Ten Thousand Things
Multicultural Webfinds

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.

FREE PAKISTAN: Ali Eteraz – PakistanPolitics.Net – Asia Society Emergency Townhall Meeting Online – Worldwide lawyers and activists support Pakistani lawyers and democratic activists – Amnesty Int USA Online Action

Attorney and journalist Ali Eteraz edits PakistanPolitics.net, a transnational Pakistani pro-democracy news site, with contributions by public and anonymous Pakistani lawyers and barristers inside and outside of Pakistan. The site and its links are an excellent source of information on the response of global Pakistani democratic activists and their supporters to Musharraf's violent military coup:

"PakistanPolitics.net is an independent pro-democracy website, offering stimulating, critical analysis, promoting dialogue and debate on issues of importance to Pakistani politics and linking ex-pats, ex-Pakistanis and residents of Pakistan. PakistanPolitics.net is committed to human rights, economic justice, political stability, religious freedom and the rule of law. We aim to ensure that marginalized and dissenting views and voices are heard. We hope to challenge the established voices and encourage debate about our views. We will monitor internet, satellite television, and local print media (in Urdu and English) to provide comprehensive analysis. Further, we will speak with political activists, lawyers, judges, academics and journalists."

The Asia Society In NYC held a November 8 Emergency Town Hall Meeting, accessible by podcast, with leading experts who have recently returned from Pakistan in dialogue (via teleconference) with analysts and activists within Pakistan.

Asia Society's webpage "Crisis in Pakistan" includes interviews with Najam Sethi, "outspoken Pakistani journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Friday Times, on the protests in Pakistan, press restrictions, Musharraf's future, and the crucial role of the United States" – Asma Jahangir, "Pakistan's leading human rights advocate, argues that there has always been "a nexus between the military and the Islamists" in Pakistan. She has been placed under house arrest for 90 days under the recently declared state of emergency" – and Zahid Hussain, a leading journalist and political analyst in Pakistan,"who "dismisses widely held claims that Musharraf is the only thing standing between Pakistan and an Islamic revolution in his book, Frontline Pakistan."

Global Voices Online is covering Pakistani blogger responses to what's happening.

American Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden sees a parallel between Iran of the 1970's and today's Pakistan, which has been steadily moving towards this even before Musharraf seized first seized power in 1999 in his first coup. In his highly informed piece at the Huffington Post, Biden urges the U.S. government and its allies to shift from a pro-Musharraf policy to the support of the Pakistani moderate democratic majority.

Lawyers around the world are coming to the support of their fellow lawyers in Pakistan, including The New York City Bar.

Democracy and Freedom: In support of an independent judiciary and democracy in Pakistan is listing a growing number of actions, including a vigil in San Francisco on November 10, sponsored by the Friends of South Asia, a Silicon Valley organization.

Amnesty International USA has an online action request.

"We need your help in asking President Bush to ensure that no weapons provided to Pakistan by the United States are used to commit human rights violations against peaceful demonstrators in the country. In addition, the United States need to publicly demand the immediate and unconditional release of all peaceful demonstrators being detained in Pakistan. The situation in Pakistan is deteriorating, as hundreds have been arrested and arbitrarily detained across Pakistan. They include lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists. Several Supreme Court Justices were sacked, including the chief justice, and placed under house arrest. The time to take action is now, as every day counts! It is crucial that the United States mobilizes and puts pressure on Pakistan before it is too late."

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