Found this gem in my files — a Third World feminist power-troika at the UN: Artati Marzuki (Indonesia), Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan (Pakistan) and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (India) engaging in discussions at the 7th Session of the UN General Assembly, 1 Oct 1952. (From Alamy)

Where is the good old progressive, anti-war, Indian, Left? If you still exist, & I know a few still do, please for the love of humanity, make yourselves heard!

54 years ago today, during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippine military opened machine gun fire on a crowd of 4,000 May Day protestors outside the legislature building. Here is the story of the 1971 May Day Massacre. https://t.co/VURt03IS8H

🔴 We are honoured to release the three historic inaugural commitments of The Hague Group. Joint Statement from 🇧🇿Belize,🇧🇴Bolivia,🇨🇴Colombia,🇨🇺Cuba,🇭🇳Honduras,🇲🇾Malaysia,🇳🇦 Namibia,🇸🇳 Senegal and 🇿🇦South Africa.

Two enriching days of interdisciplinary exchange of ideas on the contestations within the global order where I presented my work on Asian feminists shaping rights discourse at the UN. Many thanks to @EsadeGeo and @IBEI for bringing us together and for the insightful discussions.

Can’t say if I’m more excited about the fact that I’m at @UNGeneva this week for the last leg of my archival research for my PhD or that the week ended with me running into and fan-girling all over @FranceskAlbs 🌟 It is people like her that restore my faith in this organisation.

On the 76th anniversary of UDHR, here’s a photo of the 2 women on the UN HRC when it was passed by the UNGA. Hansa Mehta & Eleanor Roosevelt - who ironically, was asked to chair this committee by US because they had then considered it a “social committee with not much interest”.

Begum Ra’ana was also the founder of All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) in 1949, the first women’s organisation in Pakistan. Decades later, she received the UN Human Rights Award in 1978, which she shared with Martin Luther King, Amnesty International and ICRC, among others.

Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan’s state visit to the US (1950) involved meetings with women like Edith Sampson, lawyer, activist, & the first African-American rep. of US to the UN. Both of them later worked within in the Third Committee of UNGA on the political rights of women in 1952.

The ongoing internet blackout in Pakistan is an attack on the working class, oppressed, peripheral movements, and all those who resist exploitation. By choking the flow of information, the state protects power at the expense of livelihoods and dissent. #UnblockPakistan

I admit I knew little of Switzerland's involvement in colonialism - perhaps most noticeably because it had no colonies of its own. The folks at ZH Kolonial were great at framing colonialism as a process, not an event.

Peaceful protest is NOT a crime. Peaceful protest is NOT a crime. Peaceful protest is NOT a crime. Peaceful protest is NOT a crime.

PAKISTAN: The UN Human Rights Committee has made a number of recommendations to Pakistan in its concluding observations following the second review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Among others, the committee recommended to: - abrogate the

Diaspakoras is my new favourite word of the week.

A paperback version of this important book on the history of social & economic rights will be out in early 2025 with Cambridge University Press. Long awaited & much more affordable & thereby hopefully accessible to many more. Check CUP website for details:

There is a growing tension between Pakistan’s internal political fractures and the external desire for regional stability.

At 2024 Summit, 8 significant agreements were signed on security, trade and economic cooperation. PM Sharif: SCO to be working towards poverty alleviation, climate change and regional connectivity, but major gap exists between the SCO’s aspirations and its performance currently.

An Indian FM visiting Pakistan after almost a decade-long hiatus marked an important moment, even though bilateral talks remained off the table. Jaishankar highlighted the UN ‘Pact for Future’ and the need for UNSC reform, urging the SCO as a bloc to lead such change at the UN.

The presence of Indian and Chinese diplomats raised the stakes, with India being critical of China’s CPEC initiatives in Pakistan. Pakistan inaugurated Gwadar airport a day before the summit, albeit remotely, due to security concerns following attacks on Chinese nationals in Khi.

As Pakistan showcases its diplomatic ambitions, there is a growing tension between its internal political fractures and external desire for regional stability, with protests against human rights abuses engulfing the country in recent weeks prior to SCO across all four provinces.