India’s neighbourhood has been witnessing quite a bit of turmoil in the recent past. Bangladesh and Pakistan are two rare Islamic countries where women politicians are in the forefront, and some now even taking extraordinary risks to return to power.
A defiant Sheikh Hasina, former prime minister of Bangladesh, arrived in the capital, Dhaka, on Monday after the government lifted an entry ban that had stranded her in London on her way home from the United States, says The Washington Post.
“She was greeted at the airport by thousands of well-wishers who ignored official orders against political rallies.
“Hasina’s longtime rival, Khaleda Zia, prime minister in the previous government, remained under house arrest after four weeks with no working telephone lines to her home, as the government of former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed prepared summary trials of prominent political figures.”
While Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, self-exiled former prime minister of Pakistan, yesterday said she might reach some political deal with President Pervez Musharraf, but he should quit his role as army chief to foster true democracy, says The Gulf Times.
“Pakistan has been rife with speculation in recent weeks that Musharraf and Bhutto were overcoming their mutual distrust to forge a common front against conservative forces ahead of a general election later this year.
” ‘We admit there are contacts because we want transparency, but we don’t say the deal has been done,’ she told reporters in Dubai in a telecast carried by Pakistani networks yesterday.
“Bhutto said previous contacts had come to nothing, but added: ‘This time, there might be a deal and there might not be a deal.’
“However, she insisted Musharraf should fulfill his commitment to step down as army chief by the end of 2007 before any deal could be reached.
‘A president in uniform and democracy cannot go together … we want military to go back to barracks,’ Bhutto said.”
While Kuwait Times reports that “a political accord between the two politicians (Musharraf and Bhutto) is reportedly being facilitated by the US and British governments as they try to maintain stability in Pakistan, which is a key ally in the war against terrorism.”
And here is an overall interesting story on women power:
“When Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni recently suggested Ehud Olmert should step aside and let her be prime minister, nobody batted an eye over the fact she is a woman.
“Golda Meir laid that debate to rest in Israel nearly 40 years ago.
“Britain had Margaret Thatcher, Pakistan had Benazir Bhutto and India had Indira Gandhi. Women hold high office in a dozen countries around the world, in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines.
What about the USA? “Women have been seeking the U.S. presidency since Victoria Clafin Woodhull ran on the Equal Rights Party ticket against Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greeley in 1872.
“So why has the United States, where Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, never elected a woman to the White House?”
A good question, especially when even Islamic countries have prime ministers.
For explanations please click here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.