How to Pakistan

What is the state of the Left in Pakistan? How left of centre is the PPP, really? What are the revolutionary credentials of the PTI? Why don't Pakistanis respond more enthusiastically to parties like the Awami Workers' Party? Is the state complicit in efforts to suppress and limit the voice of the marginalised and vulnerable? Can a good Muslim be a socialist? How would the socialists and leftists deal with PIA?

Mosharraf and Fasi speak to Ammar Rashid, a senior member of the Awami Workers' Party, musician, philosopher and activist. Join us as we explore Pakistan through the eyes of a passionate advocate for people's rights.

Words.

How do we pronounce them? Does it make it a difference?

Leonardo Di Caprio.

Sweet mouth.

This is the first How to Pakistan "short".

Enjoy.

Here's the story reporting the sweet mouth: http://tribune.com.pk/story/1061739/the-revenue-pakistani-tax-official-celebrates-dicaprio-oscar-win/

March 08 is International Women's Day.

March 09 is the Day After Women's Day.

We observe the day after women's day with Episode 12, in which Mosharraf and Fasi speak to Azeema Cheema, a researcher and instructor at the National Defense University, and a woman. Azeema talks to us about women's day, and the place of women in Pakistan, and on How to Pakistan.

What does the execution of Mumtaz Qadri say about Pakistan? What does it say about those that are comforted by the state's hanging of this man? What does it say about those that mourn this man? What does it say about provincialism and subnational identities? What does it say about liberals and conservatives? What does it say about left and right and centre?

In this episode, Mosharraf and Fasi attempt to talk about the Mumtaz Qadri execution.

Jibran Nasir is a Pakistani activist most commonly associated with effort to have Abdul Aziz of Islamabad's Lal Masjid arrested. A lawyer, a television anchor, a writer and motivational speaker, Jibran is Pakistani civil society's renaissance man.

Fasi and Mosharraf talk to Jibran about the present and future of Pakistani civil society, the smooth stylings of Zayn Malik, the role of Asma Jahangir has played in creating the Pakistan of 2016 and a whole host of other issues.

You can find Jibran at @mjibrannasir and his movement's website is www.neverforget.pk.

Two recent pieces in the international press have been great reminders of the steep price Pakistan continues to pay for the tragic stupidities that the country endured for decades in the name of national security.

In a February 6 piece for the New York, Carlotta Gall asserts that Da'esh is partly a product of Pakistan's ISI, and on Valentine's Day, a Bloomberg Business piece by Fasih Mangi and Divya Patil suggests that Pakistan is about to default.

For even casual observers, both pieces fail to offer compelling evidence, or really any kind of evidence at all for their very substantial claims.

Fasi and Mosharraf asked author and former Pakistani ambassador to Sri Lanka and the United States, Husain Haqqani, to help navigate the narratives these kinds of pieces represent. It is a magnificent conversation.

Links to the said pieces and to Ambassador Haqqani's latest book, Magnificent Delusions...

The Gall piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/opinion/sunday/pakistans-hand-in-the-rise-of-international-jihad.html

The Bloomberg piece: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-14/pakistan-default-risk-surges-as-50-billion-debt-bill-coming-due

Magnificent Delusions: http://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Delusions-Pakistan-History-Misunderstanding/dp/1610393171

Sana Mir is the national cricket team captain for Pakistan. Her off-spin bowling is currently ranked 10th in the ICC Women's ODI Bowling rankings, and has ranked in the top ten consistently for the last nine years.

After becoming the team captain in 2009, she lead the national team to its first ever victory in a tournament at the T20 quadrangular in Sri Lanka. She has taken 71 wickets in 66 ODIs at an average of 24.71.

Outspoken, bold, honest and more graceful than a busload of players of cricket from other genders, Sana Mir is a force of nature. God's generosity with Pakistan has no better ambassador than this sparkplug leader. Join Mosharraf and Fasi on PSL semi-finals weekend in a conversation with Sana Mir.

In Episode 07, Mosharraf and Fasi offer as an appetizer, the aftermath of the Valentine's Day debate and Marvi Sirmed's offer of a balloon for Mufti Naeem.

The main course for this episode is the Lahore Orange Line, a subway/train infrastructure project that has been protested against recently. We ask Lahore conservationist and lawyer Mr Rafay Alam to weigh in on why sections of civil society value old buildings over poor people getting to work. He answers.

Finally, we touch very superficially on some of the broader points of good governance and economic growth. Below are links to some papers by Professor Mushtaq Khan of SOAS, one of Mosharraf's favourite political economists. Also included is a link to the Government of the Punjab's video animation about the Lahore Orange Line.

The Orange Line simulation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSznQfv4DII

"The Efficiency Implications of Corruption" by

Mushtaq H. Khan in Journal of International Development, 8 (5). pp. 683-696.

http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/2425/1/Corruption_JID.pdf

"Aid and Governance in Vulnerable States: Bangladesh and Pakistan since 1971" by Mushtaq H. Khan in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2014, Volume 656 No. 1: 59-78.

http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/19178/1/Khan%20Bangladesh%20Pakistan%20Aid%20and%20Governance.pdf

"Markets, States and Democracy: Patron-Client Networks and the Case for Democracy in Developing Countries" by Mushtaq H. Khan, Department of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/3684/1/KhanMarketsStatesDemocracy.pdf

It started with the local administrations of various cities announcing plans to crack down on Valentine's Day. It escalated to a presidential rebuke of V-Day from a man whose name is Mamnoon: President Mamnoon Hussain. Pakistan is struggling with Valentine's Day. Mosharraf and Fasi try to dissect, in Episode 06 of How to Pakistan: The Mamnoon Valentine. #heart

In this episode, Mosharraf and Fasi discuss the ongoing PIA crisis, which began when the government doubled down on wanting to sell 26% of the airline to someone who would take on the honour of running the glorious national flag carrier.

The crisis deepened when protesting labour unions were fired upon by unknown assailants, causing the deaths of at least two protestors. As always, the PML-N government has created a crisis out of a national opportunity. The manner in which the government continues to deal with the issue indicates little appetite for crisis resolution.

To try to understand the issues better, we also speak to Dr. Nadeem ul Haque, who served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission during the previous government, and spent many years as an IMF economist.

Dr. Haque has written an illuminating blog entry on the PIA crisis at his blog, which you should all read: http://development20.blogspot.com/2016/02/on-privatization-of-pia.html?m=1

The original score that opens and closes the episode is courtesy of our guest sound engineer and producer, the great Shehryar Mufti, who is the founder of all-star musical ensemble, Bumbu Sauce.