Why is it 'climate colonialism' and not just 'climate change'? Because powerful countries are (over)developing at the expense of poorer countries. Their economic growth is premised on destroying the ecology of the rest of the world who are paying with their lives. Europe & N. America were built using the blood of black & brown people. When colonialism & slavery were officially over, they instated an unequal global economic system, forcing countries to borrow to stay afloat & trapping them in debt. Meanwhile, they continued to pollute.

I wanted to talk about the ethnic/class privilege I experienced (can't really say 'enjoyed') day before yesterday when 18 of us were taken to Artillery Maidan station for gathering in front of the Karachi Press Club after 2 young Baloch women had been picked up by the police. 1 The difference in the way they treated me as compared to the Baloch women & men was apparent from the get-go. I had grabbed the hand of my Dostain Baloch, a dear friend & Baloch filmmaker from Lyari who I have worked with for the past ten years, & I refused to let go. 2

Imran Khan can say the most ridiculous things literally with no evidence whatsoever, & his supporters will just blindly accept it--these 'parha likhas' who somehow never learned to ask questions, who are impressed with Rumi quotes & machismo. It is a strange & frightening power. Like 'I used the money from the gifts I sold to build roads' or 'I traveled to Russia on the day of the invasion to buy cheap petrol and wheat'. Umm what? 🤯 dawn.com/news/1686224/i…

Just got back from a discussion circle organised by students & faculty following Bajwa SAHAB's marathon, all-day event today at LUMS. Around 80 students came to the discussion, which is good for LUMS, & all expressed their dismay with the way the campus was locked down today. 1 We spoke about the atmosphere of fear created, that students did not feel like this was their space, the fact that some got phone calls warning them through 3rd parties not to attend or hold any kind of protest, the insecurity of women & ethnic minority students in particular...2

Students, please, please, please email profs with queries. Do NOT Whatsapp (especially not late at night!) or DM on Messenger or Twitter unless the prof does so first or says this is okay. Emails can be found via our dear friend Google. Keep it professional! Received a Whatsapp msg from a student I don't even know at 2 am last night asking for help on a project. He probably thought this was normal, but it made a very bad first impression on me.

Reading about Saiba Varma brings up some of the increasing discomforts I have with ethnographic research in general. Even if one is transparent about their positionality, as Varma should have done, can you ever really overcome the power imbalances inherent in the practice? While her case is particularly extreme, having a father who was a RAW agent & working in occupied Kashmir, most other ethnographers also take the stories of people with less power than them, convert that into texts they cannot access, & build their careers off of their pain.

I was asked why so many people in Pakistan hate Malala. This was my educated guess, but I would love to hear your opinions as well: It seems to me that it is Pakistani men in particular that seem to be the most threatened by Malala. 1 Of course this doesn't mean all men hate her or that some women don't also agree, but the majority seem to be male. So I'd say a big part is misogyny. Many men are simply threatened by a vocal young woman & there is a jealousy of someone who has made it so big internationally. 2

My major concern with people taking excessive & largely unnecessary precautions like washing their clothes every time they come home, sanitising obsessively, & wearing a mask outdoors when far from people & when alone is that these things can give people a false sense of security They might then become lax about protecting themselves from the main ways COVID is spread, through the breath of an affected person, in closed spaces with or in crowds. I have heard so many people confused about how they got it even when they were seemingly being 'so careful'.

Finally finished this report I’ve been writing on the link between population planning & gender equality in Pakistan. Here are some key take-aways. 1 Pakistan’s birth rate has dropped significantly in the last 3 decades: from 6.9 kids per woman in 1980 to 3.5 today, but this is still not sustainable. Bangladesh is down to 2 kids per woman for a variety of reasons including better healthcare & higher women’s employment rates. 2

When the state disappears someone, it is the most extreme act of violence one could imagine—erasing that person’s very existence & leaving their families in a state of permanent uncertainty. They are left with nothing, making desperate phone calls, running from pillar to post. 1 When the state ignores the pleas of families or creates commissions of enquiry as if they don’t know who did the disappearing, when they issue rare statements of concern or empty promises of action, it’s like a slap in the face of those families who know much better by now. 2

A simple thread on feminism: Feminism refers to belief that people of all genders should have equal rights & opportunities. It is an ideology & set of practices. Under this umbrella come many different approaches & schools of thought. I will mention a few. or @Muhamma49685749(1) Liberal feminism: argues for equality within the current system. Liberal feminists have worked for things like equal pay, laws against sexual harassment, the right to vote & political representation. However, they do not have a critique of the basis of the system itself. (2)

Hafiz Pasha at #AJCONF pointing out the value of DHAs in 8 cities in Pakistan is $10 billion. Also mentions the concentration of agricultural land in the hands of a few, the extremely low tax contribution of the elite, & the extreme marginalisation of Balochistan. Hafiz Pasha also says the elite benefit from 1. Tax breaks 2. Lower input posts 3. Higher output prices for monopolies 4. Privileged access to land 5. Access to capital. This amounts to 2000 billion rupees of privileges for the elite. #AJCONF

Yesterday I tweeted a photo of a busy market scene in #Lyari, & many folks responded by thanking the Rangers & the Pakistan army, so let's talk about the long and convoluted history of the army & intelligence agency's in one of Karachi's most troubled areas (a long thread). The 'gangwar' that gripped Lyari for years was the result both of interference by some leaders of the PPP & by members of the military establishment (including the army & intelligence agencies). Parts of both the PPP & the establishment worked together to prop up the gangs.