Threats of sexual violence on Twitter and jingoists

One rather disturbing trend on Twitter seems to be jingoism by harassing female liberals. This seems in particular to apply to our female journalists. As I type these words, I can see disturbing comments on my Twitter timeline about a female media person’s appearance on ARY. These comments range from her sari to her lack of duppata, all while telling her she is wrong to be questioning Pakistan’s military and religious norms.

Why does anyone remotely female who questions Military Inc have to be subjected to threats of sexual violence? How does her appearance affect the debate at hand? Wearing a sari or not will not change the fact that Military Inc has indulged in unfair and illicit business deals. For some reason, many people who favour Military Inc also seem to find it wrong to question the economic success of Mr. Aleem Khan of PTI fame. Point out any flaw in the PTI and/or the Generals running Pakistan and most people tend to be trolled. However, if the person doing the pointing out happens to be female, threats of sexual violence, comments on her promiscuity, way of dressing etc always come up. Because, jingoism today isn’t just about worshipping the ground the military walks on, it’s also about worshipping the group Imran Khan and his Insafians walk on. A “good Pakistani” isn’t allowed to have dissenting political opinions, and calling out the corruption of amongst the rankers of the PTI, calling out the ineptness of the KP government, being concerned about the Jamaat e Islami running the education ministry of the KP government are all things only RAW, Mussad and CIA agents do. If the person doing the calling out is female, she is quickly labeled promiscuous along with being a foreign agent.

I have a question to ask these scions of purity. If you are as pure as you say, if you value religious sentiments, if you believe in a safe and economically prosperous Pakistan, shouldn’t you perhaps get all the rapey and sexually violent thoughts out of your own head to make your country a better and safer place?

Deciphering fact from fiction, choosing logic over emotions

Dear Mr. Imran Khan,  in your article entitled “Why the West craves materialism and why the East sticks to religion”, you made a few sweeping statements that I felt needed to be addressed.

“Science had replaced religion and if something couldn’t be logically proved it did not exist”.

Sir, I beg you, read up on positivism and post positivism. Should we also start blaming all mental and social disorder on Jinns and evil spirits? Should we also tell our psychologists that they are incorrect and all their wards need is a good dose of the Holy Books? Also, your statement is indeed sweeping. Can we see emotions? You wear yours on your sleeve but we can’t physically see them. Yet, science says they exist. We cant measure emotions, we cant put physical values on them and yet we know emotions are the reasons you appeal to your voter base using religion.

“Philosophers like Darwin, who with his half-baked theory of evolution had supposedly disproved the creation of men and hence religion, were read and revered”.

Again Sir, read up on the latest breakthroughs in proving Darwinism before you call his work half-baked. What is your basis for calling it half-baked? Is it because you feel less special if your forefathers emerged from a chaotic cesspool of chemicals and eventually turned into something remotely resembling you? If you wish to believe in creationism, at least do not be judgmental of people who do not. Sir, you call yourself a good man, someone who is not arrogant, but your self-professed moral superiority makes you more arrogant than not.

“…humans need to be intellectually convinced”. Sir, when have you used intellectual prowess to convince anyone of anything? Your article uses nothing but religion and your personal beliefs. It also states facts that cannot be verified. Your beliefs can never be universal which is why enlightened people rely on empiricism to win arguments. I really hope when you came across the word you will not need to look it up in a dictionary.

You go on to state that 60% of Americans go to psychiatrists, are you suggesting people in the Arab world and Asia are not depressed? Sir, please, look around you. Maybe not around your Banigala palace atop a hill, but the kachi abadis where the elderly find themselves homeless or sickly. Do you not think these people would happily go to psychiatrists if they had access to them or knew what psychiatrists were? Secondly, where do you get your facts and figures? I personally could not find this 60% of all Americans are depressed or disturbed claim anywhere. But what do I know? I am only a lowly researcher and lecturer. I am not a famous sports personality who because a political rock star by spewing anti Americanisms, or appealing to the lowest common denominator by using religion to get votes.

“Since all morality has it roots in religion, once religion was removed, immorality has progressively grown since the 70s. Its direct impact has been on family life. In the UK, the divorce rate is 60 percent, while it is estimated that there are over 35 percent single mothers”. Sir, this statement sounds a bit like David Cameron’s when he told Britain to embrace its Christian values.  Firstly, on behalf of families everywhere with divorced relatives, UP YOURS you divorced hypocrite! Equating divorce to immorality is disgusting. Your clearly patriarchal views offend many of us. Single mothers in the UK do not give birth to mass murdering terrorists the same way many married mothers tend to in Pakistan. But you don’t seem to care about that side of things do you sir? After all, the TTP doesn’t want to take over tracts of land from Pakistan, all it wants to do is eject Americans from Asia. Well sir, do you not remember Swat? Do you not read about Taliban strong holds all over specific areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan? Sir, your disregard for those who have become victims of terrorists activities is most upsetting. You choose to bemoan a child born out of wedlock in Britain because for you, that seems more immoral that shooting a 14-year-old Malala in the face.

