Saturday, January 30, 2021
Faith-Based Discrimination in Balochistan
“Whosever killed a person; it shall be as if he had killed all mankind.” The Holy Quran (5:33) Our religion, Islam, teaches tolerance, peace and universal brotherhood. But in today’s world, many so-called Muslims seems to have forgotten about the fundamental laws and principles of Islam. A few days ago, cowardly inhumane act of terrorism took place in Balochistan, and the gunmen took the lives of 11 innocent people. Now here comes the real question,” Who were those 11 people? Well, they were from Pakistan’s minority Shi’ite Hazaras. Their only fault was their faith. Yes, you heard it right, Shia Hazaras were killed on the basis of their faith. The so-called believers and advocates of Islam took their lives in a very inhumane way possible. The only fault of those innocent miners was their faith. They were only trying to make their both ends meet. And to be very honest, this is not new. There has always been discrimination in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan on the mere basis of faith. Shia people have always been a victim of sectarianism. The ethnic Hazara population make up the most of Shia population in Balochistan. And once in a while, they get killed because of their ethnicity and faith. It has been several days, and the people have been sitting on the roads and demanding justice for the lost souls. While, on the other hand, our officials are only condemning, which is more heart-wrenching. Hazara people have gathered on the roads, but it doesn’t seem they are getting justice any soon. Our officials are only good at making promises, but when it comes to fulfilling those promises, they once made, they disappear, as if they don’t even exist. We, as a society, have become so heartless that we don’t feel anything at all. Besides, in Balochistan, Shias are already living in terror, and now this incident took place. And I cannot imagine the pain and suffering of the families of the victims. It must be tough for them to live in a state which cannot even protect their lives, let alone their other needs. https://dailytimes.com.pk/711622/faith-based-discrimination-in-balochistan/
From Small Town In Pakistan To Shoe Empire In New York: How She Found Freedom
By Sanya Jain
"It's the same story taught to every Pakistani girl. We are raised from a young age to believe that our purpose in life is to find and keep a husband," says Sidra.
"Just two kids from a small town in Pakistan, who escaped their conservative families" is how Sidra Qasim describes herself and her husband, Waqas Ali. Sidra and Waqas are today the power couple behind Atoms - a New York-based footwear brand known for its quarter sizes and comfortable sneakers. But the road to success was not an easy one for them, and now Sidra has opened up about their journey in an interview with Humans of New York.
Sidra, who belongs to the small town of Okara, first met Waqas at her aunt's house. He was one of her aunt's students. "We'd discuss life, and society, and human emotions. It became the only chance I had to exchange my ideas with anyone. And Waqas took my opinions seriously," she says.
After school, she enrolled in a college and became one of the only 15 female students there. It was after she successfully produced a play to help with flood relief efforts that Waqas asked her to join him in Lahore - where he had moved to study further - and become his business partner.
"It finally felt as though my talents were being recognized, and the next day I asked for my parent's permission. But they refused," she says.
The refusal came as a blow to Sidra, who describes lying listless on the couch for weeks - to the point where it scared her father. Eventually, they agreed to let her move to Lahore, where she began working with Waqas on a company named 'Social Media Art' which aimed to help brands establish a social media presence.
As their company struggled, Waqas and Sidra grew closer. "We never discussed the status of our relationship, but both of us could feel a closeness. We were bonded by our journey. Both of us were defying our parents," she says.
"But after a year of rejection we had begun to lose hope."
A ray of hope came from unlikely quarters, when Sidra Qasim and Waqas Ali met with a group of craftsmen in the local village council of Okara. "They were making leather shoes on the floor of a two-room workshop," she says.
Sidra returned to the workshop again and again for a week and, in the end, the craftsmen agreed to collaborate with them.
While Waqas worked on the website, Sidra ensured that the shoes they produced met the highest quality standards.
" We called our collection 'Hometown Shoes.' And after we launched our website, the first order came in right away," she says. Although they made a loss on the order due to the high shipping cost to France, the couple did not give up hope.
"After a year we were selling about 50 shoes per month. We were happy to have any business at all, but it wasn't nearly enough to survive," says Sidra. They started a highly successful Kickstarter campaign and raised $1,07,000 in 2014 by selling over 600 pairs of shoes.
After that, Sidra and Waqas got married in a small ceremony - and immediately began to work on their application for the Y-combinator accelerator programme in San Francisco. "The admissions process was more selective than Harvard, and they'd helped launch companies like AirBnB and Dropbox," says Sidra.
