Image source: Hydespes’ Lightbox

When one hears anything negative about “Peshawar” these days, the first thing that might come to mind is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Previously, it would have been terrorism.The unanimous verdict is that BRT is a mess. There is debate over whether the city even needed it. There is an opinion, especially shared by car owners, that widening of roads was the best option to ease the traffic flow, and this is still seen as a symbol of development. Others believe BRT would help the poor, but there is concern over the bus fares being costlier than the existing transport arrangements. There are also apprehensions over the design itself. On visiting the area of Saddar, the massive BRT overhead structure appears to be crashing over the bustling roads. Earlier, a piece of concrete actually broke off from the structure.

The provincial government spent precious resources beautifying the city through planting trees and building infrastructure only to be supplanted by a concrete monstrosity in the middle of the multi lane road. This has narrowed the lanes for traffic and has given rise to traffic jams – an enduring legacy of this project. The idea of creating a bicycle track along the entire corridor, a welcome initiative, now seems unlikely, given the crammed space.

For women in Peshawar, mobility remains a major issue. Few women are seen outside, and that too on the backseats of the vehicles, avoiding prying eyes on the street. More of them are seen flocking in the small bazaars in the heart of Saddar, but seldom on the main roads. Once when I asked my father to take me to the walled city, I was told that “it is not a place for women”.  There is noticeable class disparity in the city that defines the experiences and opportunities for women.  It is not uncommon to see women belonging to wealthier families roaming about the posh branded shops in the town locality.

Overall, the city lacks a vibrant public life. There are very few public parks – existing ones being poorly maintained and overly crowded. There are hardly any public libraries, or spaces for creative activities. The community in Peshawar, though closely-knit; has seldom channelled these community ties for development of the city. The people of Peshawar are emotionally attached to it, but this love rarely translates into civic responsibility.

The town side of the city gives a good glance into the evolving business culture of the city. This area has seen massive development recently and has limited space to expand further. The trend is moving to establishment of high street brands and cafes closer to Hayatabad. These may seem modern, but are in fact quite shallow, benefiting the select elite of the city who own these properties and franchises. Apart from these, the employment and business opportunities in the city are scarce. The city is underdeveloped in terms of having a thriving business culture. For young students and graduates, finding an internship or job in Peshawar often proves to be a daunting challenge.

The older end of the city, housing the great remnants of ancient civilizations, gives a glimpse of Peshawar’s great history. Having lived all my life in Peshawar, I was shocked to discover only recently that it is one of the oldest living cities in the world. This is because our heritage has not been cherished and is rotting away in front of our eyes. A few of the historical structures, like the Sethi House and Bala Hissar fort, are somewhat maintained, but accessibility is an issue; Sethi house is located in the walled city, where women cannot comfortably travel, and the Bala Hissar fort houses the Frontier Constabulary Headquarters. Besides that, the ancient gates and other undocumented buildings of the walled city are deteriorating every day. Our history is unbelievably rich, from the Chowk Yadgaar to Gor Ghatri; however, there have been no concerted efforts to maintain and document these, let alone capitalizing on them as sites for learning history, tourist attractions, and revenue generation.

Despite a painful recent history, peace has returned to Peshawar. The city, however, seems to be stuck in a limbo between the old and new times. The capitalist culture is penetrating it in a fragmentary manner, as international franchises are coming up and an increasing number of people vying for opportunities and mobility. The youth of the city seems promising – young people are increasingly going out of city for education and work, while some are starting new businesses in the city. Better organization will, indeed, help them flourish. The National Incubation Centre Peshawar, for instance, was recently established to cater to the growing entrepreneurial aspirations of the people. But overall, there is a lingering preference for the old, small-town lifestyle. Peshawar does not seem to want to participate in the capitalistic rat race, seeking comfort in its old traditions. It has an immense potential to develop itself into a modern 21st century city, by capitalizing on its revered cultural and history, rather than letting them go.

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Wajeeha Amir is a rising senior at LUMS, studying political science and public administration. She has a keen interest in urban planning and wishes to play her part in bringing meaningful change to her hometown.

The post Peshawar, The City of Flowers & Failures: Musings of a Citizen first appeared on Learners’ Republic.