Sir, your article was offensive for anyone with half a brain. Maybe that is why you personally were not offended by it but many of us were. I respect your religious view and your right to believe in anything you want. But sir, you have gone on to make your religion into a political tool for your own means. You use it to prove your worthiness to be a ruler. You use to whip up support, you use to make people forget that the PTI has a terrible track record of governance so far. Your hypocritical statements, your attacks on the Sindh, Punjab and Pakistani governments so people wont see PTI’s failures and corruption (that’s right, your PTI is not entirely corruption free as you allege from the tax evasions of the KP ministers to lying about not having officially financed residences).  What of the terrorist prison breaks? When it happens in KP its suddenly the fault of the agencies that warned your province something big was going to go down but when its under the PPP or PMLN, prison breaks are the fault of the ruling party.

Sir, once more, glorifying Islam in this age of phobias is an excellent way to make people be more tolerant. However, using it as a way to win cheap points is not only deplorable but does a disservice to your people and your religion.

Why I’m not voting PTI this weekend

The crowd goes wild when he makes an almost deity-like appearance. He gets the sympathy vote when he falls off his crane and the PTI realizes even gods can bleed. He is hailed as an intellectual by those impressed by his Oxford degree, a devout Muslim by those who think him a friend of the religious right. Pseudo liberals think him the perfect Muslim, accepting of Shias and Sunnis alike. Imran Khan Saab is said to be the embodiment of his political vision, the PTI.

But their manifesto doesn't read like an intellectually written document of brilliant vision. It does not approve of alternative judicial systems and yet it glorifies the panchayat system for one. It also “advocates tolerance, moderation and freedom to practice the religion of one’s choice”. The PTI leader does not sound like an intellectual when he publicly supports the second amendment and also goes on to state he is not looking for Ahamdi votes.  Regarding Ahmadis who are a significant part of Pakistan’s population and a part of our history, Pakistani intellectuals often quote the famous Munir Report which Bhutto Saab ignored when he decided the embarrassingly shameful “Qaidiani Ordinance”. One has to wonder if Kaptaan Saab ever bothered to read the Munir Report (like every good Pakistani statesman should) before he made his potentially life-threatening-to-Ahmadis hate speech.

The Manifesto goes on to talk about “promoting a culture of tolerance and co operation amongst the political parties”. When has Khan Saab ever tolerated other political leaders apart from the religious right? Insulting everyone is simply crass! When Aitezaz Ahsan speaks, when Benazir Bhutto spoke, their intellectual credibility was never in question. One cannot make that same statement about Mr. Khan.

Whispers of his closeness to the military are not comforting either. When the vision is a politically democratic and modern Pakistan, the military should not be the deciding factor. Imran Khan claims his links to the "deep state" are all propaganda and for the sake of our nation I certainly do hope so.

He does like to play to emotional and religious sentiments resulting in myopia. Yes Mr. Khan, drones are bad, no Mr. Khan, terrorism will not stop when the US withdraws from Afghanistan. When you make a peace deal with the terrorists in Pakistan, they tend to take over large tracts of land from the state. Remember Swat people?

The president of the PTI Woman’s Wing or something to that effect told me he was a great supporter of the rights of women. If you ask Mr. Khan, he is not against affirmative action, he just believes that women from important families get into reserved seats and finds that unacceptable, which is why he wants to abolish such seats. Sir, I would like to politely point out, affirmative action is progressive regardless of the social class of the female in question. If you really want to change the reserved seats system, don’t do it by abolishing affirmative action do it by proposing amendments.

In the last five years, it seems the PML-N has made all the right moves and supported democracy. Without Nawaz Sharif, this parliament would never have completed its tenure. Once again, one cannot make the same claim for Kaptaan Saab. If he could address his own failings, he would genuinely be a leader worth voting for but at the moment I do not see him being able to deliver the Moon that he has promised to the people of Pakistan, let alone change any of his own conservative stances.

Source:
http://www.insaf.pk/docs/PTImanifesto.pdf

A trip on the Pakistani Motorway via Daewoo

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A HUMOUROUS PIECE, NOT INTENDED TO OFFEND ALL PEOPLE WITH BEARDS, JUST THE ONES WHO ANNOY ME. 



 A trip on the Pakistani motorway via bus tends to be marred by the Daewoo Company’s unceasing proclivity towards profit maximization by serving sub standard food and charging increasingly higher fares. The month of Ramzan however, does bring with it a welcome departure from convention. Though one cannot eat, drink, smoke or even curse in public till dusk, the good people at Daewoo Bus Co. feel generous enough to feed their customers a stale samosa and a whole sandwich. On a non-Ramzan day, traveling by the Daewoo Bus Co. seems to entail being given a dry piece of bread and being told one can spread mayonnaise on said dry object by using the tiny single-serving packet provided without the use of any utensils. 


