How sad?
Dr Shabir Choudhry 22 January 2011
How sad, those who want to empower people and speak for rights of all people of Jammu and Kashmir are accused of being pro India; and those who want to communalise polity of the region by dividing people in name of religion are called ‘freedom fighters’.
How sad, those who want human rights for all citizens and express their concern about human rights abuses in all regions of the State of Jammu and Kashmir are called pro Hindu or pro India; and those who speak for rights of only Muslims are called ‘true representatives of Kashmir’.
How sad, those who want to promote peace, prosperity and democratic rights of all citizens of the State of Jammu and Kashmir are accused of speaking India’s language; and those who want to create chaos, disrupt normal life, promote culture of fear and intimidation, kill those who question or disagree with anti democracy and anti people policies are hailed as ‘heroes’.
How sad, those who promote pro people and pro Kashmir policies are accused of being in hands of India; and those who openly advance a Pakistani agenda in Kashmir, use their resources to advance extremism, communalism and hatred are projected as ‘leaders’ and ‘mujahids’.
How sad, those who advance violence, religious extremism and intolerance in Jammu and Kashmir, and present right of accession disguised under colourful wrapping of a right self determination are rewarded and promoted as ‘freedom fighters and leaders’; and those sons of soil who sincerely promote, peace, stability, prosperity, equality for all and expose and oppose forces of extremism, communalism and hatred are called ‘agents’ and ‘anti movement’.
How sad, that in summer of 2010 normal life in the Valley was disrupted in name of stone pelting, and schools and colleges, offices, shops were closed because of fear and disruption; and this caused loss to Jammu and Kashmir economy and damaged infrastructure worth 700 crors rupees. Those who talked of reason and opposed this disruption as it hurt ordinary people, it hurt education of students and it hurt local economy were called pro India and anti Movement; and those responsible for this loss were hailed as ‘leaders’ and ‘saviours’.
How sad, no one told them that the property and infrastructure they were damaging did not belong to Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi, but it belonged to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. No one told them that students whose education suffered were ordinary sons and daughters of people of Kashmir (children of leaders study outside the boundary of the State); and economy that was shattered belonged to the local people, and protest and subsequent violence only damaged local interest and future of next generation.
How sad, those who were killed and injured in this wave of unrest they and their families suffered and continue to suffer, their concern for next meal and other necessities of life have grown; and those who were leading this stone pelting movement their kitchens never faced any shortage of supply.
How sad, some of the people at the forefront of the stone pelting movement only travel first class and enjoy luxurious life; and people who came out to throw stones and in some cases set light to property are suffering due to lack of appropriate facilities and low income.
How sad, APHC leaders decided not to speak truth and hide facts from the people and accused India of killing political leaders (Mir Waiz Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone) when they knew some others were culprits.
How sad, when Professor Abdul Ghani Bhat decided to speak out about these killings after 20 years long silence, he only spoke half truth that ‘India was not responsible for these killings’; and still did not say who killed them? Is he too afraid to tell the truth or he and his colleagues think rewards from across the border could stop if he opens his mouth?
How sad, that sons (Mir Wais Umer Farooq, Bilal Lone and Sajjad Lone) of these two leaders killed in broad day light also decided to remain quiet over murder of their fathers. I remember Sajjad Lone speaking in a conference in London, where in reply to Banazir Bhutto’s speech, he said: At least you can say who killed your father (Zulfqar Ali Bhutto), I cannot even point finger out at those who killed my father.
How sad, that imported gun brought its own culture of fear and intimidation and forced weeping sons and daughters to remain quiet; and not to expose killers of their fathers. It also forced leaders and ordinary people to fall in line or be prepared for repercussion.
How sad, these leaders tell lies, fabricate facts and mislead people to enhance their personal and political agenda; and ordinary people seem to have no option but either to remain quiet or follow them.
How sad, those who were charged with the responsibility to lead are led themselves by others; and have lost all sense of direction.
How sad, that ordinary people cannot even tell their so called leaders that they have no agenda for azadi (independence); and that they were going in circles which result in death, destruction and suffering of the ordinary people. How sad.
Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com
www.k4kashmir.com
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Friday, 21 January 2011
State of violence, by Salman Tarik Kureshi
State of violence, by Salman Tarik Kureshi
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\01\22\story_22-1-2011_pg3_2
Ours, it seems, is a nation born in violence and which continues to remain in a state of violence. Is this characterisation excessive? Surely, it could be argued, many other nations have been through even more traumatic times
The way to begin an op-ed piece is to have what is called a ‘peg’ on which to hang the rest of the article. This peg is usually some newsworthy event or issue, giving the piece a sense of immediate relevance, which draws the reader to consider the views of the columnist. Thus, the reader knows at the outset where the writer stands and something of what to expect from the rest of the article.
This is a generally good practice that, however, I will not be following in today’s piece. I can only trust I will not be taxing my readers’ tolerance by asking that they follow me to the conclusion of this verbal ramble, as if listening to a long and involved narration that even fails to deliver a punch line.
My point of departure is August 14, 1946, when the All-India Muslim League, tiring of the duplicity of Nehru’s Congress Party, bade goodbye to ‘parliamentary methods’ and embraced direct action. Whether this was a necessary or inevitable course is not an issue here. It happened. And one of the results was the Great Calcutta Killing, the communal riots that raged in that city over the next several days and the dreadful cycle of killings and counter-killings between Muslims and Hindus that happened.
