Aamna's writing

FEATURES--- By Aamna Mahboob As Sri Lanka, scarred by a vicious separatist war by militants among minority ethnic Tamils joined the world in observing the United Nations Committee for Refugees (UNHCR's) World Refugee Day (June 28 2006), more refugees head to neighboring India or to protected shelters in the northeast. The North East is the potential war theater in case the war returns to this island. A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency said that presently they were looking after those refugees who left their homes and took shelter in schools and camps in the Mannar area. This is the area that was worst hit by recent violence unleashed by the rebels who are trying to claim a separate homeland for the Tamils in the northeast. According to the UNHCR their activities are centered on providing protection for an estimated 314,400 internally displaced people, some of whom have been out of their homes for more than 20 years. Since April this year, some 50,000 people have fled their hom...

By Aamna MahboobPakistan’s freedom history started when the last Mughal Emperor lost his kingdom to Britain. The story dates back to the period when Hindus and Muslims united to get freedom from Britain in 1857. The Mughal Emperor who did not get enough support lost and was exiled to Rangoon. He wrote poetry during his days in exile. The British became masters of the Indian Sub-continent where for nearly 800 years Muslims had ruled. However, their attitude towards the Muslims was that of antipathy. "The Muslims of India are and have been, for many years, a source of chronic danger to the British power in India," was the British opinion. The British attributed the war of 1857 to the Muslims alone. As a result, property belonging to Muslims was confiscated and they were denied employment opportunities everywhere. This included the army, revenue department, and the judiciary. After about a century-long struggle for independence, the Muslims of Indian subcontinents were able to g...