 One’s journey can become arduous and tiresome when one discovers that the passenger seated next to one is keen to talk. Weary of talking to people who like to scratch their privates in public, one can feign sleep or use the I-am-an-important-writer/teacher/researcher-who-cannot-put-down-his-laptop-for-lack-of-time excuse. The former is a classic all time winner that people may just have used during partition to ignore their future neighbours. “Oh dear, is s/he going to be living in the same city as me when I get to Pakistan/India? And this person likes to talk. I shall feign sleep and therefore shall not have to partake in annoying banter. Oh look, I'm already asleep. No wait, I'm awake now and it seems someone stopped the train and killed us all. We're a ghost train now. So I won't have to live in the same city as that bugger anymore. Well that all ended quite splendidly!" While this can work out rather well, the latter is a bit harder to get away with. If the neighbouring passenger has the slightest of social graces, s/he will realize that the person next to him/her is busy and should not be disturbed. However, one often comes across those who feel compelled to ask what one does for a living and how much one earns. It is as if the rules that govern polite society and social discourse are forgotten and done away with. “Hello, I don’t know you but because you seem to be working, I feel compelled to interrupt you ask you how much money you make. After all, if we are sharing a bus together, we must become bosom buddies”. 


 Unlike Edward Norton’s character Tyler Durden in Fight Club, not everyone is willing to befriend whoever is sitting next to him (even if the friend is a single serving friend on a single serving flight filled with little single serving whiskey bottles and single serving little pats of butter). There are times on the bus when one might want to murder the person sitting next to him in a fit of anger and/or revulsion. 


Suppose one does have a genuine deadline to meet and one keeps being distracted by strange sounds of which the source is the strange bearded creature next to him. As the creature tries unsuccessfully to clean its teeth using only its tongue, strange sucking sounds are made with the organ that resonate from from the creature's frontal orifice. One emits a loud dramatic sigh and resigns oneself to life. In this particular case, the creature refused to accept defeat for the better part of an hour. Oral efforts having failed, the creature decided to use its fingernails to pull out the offending piece of cow/spinich from betwixt its teeth which thankfully stopped the offending noise. However, as the first rule of traveling goes, when one is in a public confined space, a baby must start crying. Since throwing a child out of the bus seems a bit excessive and might amount to attempted murder, one refrains from harming little-junior *expletive deleted* and goes on with life trying to pretend that the few sane brain cells he had left before the bus trip are still alive. And just as one makes peace with the fact that he will not go insane on the bus or commit harakiri with a pen, the bearded creature decides to make that horrid sucking-cow-flesh-stuck-in-teeth-noise again. *Expletive deleted*!

Angry Mobs and the Pakistani state

Recently, a Pakistani lower court judge agreed with a petition stating that it is okay to rule against Americans who have committed blasphemy in America because it is within "judge saab's" jurisdiction. I would politely like to ask this little magistrate with delusions of international grandeur what kind of drugs he has been burning in his crack pipe. A Pakistani FIR has been filed against the likes of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Pastor Terry Jones and the President of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority which is in charge of blocking "blasphemous material".

Angry mobs in Pakistan, many which constitute of highly educated lawyers (ergo people quite familiar with the concept of the rule of law) keep channelizing their hatred on the basis of one thing, xenophobia. From the 1953 Lahore riots against Ahmadis to the state giving into the demands of extremists in the Zufiqar Bhutto era, the xenophobic angry mob has gained the kind of momentum in Pakistan from which there may be no turning back. The constitution of Pakistan promises to protect the rights of all religions and sects and yet the second amendment states that Ahmadis are not Muslims. to apply for a passport, one has to agree officially to a statement that once again asserts that Ahmadis are not Muslims. We can establish that angry mobs hate it when people have beliefs contrary to those of Sunnis (those people who usually constitute angry mobs in Pakistan). We can also establish these mobs are angry enough to make the state discriminate against its own citizens if pushed to it.

So its only logical that when headlines such as "Gunmen shoot dead 16 bus passengers in Pakistan" (regarding the killing of minority Shias by Sunnis) come out in the international press and local press, those constituting angry mobs do not seem remotely angry or mob-like.

By marginalizing a society of people, the Pakistani state is guilty of state terror. By letting xenophobic people dictates the edicts and laws of the state, the people in general have become more ignorant and xenophobic. these measures make it seem as if Pakistan is going out of its way to make life difficult for minorities. The issue just continues to exacerbate and grow even further out of proportion. Currently, a group of lawyers who belong to the Lahore High Court Bar Association have been trying to get the products of a Pakistani business called Shezan banned on court premises because "Shezan is owned by Ahmadis". By that justification, all Sunni Muslims everywhere should close themselves off from the outside world and only deal with other Sunni Muslims. Maybe people who believe this need to make a new state for themselves far away from human civilization (perhaps in Antarctica) and call it "Hermitsitan".

Lastly we have those Muslims in Pakistan who agree things are not going well but say, "beta, yeh sub kuch Allah ke haath main hota hai". my question to them is, "is it just me or does Providence just not give a rat's fart"?


http://tribune.com.pk/story/342763/blasphemy-burning-quran-is-a-form-of-international-terrorism-says-petitioner/


http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-02-28/pakistan-gunmen/53279686/1?fb_ref=.T0zeJSbDNbE.like&fb_source=profile_oneline


http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/amendments/2amendment.html


http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/16/bar-denies-drink-ban.html

Mansoor Ijaz and what we know about him

The Pakistani military, The Zardari led Peoples Party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Iftikhar Chaudhry, your neighbor, the obnoxious guy you saw peeing on a wall - they all seem to have something in common. They all unanimously agree that Mansoor Ijaz is someone who is a very important factor in Pakistani politics and has been so for months. Every Pakistani has at some point at time thought to him or herself, “Hmm… who is this Mansoor fellow and what do we know about him?” The rumors about him have been aplenty, ranging from accusations of him being a CIA/Mossad/RAW or even a (gasp!) ISI agent to being the savior of Pakistan by ridding us of the rule of the “evil Sindhis”. While most of these are not verifiable facts, there are some things we know about him and the situation his memo has created in Pakistan. Using what we know, let us now attempt to piece together the puzzles that are Memogate and Mansoor Ijaz.

