Really mighty heart

The new movie, A Mighty Heart, directed by Michael Winterbottom will certainly open the eyes of many Americans to Pakistan our ally on the war against terrorism. Angela Jolie's role will bring many to the theaters to relive the awful abduction and killing of journalist Pearl. Tragic as that death was there is a continuing tragedy taking place; the abductions that go on and on in Pakistan, abductions of girls and young women. In Urdu the words "char divari" refer to the huge walled compounds which are the homes of millions of traditional people. Hundreds of young women disappear behind these "char divari' for life! Their families grieve about their abduction, but know in their hearts that their daughters will not return home. A few have escaped and returned home but the tragedy begins anew for these brave hearts. Their families frequently reject them, they have had sexual experience outside of marriage, they have been raped, they are unclean and non-virginal. They become victims all over again; family rejection, possible court action under "sharia", a trial which condemns them under the Hudood Ordinance, labelling them with "zina" adultlery, and then even a possible death penallty. Does this sound impossible? (What happened in Turkey two weeks ago ? An 18 year old girl was stoned to death, a brutal sight which we witnessed on television? ) One person with a really MIGHTY HEART is Mukhtaran Bibi who is fighting the injustice of the system in Pakistan with her new book, In the Name of Honor" which bravely speaks against her forced rape and their legal system that is based on religious fundamentalism. Now there is a Mighty Heart! Read her book, see her movie and support the battle against unjust abduction and the Hudood Ordinance of Pakistan.
www.haroldbergsma.com

MSN: ONE-WAY TICKET PAKISTAN TO AFGHANISTAN, $4 PLEASE

Interesting articles found on MSN: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/02/23/67163.aspx
http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/2007/02/4_for_a_oneway_.html

Reply posed on Feb.27 2007
"One Way Ticket to Afghanistan" brought back vivid memories of my travels in 1985 to Peshawar and the border area as well as to some of the farmers who had been encouraged to stop growing poppies and grow other cash crops. As we travelled by 4 wheel drive vehicle across the open areas on the Afghanistan border I was struck first by the vastness of the place and how remote this area was. My meaning of remote is not only a geographical reference, rather refers to how little the rest of the world knows about this part of the earth and what goes on here.

Much has happened in the world and Pakistan since then, but one thing has stayed rather constant, that the border is not only porous but it has a fluidity that is hard to comprehend. As I read the account of the travellers in One Way Ticket to Afghanistan I was again struck with the huge problem that both governments face to control human population movements. Pushtun folk have lived on both sides of the "border" for years and have largely ignored it as they consider all of it, theirs. They move back and forth across the mountain passes freely. The implications of this for "security" are obvious. The international concern for Taliban action in the area is in direct proportion to this political and social fluidity. Not only do people move but they move their goods, their high value cash crops, their Katusha weapons, but their collective will to remain fiercly independent moves with them. The world needs to read more about this amazing border area where so many countries have struggled to exert controls. I lived in the area during last days of the British Raj and have read so many stories of conflict that occured there.

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