No Man-Istan

A few months ago, on the anniversary of Daniel Pearl’s death, the U.S. Embassy had a cultural event that I would’ve liked to have gone to, if I had known about it out sooner. Instead, I found out about it in a news report after the fact. Fortunately, I was able to get a copy of the DVD “A Mighty Heart.”

The first thing that struck me was how authentic the scenery looked. Although it was mostly filmed in India, as far as I know, the film-makers must have gotten their hands on actual footage of Karachi, as I recognized several location shots.

They got all the details of Karachi right: the painted buses, the buildings (outside and interiors), the graffiti writing, the flooding of the streets during heavy rains, the dusty air, the tangle of wires (and tangle of people), the screeching, ear-piercing sound of pressurized car horns pounded on continuously in traffic, ubiquitous trash, street sweepers with old-fashioned brooms made of hay and thread, cleaning ladies wiping floors with rags and dirty mop water, young girls with shaved heads, the economy of street dogs and cats not unlike the street children and beggars, the booming, echoing voice of the azan (call to prayer) from the minarets with electronic megaphones, blaring with reverb, several of them at once, hanging in the air like a flock of birds circling the sky, trucks packed with police and soldiers, security guards with AK 47’s, familiar road sights like Teen Talwaar (a “three swords” sculpture), and even the sound of the lady on the phone who tells you in a British-Desi accent that “sorry, you’re call cannot be completed as dialed, please dial the number and try again.”

The only thing that was missing was the smell of sweaty armpits in public spaces (thank God I don’t have smell-o-vision). In one of the more endearing moments of the film, during Karachi’s downpours, when it seems all the rain that should normally come down in the course of the year is stored up and let loose all at once, a servant says in colloquial Urdu that “God is raining.” This idiom expresses a rather pantheistic sentiment in touch with Pakistan’s Hindu roots, as opposed to the zealous monotheism of Pearle’s tormentors.

The film was excruciating to watch at times. The dishonesty, hypocrisy, and complacency of the ruling class, and the unrepentant, paranoid xenophobia of extremists were both portrayed accurately. But it also showed the good people in Pakistan working hard against grain, as well as the bravery of Marriane Pearl and all others who worked on her husband’s case which, from the beginning, seemed like a hopeless and circuitous maze of dead ends and false leads. Lastly, it showed the calm stoicism of Daniel Pearl who made sure to smile in the hostage photos to assure his wife and family that he was OK.

I only wish the film focused more on Daniel Pearl. He was a great journalist and a good man. Perhaps I’m just saying this because I’m also a writer and musician.

Pearle did not have a negative opinion of Islam. He believed that it is basically a good religion that has been hijacked by extremists. A center has been created in his name which promotes cross-cultural dialogue and understanding. I hope it creates a legacy of open-mindedness, knowledge, and understanding – the ultimate goals of any true journalist.

This just in: I live in the world’s most dangerous country!

Time had a cover a few months ago stating: “The most dangerous country in the world is not Iraq, it’s Pakistan.” And this was before the assassination of Bhutto.  (They recently had an excellent article on Bhutto and Pakistan, by the way.) Last weeks issue of The Economist, another good centrist magazine, had a similar cover. I know Newsweek and U.S. News have also made note of the dangerous situation here, although I don’t know if they have had such covers.

I can’t say I really disagree with them. I’d have to see more data to come to a more objective assessment, but I am fully confident in saying that it is by no means a safe country.

What can I possibly say about all this? How can I possibly reassure anyone that I am not in mortal danger each and every second of my life? I can’t. Nothing I say to the contrary will make a difference now.

In the past 15 and 1/2 months since I’ve been here, there have been over 20 suicide attacks. Certainly not Iraq numbers, but it is an increase for Pakistan. In fact, it was not until very recently that Pakistan become associated with suicide bombings. I just read today of another attack in the city I live in, and this scares me, because it means that it happened in a public place, unpredictably. Well, not so unpredictable; it was coincided with Bush’s arrival to the region. But we don’t know exactly when and where it will happen again. The latest attack came from a motorcycle at an outside food bazaar, which killed over 10 and injured over 50. The normally laid back, even bohemian, Lahore just had a similar incident a few days back. For Karachi, this is the 3rd suicide attack in the last year, not counting the May 12th massacre.

Is Pakistan the most violent country in the world? Well, it depends on how you define “violence” and how you measure it. It’s not the highest in terms of street crime (though that is a problem). It’s not even the highest in terms of terrorist attacks, though they are getting nastier and more frequent.

What it is that truly scares the world is what Pakistan represents. Pakistan has a Taliban stronghold in its northern tribal regions, which its powerful military regime, boosted with billions of dollars of aid, cannot, or will not, control.  Al Qaeda operatives plan and mobolize in these areas. Northern India and Afghanistan are both being destabilized by Pakistani-backed militants.  Much of the intelligensia in Pakistan is apologetic about it, blaming the usual suspects (the West, India, even Israel). Actually, just about anyone gets blamed except the people doing the blaming.

And how safe are those nukes? The U.S. has recently provided extra means of protection, but even the CIA is unaware of all of the locations (not that I can blame Islamabad for not wanting to reveal their secret locations). That terrorists want to get their hands on nuclear material is scary enough, but with a military consisting of an estimated 25 -30% of fundamentalists or terrorist sympathesizers, there is real trouble brewing.

And by “normal” I mean, as screwed up as usual. Elections have been pushed back five weeks. The debris in the streets has been cleared away. Businesses are up and running (well, up and crawling).

There’s been no in depth investigation of the assassination. All the government has said so far is that it was some joint Taliban-Al Qaeda operation. An audio tape of a conversation between three men, one of them a Mullah and member of the Jamaat-e-Islami (I believe), has been given to the media, which implicates their involvement. The speakers have denied it as a “pack of lies.” Also, a video tape of the assassination shows that after the gun shots, and prior to the bomb explosion, Benazir was knocked down, which contradicts the statement of the Interior Minister.

Oh, this web is tangled.