List of things we seem to know about the situation:

Hussain Haqqani is probably the scapegoat for people like the president.
Mr. Ijaz claims he was entrusted to give the “Memogate” memo to the Americans.
Memogate says Pak military was considering a coup and that if the military comes to power, there will be a risk of the nuclear weapons that Pakistan possesses falling into the hands of extremists because the ISI funds them.
The military is offended at the allegations, which they claim are untrue and want the memo investigated.
The military leans on the courts to get involved and not only investigate the memo but also put pressure on the government to address the NRO. Seems the military is out for blood but does not want to risk an all out coup when it can control everyone from afar.

List of things we seem to know about the man:

Mr. Ejaz is rich and powerful.
Mr. Ejaz has connections with people like Mike Mullen (or at least that is what he claims).
The man is a major player in the international relations game.
He and Hussain Haqqani know each other.
Mr. Ijaz basks in attention and cannot seem to get enough of it.
He looks like a much lamer version of Lando Calrissian of Star Wars fame.
Lando Calrissian was the guy who initially betrayed Han Solo to Lord Vader. Lord Vader in turn let Jabba the Hutt have Han Solo as a decoration piece after freezing him in Carbonite and giving him to bounty hunters to take to Jabba. This made Lando feel guilty and decide to help the rebels with getting Han back. He was such a good trouper that he even stayed on in the long run to fight the evil Empire.
So, by this reasoning, we know that Ijaz will hurt Haqqani and then later on help save him and then go on to fight the system.
Or will he? Recent evidence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0QvR1eP2yg seems to suggest he could become spokesperson for the alluring Veena Malik instead. After all, now, we all know that he likes thongs.

Imran yes we “Khan’t”, even when assets declared

Mr. Khan is a man of great integrity, a true son of Pakistan and a great Muslim (the "he's a Mossad agent" conspiracy theories seem to have died down). He has built a hospital that cures cancer, has committed himself to education, eradicating corruption and promoting idealism. He wants a free Pakistan, wants to throw out the imperial troops of the Empire (in this case, not Darth Vader’s boys but rather the constantly meddling American Army, the infernal CIA and devilspawn NATO). All in all, his scheme sounds noble, leaving his audience the impression of Mr. Khan sitting atop a white horse, glittering scimitar held in one hand as he holds the reigns in the other with a determined look on his face, as if he is out to behead the enemy during a time of war (and the holy justified jihad look is complete). The urban elite finds him to be a “cool” politician who has rock stars performing at his rallies. Others feel that they have been let down by the PPP, the PML-N and the military and Mr. Khan may be the only viable solution to the numerous socio-economic and political issues that plague Pakistan. Almost all of our citizens believe he is incorruptible and therefore corruption will be dealt with seriously making him the only viable contender. Young Pakistanis in general, and younger urban Punjabis ("the youth") specifically seem to think he is the greatest thing to happen to Pakistan since Atif Aslam. Indeed, the man and his party have become a rallying point for those who want “Change” (Obama flashbacks anyone?).

I am about to admit something that makes most of urban Punjab look at me strangely (at times, even murderously). I am not an Imran Khan supporter (surprise of surprises!). I do not feel his agenda has been outlined properly and I feel he takes the very real and immediate threat of militancy far too lightly. I feel his alliance with the right wing ultra conservative religious parties can pressurize him into making patriarchal decisions that could affect Pakistan adversely. I think his priorities are a bit muddled, terrorism is the thing we need to fight the most as opposed to turning a blind eye to it and thinking everything will be okay once we kick America off our soil. However, all that being said, I do love the idealism he displays. For that one reason, I feel I should give him a chance to prove how liberal he is. So, despite all these reasons I have cited for not wanting Mr. Khan to run our fair country, there is still one way I (and possibly others like me) would happily vote for him (or for any other political entity that undertakes what i am about to suggest). Unlike many others, Ms. Veena Malik has exposed her assets (and has done so much more elegantly than most of our politicians could) and we have found nothing wrong with them. If any of our politicians allow her to join their party and contest elections, I will vote for said party. This I swear!

The cricketer on his way to political rock-stardom

In a recently aired discussion with veteran journalist Mr. Arif Nizami, ex cricketer turned politician Mr. Imran Khan defended himself as a leftist. He expressed his desire to establish a welfare state with a more socialist view concerning the economy. He spoke passionately about the anti-imperialism agenda he wishes to follow – once again appealing to the audience that he is indeed left liberal. Mr. Khan’s wonderful Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital was mentioned to show what a good philanthropist the good cricketer is. A few days after the interview, Mr. Khan organized his biggest rally to date. While different agencies and papers are reporting conflicting numbers, there is no denying that people turned up for it en masse.

