Posts Tagged ‘cnn report pakistan’
January 11, 2010
Both DAWN news and CNN have good reports on Pakistani artist Imran Mudassar. The following video briefly takes us into some of his recent works that depict deteriorating security, and amplified militarism that torments his country.
VIDEO : CNN talks to Pakistan Artist Imran Mudassir – January 2010
I found his first work in the video of particular interest: the wall piece brought from Kabul that was peppered with shrapnel holes. Mudassir traces an outline of a man’s torso onto the destroyed wall and highlights each hole with color to accentuate a very poignant notion that these aren’t just holes, they’re wounds. He specifically mentions he can’t stop thinking about those holes after having seen them, and quite effectively after seeing his work, one might feel the same. Minimal use of color and the small scale work set into a simple frame brings us in contact with a wrenching reality that mainstream news reporting of terrorism just can’t offer.
Seeing the actual holes that sharpnel makes on an individual human torso is far different than just hearing that another suicide bomber struck in the Af-Pak region.
The holes in this work leave us feeling empty as we peer into the darkness and depth of these wounds. Kudos once again CNN for reporting on one of the many persevering stories out of Pakistan during these testing times.
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Posted in Pakistan | Tagged af-pak region, af-pak war, af-pak war on terror, art in pakistan, cnn af-pak war, cnn imran, cnn imran story, cnn pakistan, cnn pakistan artist, cnn pakistan story, cnn report pakistan, imran mudassar, imran mudassar art, imran mudassar art war, imran mudassar artist, imran mudassar pakistan, imran mudassar pakistan cnn, imran mudassar war, imran mudassir war, national college of art lahore, national college of arts lahore, nca, nca imran mudassar, NCA lahore artist, NCA lahore war, pakistan art, pakistan artist war, pakistan artists, pakistan security, pakistan terrorism, pakistan terrorism art, pakistan war art, pakistan weapons art, pakistani art, pakistani artist, pakistani artists war, pakistani military, pakistani politics, terrorist pakistan, war on terror art in pakistan, war on terror pakistan, zainab jeewanjee, zainyjee | 1 Comment »
September 16, 2009
CNN refreshingly shifts the context of current discourse on Pakistan by reporting on female recruitment to the Pakistani Air Force. A story published this week highlights Ms. Ambreen Gul’s experience with the Pakistani air force as “one of seven women trained to fly Pakistan’s F-7 supersonic fighter jets”. Gul describes her experience as both positive and productive. Air Force cadet Ms. Sharista Beg also explains:
“To tell you the truth I’ve been given equal opportunity or I suppose more than men have been given,”
I refer to the story as refreshing because given that news is largely focused on macro level, security issues dealing with the war in Afghanistan and how it relates and spills over into Pakistan, the image we have of Pakistan is imprecisely bleak.
Of course macro level security issues in which our troops are directly engaged rightfully take priority over other news stories on Pakistan, but the unintended consequences of viewing this country as such and simply in terms of the “War on Terror”, “Taliban”, “fundamentalism” or “militancy” is a reduced understanding of what we are dealing with in our engagement there.
So I applaud CNN for balancing information with their story on Fighter Pilot Gul. Hopefully news outlets will continue to publish reports that allow a more accurate picture of what is a largely moderate Pakistan. Because a more accurate picture can only help us understand our situation there. In fact, the article concludes well, citing specifics of how the Pakistani air force works in line with our objectives:
“They’re training in counterinsurgency, collecting aerial intelligence and targeting militant strongholds in the treacherous mountains of Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border”
The nebulous Afghan-Pakistan border has become the front lines in our War on Terror making it easy to forget that Pakistan, just like us fights diligently against fundamentalism and militancy with their resources, troops and morale. We want to uproot terror to bring our troops home and secure interests in the long run, likewise Pakistan shares this long term goal and in addition, has an immediate interest in obliterating militancy for actual day-to-day security. The CNN article does a fine job of reporting in this instance and prompts us to realize that cooperation is key.
Posted in Current Affairs, International Affairs, Pakistan, US Pakistan relations | Tagged afghan pakistan border, afghan-pak, afghan-pak border, afghanistan pakistan relations, air force in pakistan, air force of pakistan, air force pakistan, ambreen gul, ambreen gul air force, ambreen gul pakistani air force, balancing news on pakistan, cnn pakistan, cnn pakistan news, cnn report on pakistan, cnn report pakistan, cnn reports on pakistan, defeating terrorism pakistan, female jet fighters, fighter jets in pakistan, fighting terrorism in pakistan, jet fighters pakistan, jet pilot in pakistan, jet pilots in pakistan, jet pilots of pakistan, jets in pakistan, moderate pakistan, moderation in pakistan, news on pakistan, news on pakistan cnn, Pakistan, pakistan afghan border, pakistan air force, pakistan air force war on terror, pakistan counterinsurgency, pakistan fight terrorism, pakistan fighting terrorism, pakistan fights terrorism, Pakistan international affairs, pakistan news, pakistan report on cnn, pakistan sexism, pakistan taliban, Pakistan US relations, Pakistan war on terror, pakistani air force, pakistani female fighter jets, pakistani female pilot, pakistani fighter jets, pakistani jet pilot, pakistani jet pilots, pakistani news, pakistans air force, pakistans fight against terrorism, sexism in pakistan, Taliban, taliban in pakistan, taliban pakistan, terrorism pakistan, US Pakistan relations, us war on terror, war on terror, war on terror pakistan, zainab jeewanjee, Zainab jeewanjee politics | 2 Comments »
Zainab B. Jeewanjee
Zainab Jeewanjee 