Afrah Jamal

Thanks to Liberty Books for the review copy Book Edited by Smitu Kothari and Zia Mian with Kamla Bhasin, A H Nayyar and Mohammad Tahseen Published in Daily Times / Aug 21, 2010 They have been locked in a near permanent state of confrontation for six decades, stopping only to make feeble overtures of peace to pacify onlookers. These 63-year-olds have great reserves of animosity left over from 1947. They renew their peace pledges often but test each other’s patience daily. And they get flustered easily, which makes them the two most predictable nations in the neighbourhood. When they are not exchanging words, they are exchanging fire. If nothing else, cyber armies from both sides have been seen invading ‘enemy’ websites. With their history of violence and a tendency to overreact, many wonder if Pakistan and India can ever break the pattern and maybe, just maybe, consider the merits of peace instead of dreaming about the spoils of war. Both nations have a rich culture, an admira...

PUBLISHED IN THE POST Former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter makes a courageous debut in the literary circuits as a proven champion of one of ‘the’ most controversial of subjects. ‘Designed to spell out the only clear path to permanent peace & justice in the Holy Land’ what part, if any can this book play in the salvaging of a currently skewed ME policy? This president’s long term association (as broker of the Camp David Accords-Framework for Peace in the ME 1978) with the Middle East makes him well aware of the prospects of peace and limitations in the way of good intentions in this conflict ridden region. Now, taking on a different role as an observer and consultant with ‘political leaders, academics and private citizens’ , Carter, in my opinion, manages to give both issues as non-discriminatory a treatment as they can hope to receive. You would think otherwise though judging from the furor generated from this publication. The book does its best not to let interest of the wo...