Mr. Khan appears to have learnt the game of politics at last. Alliances have been forged; a few big names have joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The party was until recently described as a “one man show” by many politicians. There are many rumors of the Inter Services Intelligence Agency backing him as they see him as a better rightist alternative to ex premier Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif; a man who has interfered with the military before and even now calls for curbing its power.

While his ambitions seem honorable, there are many issues he seems to be silent on. He talks about empowering women, talks about how his vote base is many educated urbanites and the “youth”. He does not talk about his affiliation with the religious parties or what his strategy is to stop extremism. Mr. Khan seems to believe that the only thing plaguing Pakistan is corruption, not religious extremism, not xenophobia, and certainly not the rights of minorities. He goes on about “daughter of the nation” Aafia Siddiqui but has not done a single thing to help out Asia Bibi, the Christian women on death row over blasphemy charges. Contradictions seem to emerge in his party philosophy. He told the Daily Telegraph while sitting in London that his party was in favor of changing the dictator created blasphemy law that was never blessed by a parliament. His political workers attended a pro Qadri rally (the murderer of the late Punjab Governor Taseer) and announced that if the PTI came to power, they would never let the blasphemy law be amended. He insists that the war on terror is an alien war brought to the country by the Americans. What he does not take into account are the conditions of Pakistan where radical extremism is escalating at an alarming rate. Even if Pakistan abandons its partnership with the US, terror will continue, groups who believe that their version of Islam should be imposed in Pakistan will continue to attack the Pakistan government and the people.

Mr. Khan keeps talking about “Sharia law” and how he plans on introducing it in Pakistan. Clearly, he is not the leftist he claims to be. Whose Sharia law Mr. Khan? General Zia’s? The Sip-e-Sahaba’s? Sharia can be interpreted in many different ways and with his alliances with the far right leaning religious parties of Pakistan, the Sharia he will impose could be quite harsh. Will his Sharia go as far as stopping all male female interaction if the pair in question are not related as is the case with many types of Sharia law? Perhaps Mr. Khan believes that by imposing the same brand of Sharia that the Taliban want in Pakistan he will be able to convince them not to attack the government of Pakistan and its citizens. These are all questions we need to think about before we decide to go out and vote for him. Voting is a freedom, by voting in a man who wants to establish Sharia, will we be giving up our own freedoms? Yes Mr. Khan has now become a force to be reckoned with and yes, Mr. Khan does has the power to change a lot. The question we must ask ourselves is, are the changes he wants to introduce a good idea?



http://youtu.be/jIRgiYs8LK4

the death of idealism

Ever since I have come back to Pakistan to work on my masters thesis, there have been exactly two incidents which have made me shout out loud the phrase, “what the fuck?” upon waking up and reading the latest news online. The first incident to which I refer is the assassination of the Punjab Governor Taseer. The second article that made me utter the profanity instantly was due to yesterday’s brutal murder of yet another leftist politician and Cabinet Minister Shahbaz Bhatti who was also a member of a minority religious group.

The murders themselves are tragic for the family members of the deceased, but they signify an even bigger tragedy, one that threatens to engulf the whole nation. While the country has faced bombing after bombing, the number of official scandals increase, while the law and order situation in this country is deplorable, it is these two news items that have affected Pakistan the most. These murders have impacted the rights of the citizens of Pakistan more than anything else and left me, an idealist human rights student feeling like there is not much hope for my own country.

my own bereavement for my state aside, these crimes have resulted in proving two things; one, that minorities and leftists who dare speak out are facing mortal peril, and two, the image of “the Land of the Pure” in the international world can be tarnished further. In a country founded by a minority Shia, irresponsible fatwas are given out by mullah’s everyday, yet none seem to be arrested for inciting hatred and violence. Contemptible media personalities such as Kamran Shahid and and Meher Bokhari get away with inciting more hatred and intolerance. Murderers are hailed as being Islamic heros by highly educated professionals and are offered free legal representation by insidious lawyers who ironically seem to ignore the very concepts of the rule of law or freedom of speech enshrined in the constitution. Everything damaging to the state and its people is blamed on “the foreign hand” regardless of local inefficiency and bad policy that cannot be changed due to fear of the “Mullah” and ergo, the risk of facing death.

In conditions such as these, with this new wave of religious intolerance, extremism, militancy and loss of life, is it a wonder that the world calls Pakistan a failing or a failed state?

http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/05/blasphemy-law-claims-another-life.html

http://tribune.com.pk/story/126287/shahbaz-bhatti-attacked-in-islamabad/

Here’s to you, Aacia Bibi and Govenor Taseer

Ser independiente es cosa de una pequeña minoría, es el privilegio de los Fuertes (It is the business of the very few to be independent; it is a privilege of the strong)


Nietzsche


Here’s to you, Aacia Bibi, Jesus Loves You More Than You Will Know, Woah Woah Woah!



