Another Voice of Peace . . . . Silenced

"Voice of Peace" is the name of a little heard of Independent radio broadcater based out of the relatively peaceful provence of Parvan in Afghanistan. It was run and managed by Zakia Kaki a forward thinking woman with independent views who was critical of the warlords and talibanization in her area. She was the voice of women's rights in a region where women are caged in their houses, she was promoting peace and convincing the local population to send their daughters to schools, the majority of her staff were women striving to make a difference. Other than being a reporter she was a teacher in a girls school. One of the very few female reporters to speak up during the Taliban rule, she stood for something, she knew that every breath she took could be her last but did'nt give in to thugs and threats. She spoke for her country, she spoke for her fellow people and in the end she payed the price she was shot dead, seven times while sleeping next to her 20 month old child.

Her rare voice of peace in a world full of bloodshed and misery was silenced in the end by bullets for speaking for her rights and the rights of others who dare not speak. She laid her life for what she believed in, lots of other voices of peace will be silenced if we do not speak up about this, Silence is not an option.

Vulture Funds

Jane Mutanga is ill with the symptoms of AIDS and exhausted by hunger, often too ill to work to feed her orphaned nephew Obetty (11, left) and two children, Milimo, 4 and Mazuba. *

While a lot of governments and people are trying to alleviate the problems of developing nations by finding ways to eliminate their debt, there are companies and businessmen lining their pockets with money which was meant to feed the poorest of the poor. Vulture funds as described by the IMF are "companies which buy up the debt of poor nations cheaply when it is about to be written off and then sue for the full value of the debt plus interest - which might be ten times what they paid for it."

The world is full of greed but vulture funds take the cake, whats surprising is that these businesses collect in rich countries by taking the poor nations to court, several cases have been lost by cash strapped governments and vulture funds have collected millions which were meant for housing, food, medicine and education. The UK & US governments whose courts entertain these cases, can put a stop to all this but vulture funds line up the pockets of politicians to continue doing what they are doing.

• British Virgin Islands-based Donegal International paid less than $4m for a debt the African nation owed, but successfully sued Zambia for a $42m repayment.
• Paul Singer bought Congo Brazzaville’s debt for $10 million and is suing for $400 million.
• In 1996, Singer bought discounted Peruvian debt for $11 million and sued for $58 million.

Donegal International is collecting its money from the Zambian government after winning its case in the UK. Calls for Bush to put a stop to Paul singer and his likes have put Mr. President between the devil and the deep blue sea, because Paul singer according to a BBC Newsnight Report is the largest "donor" to the Bush Campaign($1.7M) and has already pledged 15 Million for Rudy Guiliani's campaign.

* Picture taken from World Vision International

Karachi Burning

Even though I am not from Karachi, I have Pakistani blood running in my veins. I have been out of the country for most of the past 10 years, but have deep rooted connections, I travel there every 3 months at least for something or the other. To this day I love Pakistan, always have, I have preferred it over any other place I have lived in. It pains me to see what has been happening there for as long as I can remember. It pains me to see that there is no value of life. Every single person who has had control in the country has done nothing but loot it and try to retain their power by hook or by crook. This general is nothing different, even though at one time I thought he was different, at one time I believed in him, I believed that he would do things differently, when he took power I honestly believed he was doing it for the country. I guess I was naive, it seems what people say is true, most of the people most of the time only end up disappointing you.

"Who more foolish then we like cattle who,
Ever herded to doom by a cunning few,
By baubles bought or fear enslaved;
Are perpetually denied what be our due! "

Cure for AIDS

Yesterday I came upon a ridiculous news story, I usually wouldn't rewrite a news story, but this one needs to be talked about as it is about a very important issue that faces humanity. There used to be times when the good of many far outweighed the good of one, but in our need based, egoistic society one will go to any length to gain popularity and support of their fellow man. The Gambian President apparently decided it would be good for his popularity to come up with the cure for a disease that is fast spreading in the small African country. He announced that he had found a cure for AIDS, According to CNN "Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced he had discovered a cure for the disease that has wreaked havoc across Africa. He made that announcement in front of a group of foreign diplomats, telling them the treatment was revealed to him by his ancestors in a dream." This announcement has given false hope to many in a country where most of the population is uneducated and will blindly give up mainstream treatment because their leader says his treatment is better.

The UN ambassador was expelled from the country for speaking against the treatment and advising people to continue on the medical treatment they have been receiving before, the news had a lot of health workers and agencies working in the region up in arms against the irresponsible statement by the President and the Health minister. I see all of this as a political stunt to garner support from the masses by the president.

Stuck

Pakistan seems to have been in a whirlpool since its independence. The nation is stuck between the devil and the deep black sea for ages. There is always someone at the helm of affairs for whom their personal interests are more important then that of the Nation. The people of Pakistan on the other hand have faced every adversity with hope and determination. What the world sees is a small minority of people bent on causing devastation and havoc, what they dont see is the silent majority fighting against all odds to give their children a happy and bright future, a future that our fathers fought for more than 50 years ago.

This recent development of the Judicial crisis in the country is nothing new. The President like every other human being has been blinded and corrupted by power, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." this statement that be justified for every person who has ruled out country. Power goes into our heads, the president saw that the chief justice was becoming a threat to his rule so he got rid of him. Did he for once stop to think what implication the action would have on the country. Yesterday we saw one of the worst days of protests and violence in the country. The government says that there is a free press in Pakistan how can they justify stopping transmissions of private television channels because they telecast the protests. How can justify the raid of a private television station by the security forces. Another sad era has taken wings in our young country, another blow to freedom and democracy. But we look forward to days where honor and dignity of every citizen will be protected by our state, we strive hard to get to where we should have been by now. God Bless.