Here I am, working in my Negotiations take-home exam when what I would really rather be doing is protesting alongside my friends, family, and fellow activists in Islamabad.

They protested, over a thousand-strong, at Aabpara Chowk yesterday. After the usual games with the police, things turned a little ugly when the police started targeting female protestors. The crowd retaliated and there was a scuffle but, fortunately, things didn't get very much out of hand. You can read about it in the eyewitness account on the Emergency Times blog. You can also find photos from the protest there.

Meanwhile, LUMS has been surrounded by police who have barricaded the front entrance and are checking everyone who goes in or out. All that in an attempt to keep students from attending the Student Action Committee protest meeting at the Press Club in Lahore.

And in the usual, funny twist of events that occurs in situations such as these, the police issued FIRs [1] against LUMS students and faculty members, most of which are quite funny (again) as reported by the Emergency Times.

And while all this is going on back home, I am here working out strategies for collaborative negotiation.

Dammit.

[1] FIR = First Investigation Report. Basically, the first step in a police investigation since this officially opens a police investigation.