Risking it all: Trucks over the Lowari

I was born in Chitral so I’ve travelled over this pass several times (part of my family still does). It is ironic to see the truck decorated with pictures of Benazir Bhutto since it was her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had first promised to build a tunnel and a safer road to connect Dir and Chitral. But that was over four decades back–and the promise never materialized. (Benazir also made a similar promise but proved no more eager than her father to deliver). I am shocked to see that things have actually gotten worse since my last trip.

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Author: Idrees Ahmad

I am a Lecturer in Digital Journalism at the University of Stirling and a former research fellow at the University of Denver’s Center for Middle East Studies. I am the author of The Road to Iraq: The Making of a Neoconservative War (Edinburgh University Press, 2014). I write for The Observer, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Al Jazeera, Dissent, The National, VICE News, Huffington Post, In These Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, Die Tageszeitung (TAZ), Adbusters, Guernica, London Review of Books (Blog), The New Arab, Bella Caledonia, Asia Times, IPS News, Medium, Political Insight, The Drouth, Canadian Dimension, Tanqeed, Variant, etc. I have appeared as an on-air analyst on Al Jazeera, the BBC, TRT World, RAI TV, Radio Open Source with Christopher Lydon, Alternative Radio with David Barsamian and several Pacifica Radio channels.

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