On May 25, 2020, we lost George Floyd. It was a very tragic and painful death, as his windpipe was crushed by an officer pushing his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 Minutes and 46 Seconds! While George cried out for his mom and repeatedly said “I can’t breath”. George’s apparent crime? He was Black.

This sparked a flame in people, a flame fueled by the sadness and anger because of racism in our society. What I want to address in this article is how mainstream racism is. 

Let’s do a quick overview of racism in America. So let’s start with the end of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. Which ended slavery in all of America, The End! Just kidding! For the next 2 years in Texas, slavery resumed. Then on June 19, 1865, Union troops (the people who didn’t like slavery) marched into Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of slavery. It seemed like this was the end of racism, but NO! Racist treated Black people horribly; they were not allowed to go to the same schools, toilets, and restaurants that white people went to. That’s just scratching the surface of where and what they were allowed to do! Racists also found loopholes in the laws allowing Black people to vote. exploiting the things that Black people did not have due to being slaves previously, such as literacy tests and taxes. Now you may be wondering, “wait…where is the government in all of this”? Well, the problem is the government was run by racists and these things were made legal through what is called Jim Crow laws. Eventually, the Civil Rights movement started (led by Martin Luther King Jr. and others), and all loopholes were removed and Black people got their rights. So that’s the overview of racism in America. 

Still, after all Black Americans have been through, they are still treated as second class citizens, and in the next 2 paragraphs, I will give you a glimpse into the world of hate and racism that has embedded itself into American society. So let’s start off with the racism in policing. As shocking as it sounds, America has a very huge policing problem, and racism contributes to a huge chunk of policing problems. For example, let’s take a look at a type of training method called “Warrior training”. It’s basically a fear-based training where officers are told to treat every person as a threat and teach them very aggressive tactics for taking down a threat. So, with this in mind, it can strengthen the racist mindset of Black Americans being threats, and give police training and excuses to kill them. I would also like to draw your attention to the problem of Stop and Frisk. It is a method used by police in which they stop an individual, and frisk, or push them against the wall. But when racist police officers use stop and frisk it creates a paradox, you may be saying “huh?”, so let me explain. A famous political comedian named Trevor Noah talked about this. So, imagine you are a Black child, and you are frisked every day. So eventually, you run away from the police, and then you get arrested for resisting arrest. You cannot afford to pay bail, so you are sent to prison, where they will become criminalized from being influenced by criminals. That is one-way racism is embedded into our police system.

While racism is embedded into the policing system, it is also embedded in society, which honestly influences the racism in policing. One example of this is, in 2018, two black men were arrested for allegedly trespassing at a Starbucks in Pennsylvania. They were only waiting for a colleague to arrive, so they could have a meeting. This shows how people see Black people as threats, and instead of asking the men to leave, they immediately called the police. This highlights that people see Black people as inherently threatening. This is because, in movies and other forms of entertainment, more threatening roles are played by Black actors, which causes people to be afraid of Black people and also Blacks are portrayed in more negative light. Heroes are always white!. One example of this is in the TV show, The Flash (a superhero with super speed). In the episode, I am highlighting, they are trying to bust a crime lord who runs a black-market (even this work makes black negative, like say black-list!), that sells illegal stuff. The villian (who had the ability to turn his body gold) was a Black person. This is just one example of Black people are mostly mis-portrayed in entertainment. 

As this article draws to an end, you may be wondering “wait… how come there have been no movements to end this”? But indeed there have been, many in fact, for all the deaths that have recorded, due to this racism. But, these protests have died out, the spark lost. It may be because not a lot of people participated, or perhaps they were drowned out in the evil of the world. But with George Floyd’s death, the pain and sadness have reached their breaking point, everybody is sick of the injustice, and there may be hope for justice after all. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools”. I am sure Mr. King would agree to our adding brothers and sisters, and these words have never been truer.

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The author is a newly minted 13-year-old social activist who wants to bring a change with the power of his words. He lives in Houston, Texas and aims to work towards ending Islamophobia and all kinds of inequality.

The post It is a simple matter, Black Lives Matter- It’s about time first appeared on Learners’ Republic.