Pak Tea House » Politics » Pak-US relations and the politics of absence
Pak-US relations and the politics of absence
By S Farwa Zahra:
After much media attention, US secretary Hilary Clinton and Pakistan’s foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar finally had a “dialogue” in London over Pak-US relations. From news reports, it seems that Ms. Clinton really had a lot to say, but what was our foreign minister doing the whole time? What is striking about all news reports surrounding this meeting is the fact that while there are a number of statements from Clinton and other US officials, we don’t hear Khar speaking. There is not even a single quote from her. It only took me a few clicks over different news reports to find out what could have turned a bilateral “dialogue” into a US monologue. The sources for all these stories were western news agencies like Reuters and AFP.
I could give these reports some benefit of doubt, assuming that Clinton probably had more substance to her statements, if only she had said anything new this time. We have been hearing about the importance of this relationship for a long time now. Then, this overemphasis on US representatives shows the power dynamics of such news reports. How it’s working in this very case is through the politics of absence. Khar is almost nowhere outside the pictures flashing across Pakistani newspapers. The only instance of her “presence” is through the statements of US officials about her.
According to British writer Roger Silverstone, a major reason that Al Jazeera is looked with dismay by western media is because of the Arab channel’s potential to reverse the very power dynamics. What makes Al Jazeera daunting is its capacity to shift the West from center to the margin by giving an Arab-perspective to the news.
The notion of transnational media as a tool to mobilize cosmopolitan civics seems more of a myth. With advanced technology, it has the power to build bridges between world’s nation states. However, what it is building are walls separating these states. In doing so, the supremacy of ethnocentric international news agencies have a critical role to play. Else, we would not have witnessed increasing conflicts in the world today.
Filed under: Politics · Tags: foreign, Pak-US, Pak-US relations, US
10 Responses to "Pak-US relations and the politics of absence"
Leave a Reply
Recent Comments
- Fingolfin
said PTH
i second Raj here. typing those posts takes t... - MA
said Dear Saad, Well done my friend on writing such a n... - saad
said Ahem: Bit like Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Nehru, the older... - AKB
said Islamophobia: Washington’s New Form Of Coloniali... - AKB said What's in a name?? Calling yerself 'ibn e Ahmed' w...
- AKB said Calling the Mullahs will only make them say you ar...
- tajender
said Perfidious Tajender Hooliganism”.
i pity u pe... - ahem
said to saad
Imagine a bus with two steering wheels... - ben 10 games online said Paktehouse.net is the best and biggest website of...
- ahem said to saad
Everything that involves Pakistan has t...
There is lots of difference between Foreign minister Khar and US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton in their biological age, education, life time participation in activism for the betterment of society, long history of participation in political dynamics in national legislature, public admiration, good looks, getting married to a powerful public figure and present great responsibility in global affairs and dealing with foreign leaders.
Hina R. Khar has very little of these attributes. That is why she did the right thing in the meeting. She listened than talked. The right thing to do.
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted.
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted.
Well, isnt that precisely the reason why we had our ‘free media’ in the first place. They actually have all capabilities and they use it to broadcast hindu culture from beyond Pak borders, but whether they actually use this platform productively to voice a positive image and actually help solving problems rather than just creating a mess, is a separate discussion on its own.
Balochistan is not different than a musical chair game for the Pakistani politicians. Everyone wants a chance like the toddlers in kindergarten. Now a new emerging party which claims to bring a change in Pakistan that consist some old faces who once were the crime partner of Musharaf’s government in Balochistan. PTI leader Imran Khan has also apologized to the people of Balochistan in a public meeting on 25th December in Karachi. With knowing the difference between Baloch & Balochi Imran Khan said ”I apologies to my Balochi brothers,” he further said, “We have treated Balochistan like a colony.” This is a historical fact that Balochistan was a free country, but it was forcefully annexed by Pakistan, and now it is treating the Baloch the way a colonizers treat the colonized people.
Imran Khan’s PTI had protested number of times for Aafia Siddiqui, but Imran khan never uttered a single word for 150 Baloch women, including Zarina Marri and Haneefa Bugti, illegally kept in Pakistan’s military cells. Imran Khan’s PTI was on forefront against the drone strikes in tribal areas but remained silent on Pakistan military bombardment in Kohlu, Naseerabad, Mashkay and Mand towns of Balochistan. How many times PTI bothered to announce a rally for recovery of 1000′s of Baloch missing persons or ever protested on recovery of 100′s of bullet riddled bodies of Baloch youths? Even on his “massive” public meeting Imran Khan did not dare to utter a single word against ISI and Army for their offensives in Balochistan.
This hollow apology game is nothing other than a tool to engage the minds of Baloch to counter the freedom struggle. Now the Baloch nation is not in a position to accept the apologies of anyone, to betray the great martyrs, who did not sacrifice their lives asking for an apology from the rulers. They sacrificed their precious lives for an independent Balochistan. A straight and bitter message for all those who think that Baloch are hopeless: “Hopelessness is a sin but hoping from Pakistan is the greatest sin”
What will happen to the people of Balochistan? In this Pakistani government baloch have always sufferd the worst and they will suffer as long as they’re a part of this country. Today’s imran khan is no different from those who made the promises just to be elected. Balochs don’t be fooled by stupid pakistani politicians and their fake promises.
I guess by “BLA” I meant some group of good souls from the region who have decided to fight against the oppressive Paki qabilah. It could be anyone, even done anonymously, with no obvious link to the Baluch struggle. It looks like the qabilah clique as well as its Anglo sponsors have decided to use IK and the likes of Zaid Hamid to consolidate a failed state using Mahdism-like hysteria and demagoguery and hope. Recently, even Allama Ek-ball’s grandson has decided to join IK’s band baja. Its almost like a movie scripted movement. This could at least temporarily unite a delusional country, especially against an intruding kaafir to target.
So logically, the forces of good local to the region should eliminate these poster boys so that hysterical hope gives way to apathy. It becomes easier in the context of general public apathy for Baluchistan to be removed from the vice like grip, or even be negotiated out of the grip of the RAPEs.
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted.
Community standards .. my mfhusain … atleast the (anonymous) moderator peremptorily removing the comments should at the very least identify himself/herself and honestly mention how / why/ what offends community standards.
I forget what i wrote… in a nutshell …To hell with mullahs and moolahs in whatever grab or with whatever gabs to peddle ‘N pollute.
Important think is, we do not need souble standards, we do not want Malik Abdul Raymonds and what we need is decent leaders not geedars and respect for merit!.
That I am a genius not a typist or a clerk or bookburner should not upset any standards whatsoever. truth after all is painful to face and it hurts to realize it.
CHEERS …
[...] Pak-US relations and the politics of absence [...]
[...] published on Pak Tea House: http://pakteahouse.net/2012/02/29/pak-us-relations-and-the-politics-of-absence/ Share this:MoreLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Tagged: AFP, Al Jazeera, Hillary [...]