Wellesley in Politics: Interview with Farahnaz Ispahani ‘85 (@fispahani) Farahnaz Ispahani ‘85 has been a leading voice for women and religious minorities in Pakistan for over two decades, working as a journalist, member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, and most recently as a United States-based scholar. An advocate of Pakistan’s return to democracy during the military regime of Pervez Musharraf, she served …
Two years after being elected, the world’s first female Muslim prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, received intelligence that a man called Osama bin Laden had given orders to kill her. The year was 1990. Al-Qaeda had not yet officially been formed, but the organizers of global jihad had already determined that Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they launched their first modern jihad …
Husain Haqqani tells it like it is. Husain Haqqani, Islamabad’s former ambassador to Washington, is making waves with his latest book, Magnificent Delusions, which speaks hard truths about the arrant alliance between Pakistan and the United States. In 2011, Haqqani was forced to resign as envoy under Army pressure, and the Iftikhar Chaudhry-led Supreme Court, champion of the hypernationalist narrative, …
On Sunday, September 8, 2013, Asif Ali Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stepped down as the president of Pakistan. Many will write about this historic day as it represents the first time a democratically elected president completed a five-year term, followed by a peaceful transition to another democratically elected government. Most of Pakistan’s leaders have been …
Erstwhile coup-making general and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf was indicted on murder charges Tuesday in connection with the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. While the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi had named Musharraf in the case in early 2011, and declared he was a proclaimed offender in August of that year, today’s indictment marks the first time that a former …
Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf has been indicted on three charges over the 2007 assassination of the country’s opposition leader and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Prosecutors say that he is accused of murder, criminal conspiracy to murder and facilitation of murder. The offence carries the death penalty or life imprisonment. Ms. Farahnaz Ispahani, a Pakistani politician and Public Policy Scholar …
Farahnaz Ispahani Public Policy Scholar Asia Program CONTACT INFORMATION: [email protected] T (202) 691-4396 // F (202) 691-4001 EXPERTISE: Democracy; Democracy Promotion; Democratic Transition; Gender; Gender Equality; Human Rights; Pakistan; South Asia; Middle East and North Africa;Egypt AFFILIATION: Former Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Politician, Writer, Women & Minority Rights advocate WILSON CENTER PROJECT(S): “Protecting Religious Minorities in Pakistan & other Muslim Majority Nations” TERM: Farahnaz Ispahani …
By Farahnaz Ispahani Every year on the 4th of April all Pakistani democrats take a moment to remember Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Dubbed ‘Black Day,’ it is the anniversary of one of the most tragic political murders in the country’s history, albeit one conducted with judicial approval. Bhutto was Pakistan’s first popularly elected democratic politician. He is still mourned today …
I wanted to celebrate Salmaan Taseer today. His immense love for Pakistan, his passion for life, his loyalty for and joy in the company of his friends, his brilliance as a businessman and most importantly his tremendous affection for his family. His great sense of humour, sometimes a little colourful but always very clever. His ability to enjoy every moment …
Today is the fifth death anniversary of Pakistan’s iconic leader, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. History remembers her as the first elected woman prime minister of a Muslim majority country. For millions of Pakistanis she was the embodiment of their hopes for a democratic, pluralist country and the desire to be free of the scourge of extremism and terrorism. She led and …