In a hostile environment filled with biases, what chance did poor Aacia Bibi have? ? That’s right, Aacia Bibi. We all feel sorry for Aafia, hell, the “saviour” of the people, the Punjab Government feels sorry for Aafia and goes out of its way to protect her and yet wont touch this one with a ten foot pole. Our conservative politicians and the rightist elements have kept up their practice of disappointing those who champion minority rights. Alternatively, the eloquence of Sherry Rehman’s article on blasphemy laws and her demands in parliament were truly inspirational for the idealistic. There were few others who dared to take a stand against such issues. The Punjab Governor, Salman Taseer had the courage to stand up against "the black law"; something to be applauded considering that most members of parliament were too scared to do anything about it. In a country such as Pakistan where intolerance, xenophobia and extremism is rising, perhaps the politicians are right not to fight for justice because it can end up costing their lives at it did for Governor Taseer.

Right wing fanaticism is on the rise as was proved by The Lahore High Court ex Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif when he deemed Aacia un-releasable because Governors and Presidents apparently cannot pardon blasphemy law victims. A stay order was granted before the president had even had a chance to give her a presidential pardon. A pardon is the right of the official head of state, it goes against the concept of separation of powers for a judge to block it. The Supreme Court Bar Association’s president, member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Partner at the law firm come NGO AGHS Asma Jehangir’s criticisms regarding certain judicial norms that were ignored make much sense.

The ex Lahore High Court Chief Justice has ignored justice for the needy. Irony people, or do Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche’s words just start to make sense? The strong right wing Mullahs need only protest on the streets of Islamabad and the government cowers to their demands. With a weak PPP government running the center with thirteen people short in their coalition to maintain a majority, who will have the courage to speak up against a law that discriminates and is easily misused? So why the hypocrisy regarding the save Aaafia but screw Aacia debate? This is where we as a society need to examine ourselves. Why do we not have the will to speak out against a law we know is not just barbaric and easy to manipulate for political purposes and personal biases, but one that is part of a bigger evil, the so called Sharia Law that General Zia gave us that allowed a blind teenage girl to be convicted of sexual promiscuity for being raped. Until we can find someone to rally around, someone with the courage that Governor Taseer displayed, these human rights violations shall continue.

http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/01/asma-jahangir-assails-lhc%E2%80%99s-aasia-order.html

http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/a/3448/

http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/05/blasphemy-law-claims-another-life.html

The Year 2210; Speech by the Republican President of the United States of America

My fellow Americans! I am proud to tell you that our colonization of the moon has been successful thanks to the wonderful corporations that assisted us in wiping out the natives! Now that we have succeeded in introducing oxygen and plant life on the moon, we can start letting the general public come and take advantage of the super-luxury apartments with TouchWall ™ technology that Microsoft in conjunction with Intel is offering. The apartments are housed in compounds protecting us from terrorists by XE (formerly known as Blackwater) Security.

Investment into new places to live provides us with unprecedented opportunities and access to a whole new set of resources. The United States of America now owns the Moon and will expect foreign states to pay us for the resources they utilize from us such as moon-light. We will be introducing the “Moon-Light Trade Treaty” at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization to set a standard rate of 35% of each state’s GDP to continue to use US assets. China and Iran have stated that they will not be joining the “Moon-Light Trade Treaty” so America has no choice but to impose economic sanctions on these rogue states.

Unfortunately, today we live in a world of uncertainly and doubt. Due to the terrorist threat on the moon, income tax will be raised by 40% to pay the good people of XE to keep us safe and the Microsoft to keep us connected. This applies to all citizens, on Earth and Abroad.

Now, there is huge controversy going on regarding the building of a Mosque near the artificial oasis we created in sector G13 on the dark side of the Moon. Regardless of the number of Churches, Wiccan Temples, and Synagogues built around that site, I feel that letting a mosque be built on the moon will encourage people like Usama Bin Ladin (even if he has been dead for the better part of a century). America is a state of religious tolerance and freedom. Therefore, to protect that freedom, to stop something like 9/11 from ever happening again, we cannot let the mosque be built. Thank you my fellow Americans and God Bless!

Time to change the way we fight the war on terror?

With bombings on a daily basis, it is clear that the American, Afghani and Pakistani policy of eradicating terrorism has not worked. Militants (be they Taliban, Al Qaida, LeT or Jundullah) seem very apt at retaliating state aggression with explosions and taking innocent lives with them in the process. As in the previous entry, a suggestion regarding how to handle terrorism needs to be made. It seems that taking away their future ranks may not be enough; we need to do something to protect the people from the militants of today. Pakistan can try a new innovative strategy. Seeing how conventional methods have not met with much success, a complete overhaul might just provide the assistance we need to beat militancy. If these radical measures work, we can recommend them to the American and Afghani governments and even NATO.

As we have done before, we should try making deals with individuals in the banned militant outfits to neutralize the terrorist threat. However, unlike the earthly deals that the army, intelligence agencies and politicians have made so far, we need to make heavenly deals in the same way that Al Zahwari and Mullah Omar’s people do. Perhaps General Kiyani could try to lure the terrorists to play for the right team. “Hey you! Yes you in the turban and the wispy beard! Are you an Al Qaida member? Excellent! Boy have I got a deal for you! What’s Usama offering you? 72 virgins? That’s it? He couldn’t do better than that? Look, I’ve got a better offer for you… work for me and I’ll make sure when you die, you get 74 virgins, and I’ll even throw in 20 sloppy seconds!”