Although she describes their interview as a "disaster", they did get through and moved to the US.
Their time at Y-combinator was one of making mistakes and learning from them. "We were the only company in our group who didn't raise money. And to make matters even worse, it had been a formal event," says Sidra, describing Demo Day which is sort of a final exam for participants of the programme. "Many of our classmates had dressed up. But none of them were wearing the shoes we had sold them."
Doing more market research helped them understand that most people wanted shoes they could wear every day, and so Sidra and Waqas shifted their focus from formal footwear to casual.
"We researched the highest quality materials, and we put all of our findings into a document called 'Ideal, Everyday Shoe.' Then we gave all our notes to a talented designer. Together we built a prototype, and we called them 'Atoms,' because we'd gone to the atomic level in search of quality."
It took them several months to manufacture their first collection after extensive customer feedback and market research. "By the time we were ready to launch, 45,000 people had signed up for our mailing list. On the first day of sales our website crashed," says Sidra.
Their company expanded to 25 employees, but they also had to go through a round of layoffs. At the beginning of the pandemic, to stay afloat in the face of dwindling funds and investors unwilling to put in more money, Atoms expanded to making masks.
"One year later we've sold 500,000 of them, and donated 500,000 more. Our shoe business has continued to grow, and once again investors are calling on the phone," says Sidra to Humans Of New York.
She concluded the interview by talking about the change that her business has helped brought about. She has been able to help her family back in Pakistan financially. "But more importantly I've provided an example," she says.
One of her younger sisters is now working as a fitness coach, the other is selling sanitary pads. But the biggest transformation, she says, has been in her mother - a school headmistress who now tells her students to be financially independent and learn technology.
"She's telling them all the things that I needed to hear as a little girl. The road was so lonely for me, and maybe I still carry some unconscious resentment," says Sidra. "She's telling them all the things that I needed to hear as a little girl. The road was so lonely for me, and maybe I still carry some unconscious resentment.
"But my mother has apologized for not supporting me more. And consciously I have forgiven her."
https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/from-a-small-town-in-pakistan-to-new-york-city-the-couple-who-built-a-shoe-empire-from-nothing-2359840
Blinken calls Pakistan FM Qureshi, seeks accountability in Daniel Pearl murder case
US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has spoken over phone with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and discussed the accountability of convicted terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl, according to the State Department. Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the links between the country’s powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday that Blinken reinforced America’s concern over Pakistan Supreme Court’s ruling acquitting Pearl’s killers.Blinken and Qureshi discussed how to ensure accountability for convicted terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and others responsible for the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Price said in a readout of the call.In addition, the Secretary and the Foreign Minister discussed the importance of continued US-Pakistan cooperation on the Afghan peace process, support for regional stability, and the potential to expand our trade and commercial ties, Price said. A day earlier, Blinken expressed concern over Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision acquitting those involved in the sensational kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in 2002 and said that the judgement is an affront to terrorism victims everywhere. In a strongly worded statement, Blinken urged Pakistan to explore all legal options to ensure that the killers of Pearl are brought to justice. The United States is deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder and any proposed action to release them, he said.Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed appeals against the acquittal of British-born al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the kidnapping and murder case of Pearl and ordered his release, a judgement denounced by the American journalist’s family as ‘a complete travesty of justice.’Sheikh and his three aides – Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib – were convicted and sentenced in the abduction and murder case of Pearl in Karachi in 2002. Blinken said: Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh was indicted in the United States in 2002 for hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, resulting in the murder of Pearl, the South Asia Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, as well as the 1994 kidnapping of another United States citizen in India. The court’s decision is an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan, he said. We expect the Pakistani government to expeditiously review its legal options to ensure justice is served. We take note of the Attorney General’s statement that he intends to seek review and recall of the decision. We are also prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen, Blinken said. The United States is committed to securing justice for Pearl’s family and holding terrorists accountable, he said. Pearl’s murder took place three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814. He was serving a prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country. A three-judge bench of Pakistan Supreme Court led by Justice Mushir Alam on Thursday dismissed the Sindh government’s appeal against the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision to overturn the conviction of Sheikh in the Pearl murder case. The beheading of the American journalist in 2002 had grabbed international headlines. The court ordered that three others, who had been sentenced to life in prison for their part in Pearl’s kidnapping and death, also be freed. https://theprint.in/world/blinken-calls-pakistan-fm-qureshi-seeks-accountability-in-daniel-pearl-murder-case/595183/US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged Pakistan to explore all legal options to ensure that the killers of Pearl are brought to justice.
