Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Welcome to the World Stupid Forum in Karachi
As Yasin Malik joked, was the Karachi World Social Forum (March 24-29, 2006) too populated by 'intellectuals'? Or did it at least give a genuine taste of debate, dissent and democratic mobilization to military-ruled Pakistan?
By Ananya Vajpeyi
As soon as I enter the precincts of the World Social Forum in Karachi, on the morning of 25th March, a figure in orange overalls, his head in a black cloth, his hands tied behind his back, kneels at the base of a lamp-post, as though about to be executed. I take a couple of photographs. He is there for a day or two; then he is removed. None of the countless posters, banners, signs, leaflets, photographs, pin-boards, or hoardings that fill the City Sports Complex on Kashmir Road, none of the riot of texts in Urdu, Roman, Bengali and Nagari scripts provides any explanation for this macabre installation. [..]
¶ Wednesday, April 05, 2006
By Ananya Vajpeyi
As soon as I enter the precincts of the World Social Forum in Karachi, on the morning of 25th March, a figure in orange overalls, his head in a black cloth, his hands tied behind his back, kneels at the base of a lamp-post, as though about to be executed. I take a couple of photographs. He is there for a day or two; then he is removed. None of the countless posters, banners, signs, leaflets, photographs, pin-boards, or hoardings that fill the City Sports Complex on Kashmir Road, none of the riot of texts in Urdu, Roman, Bengali and Nagari scripts provides any explanation for this macabre installation. [..]
¶ Wednesday, April 05, 2006