People like Faisal Shehzad (the New York City would be bomber) might not be as easily hoodwinked though. For them, a more subtle approach might be better. Send a British Old Labour Party worker to go visit him. The two can start to bond over how evil the capitalist system is, how the economic decline that resulted in Mr. Shehzad’s home foreclosure was a result of the evil capitalism loving God fearing right-wingers and the only way to deal with such issues is to become a left wing American Democrat and get your views across. Better yet, make Mr Shehzad a sob story on on of Micheal Moore's documentaries about the evils of capitalism and the current political setup in America.Of course, someone of Faisal Shehzad’s ethnicity may never progress in American politics but at least he won’t have his head filled with thoughts of declaring war on a sovereign state and then try to blow up Times New Square.

Pakistan needs to start thinking “outside the box” to come up with a way to battle this menace. The time for conventional war is over and we have seen it fail. Madrassas and training camps are beginning to mushroom all over the country and the state has been unable to do much to stop it. While these may seem to be drastic measures, ones that might be met with scorn and ridicule, they certainly do seem to be worth a try seeing that everything else General Kiyani and (previously) Musharraf tried has failed.

Replacing madrassas with Coke Studio

In Pakistan, the last decade has been a rather discerning one in terms of human security with “Johnny Jihads” blowing up innocent people in public places. Many of these Johnnys are a product of the brainwashing institutions called madrassas. With promises of taking care of children from under privileged backgrounds, the Mullahs running the place tend to teach chauvinistic right wing Jihadist philosophy, prepping many of an entire generation of “students” in the art of self explosions with instructions to take as many victims with them as they can while exploding. The rationale for this is one that pulls at the heartstrings of pubescent boys in a sexually repressed society such as Pakistan;, die for God (because he wants you to kill people) and you will be rewarded with more than 70 virgins once you go to Heaven.

Sex has become a weapon wielded by the religious right to recruit more to their cause. With the right wing Punjab Government cracking down on late night mobile phone packages, the state is helping establish a new era of sexual repression, one that distances the already bipolar world of man and woman. At the same time, since the federal government (under both Musharraf and the PPP) has been reluctant to anger the right wing power-brokers by abolishing these breeding holes of terrorism, it would be quite unpatriotic to not offer an alternative “out-of the-box” solution to this dilemma. The state should take over havoc creating madrassas and replace the mullahs with projectors showing songs from Coke Studio. The Song “Alif Allah” by Arif Lohar features a cool female celeb, Meesha Shafi (of Overload fame) who sings about the “Oneness of God” with folk singer Arif Lohar. This can be accompanied by the track by Saieen Zahoor, “Aik Alif” The mysticism associated with Sufi music will help lend a feel of religious devotion to these new fangled educational institutions. The religious right will get their message of God across to otherwise doomed-to-a-short-life-of-self-explosion-children while the left will get the “students’ to realize that music and female vocal chords are quite wonderful things. It’s a win-win situation!

Once these children learn to accept the wondrous world of art, they may not feel the need to try and destroy it. In fact, it might even contribute towards eradicating widespread philistine beliefs regarding thespians- a move that is immensely needed in Pakistan. If the state wants to be really daring it can add the occasional Indian film in to the mix and let the children get accustomed to people who may not be Muslim and realize that not all of them are agents of the Devil or out to kill all Muslims. A good holocaust film would also do a world of good but might raise more controversy than all the above measures combined. Exposure to the likes of Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif and their rather splendid curves will hopefully make “madrassa students” realize that many of our Indian neighbors are wonderful and gorgeous people. The promise of gorgeous women might awaken these children to normal beliefs about earthly women and life being and important as well. Perhaps realizing that Katrina could tempt a saint might bring acceptance in an otherwise xenophobic and sexist society. Without the support of these budding Taliban and Al Qaida members, these two organizations will find themselves with receding numbers and will not therefore be as much of a threat as they are today.

The return of the Mushy!

Not long ago, in a land not far away, a land called Islamabad, there lived a military dictator who was known for his invention of the term, "moderate enlightenment". What relation the term had to fighting terrorism few know, but it was thrown around by his administration as a philosophy much like capitalism or socialism. Somehow, a phrase that seems to indicate a limited amount of knowledge was supposed to bring the nation together to fight terrorism. It worked in the sense that it led to limited knowledge of the part of the people of Pakistan at the expense of Pakistan.

It would seem that the adminstration was criticizing the terrorists while arming them at the same time. According to Ahmad Rashid's "Descent into Chaos" (2008 Penguin Books), as long as General Musharraf's army was helping the US forces fight Al Qaida forces in Afghanistan, the ISI was free to do whatever it pleased. Using the power of the military adminstration behind it, the ISI were arming Taliban members to go fight against Afghanistan. When the Allied Forces planned a large offensive, a Pakistani military plane airlifted many militants out of danger citing the evacuation of ISI operatives as an excuse. These same militants were the fore runners of organistations linked to the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaida. They wasted little time in establishing training camps in Waziristan and now Punjab. It seems that when General Musharraf was talking about "moderate enlightenment", he meant that the people ahould be enlightened about the army's efforts at eradicating terrorism in Afghanistan while being unaware of the ISI's efforts of arming Taliban and other non-state actors.

