Daily Times Editorial 23 September 2019

Mission Kashmir at UNGA

Prime Minister Imran Khan has landed in New York with one-point ‘Mission Kashmir’. As a galaxy of world stars is descending in New York for the world’s parliament, the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister has ample chances to interact with them and apprise them about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in India-held Kashmir since the Modi government stripped the occupied region of autonomy. He also turned the valley into an open prison by curfew and internet shutdown for seven weeks. Besides voicing concern for voiceless Kashmiris, PM Khan will speak for the enforcement of the seven-decade old UN resolutions on the disputed territory which stress a peaceful end to the issue. As the UN General Assembly will discuss world peace and security, the prime minister will find an attentive audience to bring his point home.

The UN General Assembly session is of course a good forum to internationlise the Kashmir issue, but more bite to the campaign will be added by prime minister’s meeting with leaders on the sidelines of the session and elsewhere. Among the series of the planned and unplanned meetings, the most important will be his second meeting with US President Donald Trump. It is hard to predict the outcome of the meeting given his impulsive remarks which swing America’s foreign policy wildly. Moreover, he will be under the influence of a rally of Indian residents in Houston where he is going to share the stage with Modi. To garner the support of the Indian-Americans for the upcoming elections, Trump may take a visible side with New Delhi. In case of any hostile remarks, Pakistan may take up its case with the US media and civil society. Trump might be well aware of the fact that in 2016 elections, only 16 percent of the Indian-origin voters went for him. Besides Trump, the prime minister will meet UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan, and several others; he will address several important meetings. UN Secretary-General Secretary General Antonio Guterres will also raise the Kashmir issue with various leaders attending the session.

The most important players in the Kashmir Mission can be the Pakistani diaspora. To undo the Modi rally, the Pakistani community should have arranged a sequel of the previous rally of Khan in Washington. He should interact more and more with Pakistani American community members as their effective participation and lobbying in America can be a game changer. *

Tormentors of trans people

It was less than pleasing, to put it very mildly, to see an anchor of a Lahore city television channel run after a group of trans people at a deserted park and later grill them about what he called ‘immoral’ activities. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in a landmark judgement, granted equal human rights to the trans people and ordered authorities to recognise them a separate legal identity on their national identity cards. Since then, no policymakers have taken stock of the government’s measures for the welfare of this marginalised segment of our society. As now a good 10 years have passed and there is a need to study just how much the judgement of the top court transformed their lives. No work has been done to analyse how successful the implementation of the judgment was, and what policies are needed in order to promote equity and equality for all.

Meanwhile, we feel a little solace in news such as the induction of trans persons in TV channels as news anchors, and recruitment of a few trans people in the police department in Sindh. These isolated developments do not make a turnaround in the lives of trans communities. The Supreme Court initiative and the core judgment were prompted by the identity factor. Identity can be referred to as a term which can be social and personal. Identity plays a crucial role in ‘Identity Politics’ which is a phrase that is widely used to imply numerous political activities and the speculation that is formed due to certain social groups who share their experiences of injustice.

The TV shows also puts reporting ethics in the spotlight. The way the trans person was hauled up, asked derogatory questions and forced to listen to a morality sermon by the anchor sheds light on the ratings phobia and lack of training of media persons. The reporting trip, which involved lots of hectic leg work and human resources, could have been used to educate the public about the problems trans people face in their daily lives. There are hardly any jobs for them, pleaded the trans person held hostage by the TV crew. Just like the people on the streets, the media treats trans people as alien and ‘immoral’. For this reason, a majority of trans people face issues of poverty and illiteracy. *