff guest house is located.


In light of this, my office refused to let me return to the Staff Guest House and instead converted the library into a temporary bedroom so I could spend the night here. So this is my second time in Karachi where I've been confined to closed quarters – the last time was due to my run-in with malaria and this time for security concerns. So far I haven't really had a great experience in Karachi….hmmm… This is really unfortunate as I can see myself liking a city like Karachi, with all the hustle and bustle that comes with it, though I can certainly do WITHOUT the ridiculous heat and humidity here. It was 39 C (102 F) when I arrived at around noon. In any case, I am certainly looking forward to returning home to Islamabad. I still find it ironic that I keep referring to Islamabad as "home"… In fact, I think I've developed a certain "Capital City Superiority Complex" and get defensive when people from Lahore and Karachi refer to Islamabad as the "dead city", which in fairness and in comparison to Karachi and Lahore, Islamabad is relatively quiet. 


Anyway, the other big news story here is the government of Pakistan's decision to ban Facebook and YouTube. See report on BBC World News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10130195.stm). The ban on Facebook started yesterday because a group of people had planned for a online contest on Facebook to get people to draw images of the Prophet Mohammed. The excuse for the banning of YouTube was that it was spreading sacrilegious content. Needless to say that I find this ban utterly ridiculous as it is a violation of freedom of expression and information. I understand and respect the sensitivities of people with regards to images depicting the Prophet, who is revered by Muslims worldwide. However, I strongly believe that there could have been alternative measures taken to state their protest rather than ban the whole site. Additionally certain links on Wikipedia and Flickr have also been banned. Obviously this entire incident has generated a lot of mixed reactions on all sides of the argument. Now I have my opinions on this subject but I will refrain from stating them here as I do not wish to engage in this controversy. Plus I don't want my innocent blog blocked by the Pakistani government, thereby depriving me further of my access to the world. This fiasco has certainly shown me how dependent I am on Facebook. The internet – e-mail and Facebook have become so integral to my daily life that they are as natural as breathing for me. So needless to say that I am suffering from this forced deprivation! 


Well, that's it for today. Till the next time….good night and good luck…