Wampum

The latest entry from Dawn's blog:

February 18 marked a return to accountability and democracy for the Pakistani people. However, not everyone in Pakistan was given the opportunity to express their political will. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are home to an entire community of people living within the geographical boundaries of Pakistan, who do not receive the benefits of statehood and are restricted from fully participating in the political process.

Education within the region is abysmal. Less than five per cent of women in the region are literate. Economic opportunities are similarly scarce. Up to 60 per cent of the population lives below the national poverty line, relying on subsistence farming for their basic needs. With no other way to generate revenue, many turn to smuggling contraband such as opium and weapons.

The economic and political isolation of the region has created a vacuum which has been filled by radical elements from Pakistan and abroad. In desperation the Musharraf government chose military rather than political engagement in Waziristan. However, as evidenced by the Sinhalese government in Sri Lanka, the suppression of a disenfranchised minority is bound to be a failure in the long term. The whole-scale isolation of an entire community from the Pakistani state does not bode well for the health of our political system. What is needed is constructive engagement and a reintegration with Pakistani politics and economics.

I'm glad to see the anonymous blogger at Dawn work the same ideas domestically that I worked as foreign policy yesterday in All your candidates are NeoCons. Our works share the interesting, and amusing property of being unlinkable from North America.

How does the emergency unravel? Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who's still under house arrest, telephoned the Sindh High Court general body meeting to notify the newly-elected National Assembly that the Proclamation of Emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order of Nov 3, 2007 are unconstitutional.

Those watching Mushy and the PPP-PML-N aren't watching the hotest pot on the fire, which is the lawyers and civil society.

has warned the newly-elected National Assembly against endorsement of the Nov 3, 2007, proclamation of emergency and the Provisional Constitution Order promulgated under it.