Waqas is back to keep us up to date on the Imran Khan file. The entire Pakistan establishment is united in trying to keep Imran Khan from returning to power in an election through court cases, violent repression, and electoral delay; but the people’s protests don’t seem to stop. Pakistan and Imran Khan at an impasse. Waqas also presents his new research on how the coup unfolded last year.
Category: India and Pakistan
Politics and wars in India and Pakistan
AER 119: That time when Britain killed 10 million Indian people, with Amaresh Mishra
Talking to Amaresh Mishra, author of the giant book India 1857: War of Civilisations about the immense scale of the Indian revolution against British imperialism that year: the scale of Hindu-Muslim unity, the class aspect of the revoution, the scale of the genocidal British massacres that followed (Mishra’s estimate is that the British killed 10 million Indians), and the importance of the so-called “1857 line”: the spiritual, cultural, political and economic connection between Hindu and Muslim in South Asia and resistance to Anglo-American imperialism, the recovery of which is the only way for South Asia to take its place in the world. We analyze Modi’s politics since 2014 and the continuing weakness of pro-Western ideologies (whether of the Congress or Hindutva variety) when faced with revolutionary politics.
Anti-Empire Radio episode 116: The Assassination Attempt on Imran Khan
Waqas is back to talk about the Nov 3 attempt on Imran Khan’s life; the assassination in Kenya of journalist Arshad Sharif; Similarities and differences between the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the attempt on Imran Khan; the possibility that the Pakistani military might find a way out of this (by having Bajwa step down on schedule and then allowing an election) as opposed to plunging the country into the abyss ( by going through with the assassination of Imran Khan).
*Apologies about the audio – used my webcam mic instead of my podcasting mic in my echoey studio. Back to normal next time!
AER 113: Pakistan government threatens to arrest Imran Khan
An update on the unfolding post-coup in Pakistan. Talking to Waqas Ahmad again about the threat to arrest Imran Khan, the remarkable result of the election in Punjab where PTI won 15/20 seats, the arrest and torture of Shehbaz Gill and many others, the articles in the NYT and Time Magazine about how the coup government’s repression might be backfiring, and more.
AER 111: Imran Khan’s Long March in Pakistan
An update on the dynamic situation in Pakistan. Fan favorite Waqas Ahmad (@worqas on twitter) is back to talk about the massive march and nationwide protest of May 25 in Pakistan, which ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan called. Imran Khan called the protest off on May 26 in the face of escalation and repression, giving the government six days to call a new election (this is posted on day six). When Waqas and I organized this talk, we were in the middle of the protests and saw an explosive situation developing. I’m posting it now in the middle of what is probably a temporary calm.
Anti Empire Radio 110: Karachi University Bombing – Balochistan and China
In the latest episode of Kung Fu Yoga with Carl Zha, we talk about the bombing at Karachi University where a suicide bomber killed herself, three Chinese teachers, and a driver. The Baloch Liberation Army claims responsibility. We ask: what does bombing Chinese teachers in Karachi have to do with Baloch liberation? What is going on in Balochistan? What is China’s footprint there and what are its investments? How is this event being perceived and understood in China? And what role does the US have in it?
AER 109: Imran Khan’s ouster in Pakistan – coup or reconfiguration of power?
The ouster of Imran Khan continues to play out. We’re asking: 1. Was it a coup? 2. How can we understand Imran Khan’s foreshortened time in government and his ruling coalition? 3. How important are these events for the people of Pakistan – are they just elite maneuvering or do they have deeper implications? 4. How US-centric is too US-centric in understanding these things, as opposed to understanding regional actors and their roles and especially local power blocs and class dynamics. A friendly debate with Pakistani activist and academic Ayyaz Mallick.
Anti-Empire Radio 108: Pakistan – I think it was a coup!
Was Imran Khan ousted in a US-backed regime change, or is Imran Khan crying conspiracy over a routine non-confidence vote? Was the memo real or exaggerated? Are the mass protests a sign of a cult-like following or a repudiation of a sleazy change of power? Was Imran Khan not a part of the very establishment that just threw him out? What will be the implications for Pakistan’s relationship with China? For Afghanistan? I discuss these questions with journalist Waqas Ahmed.
AEP 100: Debriefing the Indian Farmers’ Victory with Navyug Gill
I’m joined by Navyug Gill from William Paterson University to talk about the historic victory of the Indian Farmers who, after demonstrating for a whole year at the cost of 750 lives, succeeded in forcing the repeal of three laws that would have immiserated agriculture in India, done away with the government procurement system, and subjected the entire agricultural system to new levels of instability and volatility. Instead, the farmers stopped the seemingly unstoppable Modi juggernaut. We talk about how they did it and what might come next.
AEP 91: Kung Fu Yoga – US withdraws from Afghanistan and panics about China, with Carl Zha
Another episode of Kung Fu Yoga with Carl Zha, where we talk about the Indian and Chinese angles on world events. With the US withdrawing from Afghanistan like thieves in the night, the greatest agent of chaos may be gone (or mostly gone, for now) and country’s neighbours (Iran, Russia, the Central Asian republics, Pakistan, India, and China) will be playing a bigger role in the future, and so, evidently, will the Taliban. We talk about the differences we see between the Taliban of today and the Taliban of 2001 in terms of the movement’s apparent support in rural areas and ability to win many of them over without fighting; in terms of the Taliban’s perhaps independence from Pakistan; and in terms of the Taliban’s diplomatic agenda in the region. With the US panic about China taking up where the US left off, we consider China’s relationship with Pakistan (eg., the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and whether that has any insight to offer about what the China-Afghanistan relationship might look like in terms of priorities like infrastructure, the Belt & Road initiative, and China’s concerns with stability and terrorism on the border with Xinjiang. As well as India’s seeming irrelevance to the situation.