Due to the example of the US forces not following the Geneva conventions that detail legal rights of prisoners of war (which became a scandal in itself in the US and a key argument for Obama's campaign), the Pakistani security forces under Musharraf decided to follow suit and ignored the UN rules regarding ban on torture or the right to habeas corpus (due process of law). With the security forces detaning suspected militants without charging them with crimes, the Supreme Court was forced to step in on humanatarian grounds and direct the forces to free those not charged with anything. Had these suspected militants been arrested and charged with a crime while giving them trial, a genuine threat to national security could have been diminished. Instead, the militrary intelligence establishment forced the judiciary to free suspected militants. These militants could have been dealt with in ways to benefit the state and keep militancy at bay. Instead, due to the rash decision of following the policies of the then US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld (whose choice it was to ignore international law regarding the rules of war), the Pakistani administration ended up digging itself in a hole.

The follies of General Musharraf did not stop there. After a political conundrum involving
the courts over the legality of a President who was also an army chief, followed by democracy and still more political instability, General Musharraf (finally ousted from the presidency by parliament and as a retired army chief, no longer officially supported by the army and living in self exile in England) had decided he could not get enough of the Pakistani political arena. He has now formed the All Pakistan Muslim League, a party that has extended a hand of friendship towards the violent MQM Party (Mohajir Qaumi Movement Party) of Karachi. The question is, will anyone want to see a disgraced president (frequently called a dictator by the state leadership and the opposition) back in power? More importantly, is the world ready for the return of the Mushy?

Can Pakistanis sink any lower?

1974, Zulifqar Bhutto in a desperate attempt to cling to power declared Ahmadis non Muslims in order to appease the right wing pressure groups. He was replaced by a military dictator regardless of the attempts to please right wing political elements. General Zia, dictator of the late 70s and 1980s brought about changes in the constitution that promised more discrimination against the Ahmadis, a minority sect of Islam in Pakistan. They are forbidden to call themselves Muslims, they are forbidden to call their places of worship mosques and every Pakistani who applies for a passport has to sign a document forcing him to state that Ahmadis are non-Muslims. People argue that the 80s are gone, and democracy is back. They argue that religious tolerance can only improve with a liberal government like the PPP in power and also argue that the “moderate enlightenment model” of the Musharraf era has made Pakistan better for minorities. The massacre of approximately 100 Ahmadis is considered by many as a terrorist incident and condemned. The right wing PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif has publicly called Ahamadis his “brothers”. Why then all the disgust?

Many of these so called peace loving politicians allowed Dr. Amir Liaquat Hussain to get away with saying that it the Islamic duty of all Muslims to murder Ahmadis on the show “Alim Online” (7th September 2008). According to the Asian Human Rights Commission, “48 hours after the first broadcast, two Ahmadi community leaders were lynched and murdered”. This hate monger remains free and unprosecuted. Geo television has not been questioned about why they allowed religious based discrimination on public television at a time when the state is fighting religious extremists. To make matters worse, a 2009 billboard paid for by the Punjab Government (run by Mr. Sharif’s party) for “world Conference for the Protection and Finality of the Prophet hood” stated in Arabic, “Friendship with Ahmadis is Rebellion Against the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him". If that was not enough, a massacre of Ahamadis took place in Lahore, the capital of Punjab. When the PML National Assembly representative, Nawaz Sharif expressed solidarity for the loss of so many innocent lives and called the Ahmadi sect his “brothers”, it did not sit well certain Pakistanis. At a time like this, given the present conditions and the lack of respect for minorities, it was a commendable course of action. Members of parliament should be helping all Pakistani citizens and view them as equals. By equating them as brothers, these minorities can feel less threatened and isolated. It seems our peace loving religious parties did not feel the same way as many were in an uproar. “Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam President Maluana Sami-ul-Haq has threatened to launch a statewide protest unless Nawaz Sharif does not retract his statement about Ahmadis being his brothers. The “Wafaqul Madaris Al Arabia”, the representatives of the “Deobandi” religious school of thought stated that Nawaz Sharif should be “ashamed of calling Ahamadis brothers of Muslims”. All these groups have publicly come out against the fascist policies of the right wing Israeli government when it comes to their treatment of Muslims in the Mid-East but seem to forget that they oppress people with different ideologies and beliefs just as much in their own country.

The strange thing about right wing Muslims in Pakistan is how quickly they forget the reason for the creation of Pakistan. The Indian Muslim League was afraid that after the British left India, the Hindu majority community of India would discriminate against the minority Muslim community. Pakistan was a state created to give minorities refuge, not to assassinate them in the name of religion. Pakistan was supposed to be a state for religious tolerance, one where people who ascribed to all doctrines could practice their beliefs without fear of persecution (anyone remember the white part of our flag? It stands for non-Muslim minorities residing in Pakistan).

The sad reality of the situation is that Pakistan is not the state it was destined to be. Mr. Jinnah, a Shia Muslim (one of the minority sects being persecuted by the militant Pakistani Taliban), the man who made Pakistan stood for morality, values, modernization, secular politics, religious impartiality and harmony. Instead, we have a state where religious intolerance increases on a daily basis, where corruption and scandals are the highlights of the political arena and where anyone not born a Sunni has to live in fear. Pakistan unfortunately, has become a failed state.