Sherry Rehman

Revised version of letter below was published in Express Tribune with title Defining Democracy.

This letter was written following an argument about pre-conditions for democracy organized by IDEAS. at Serena Hotel, on Jan 21, 2015 -- on Sustaining Pakistans Transition to Democracy.

Dear Ms. Sherry Rehman

Your work and writings show great concern for the people of Pakistan, and a sincere desire to improve their lot. You have also devoted a lot of energy and effort to the struggle to create genuine change. I have also devoted my life to these same goals. For many reasons, it seems essential to build “rainbow” coalitions to achieve big goals. That is, we must cooperate across a large range of diverse interests and ideologies in order to bring about changes. It is in this spirit that I am writing to you, with respect to the apparent difference in opinion regarding “pre-conditions for democracy” that we had yesterday. Actually, I think it may be more of a difference in the way we use words rather than a genuine ideological disagreement.

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