But Calcutta, for all its horrors, proved to be a mere curtain raiser. Communal riots and killings next broke out in the Noakhali region of East Bengal, followed shortly by the plunge into disorder of the province of Bihar. As the riots spread westward across British India, Viceroy Lord Wavell was sacked, Lord Louis Mountbatten flew in, the Partition Plan was announced and Cyril Radcliffe Q C was commissioned to chop up Punjab and Bengal. What Sir Winston Churchill had called “Operation Scuttle” was on.
The tide of violence reached Punjab and became a veritable tsunami of blood. The land experienced the forced dislocation, both ways, of over 12 million people and incredible carnage that left perhaps three million dead. Our greatest poets and writers have written about that “Daaghdaar Ujala” [eclipsed light], none more vividly than Saadat Hasan Manto who, amongst his other writings, captured something of the surreal pointlessness of the violence in his Siyah Haashiya [Black Margin].
In the midst of this khoon ki holi aur aag ki barsat (game of blood and rain of fire), the nation state of Pakistan was midwifed. My readers will say: but we know all this; we too have read Manto, Qasmi, Amrita Pritam and all the other chroniclers of those days down to Bapsi Sidhwa more recently. I ask my readers to bear with me a little.
Following independence, a quarter of a century jolted along through two wars and three coups d’état (Ghulam Mohammad, Ayub, Yahya), climaxing in the military massacre in Dacca. There followed a civil war, another 10 million refugees, another million dead, a third war and the further division of the country. After this, there were yet another four coups d’état: Bhutto, Zia, Musharraf and Musharraf again.
It was the Zia dictatorship that unleashed numerous scourges: heroin, the Kalashnikov culture, reactionary perversion of the legal and penal systems, religious bigotry, extremism and sectarian and ethnic violence. The formally bright and vibrant port city of Karachi now has the highest number of hard-drug addicts of any city in the world. Karachi has also become a free-fire zone, whose streets and alleys echo with the rattle of gunfire at all hours and turf wars and target killings are the order of the day. The Zia years also saw Pakistan enter — indeed, initiate — the war in Afghanistan. This is now the longest running war in the history of the world for the last five centuries. More, this war has fanned international terrorism as well as the suicide bombings and religion-based militancy that swept across our land, while the civil war against the insurgency in FATA continues to rage.
Alongside all this have been many political assassinations: Liaquat Ali Khan, Dr Khan Sahib, Shaheed Suhrawardy, Hayat Sherpao, Samad Achakzai, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shahnawaz Bhutto, Ziaul Haq, Ghulam Haider Wyne, Azim Tariq, Hakim Saeed, Murtaza Bhutto, Akbar Bugti, Benazir Bhutto, Imran Farooq and now Salmaan Taseer; this list is not exhaustive. In all but one of these cases, the murderer has still not been identified. In the one instance where the killer has, himself, surrendered, he is being lionised and treated as a hero.
Ours, it seems, is a nation born in violence and which continues to remain in a state of violence. Is this characterisation excessive? Surely, it could be argued, many other nations have been through even more traumatic times. Consider, for example, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan today, Vietnam of the late 20th century and even Europe of the great, wrenching wars. Yes, perhaps we have not yet approached those levels of collapse, yet. But consider that all of these, despite the massive destruction and violence, have also had their periods of relative calm, social progress and governmental legitimacy. This has not been true of Pakistan.
Moreover, in each of these cases, it can be shown that upheaval was thrust upon them from the outside. This has not been true of Pakistan, whose terrible wounds are self-inflicted, notwithstanding our constant railing against perceived conspiracies.
Where then is the fatal flaw that has created such a stinking cauldron of violence where there could have been a country of perfectly normal and more or less tolerant people? The flaw is a failure of leadership — leadership as a process, not of this or the other particular leader. And leadership is provided, as the great historian Arnold Toynbee pointed out, by a creative minority. The so-called silent majority is a passive force, an inertial mass, silent precisely because it has little to say. Dynamism is provided by leaderships that can identify and articulate the people’s needs, not their uninformed prejudices. It is the task of leadership — whether political, judicial, entrepreneurial or professional — to provide the vision, strategies and executive action that will fulfil those needs and provide people with physical security, economic opportunities, cultural enrichment and all the other good things of a civilised life.
Although the people may not be the prime actors on the historical stage, who drive the action forward, they are the ones whom the play is all about.
The writer is a marketing consultant based in Karachi. He is also a poet
Home | Editorial
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\01\22\story_22-1-2011_pg3_2
Ours, it seems, is a nation born in violence and which continues to remain in a state of violence. Is this characterisation excessive? Surely, it could be argued, many other nations have been through even more traumatic times
The way to begin an op-ed piece is to have what is called a ‘peg’ on which to hang the rest of the article. This peg is usually some newsworthy event or issue, giving the piece a sense of immediate relevance, which draws the reader to consider the views of the columnist. Thus, the reader knows at the outset where the writer stands and something of what to expect from the rest of the article.
This is a generally good practice that, however, I will not be following in today’s piece. I can only trust I will not be taxing my readers’ tolerance by asking that they follow me to the conclusion of this verbal ramble, as if listening to a long and involved narration that even fails to deliver a punch line.
My point of departure is August 14, 1946, when the All-India Muslim League, tiring of the duplicity of Nehru’s Congress Party, bade goodbye to ‘parliamentary methods’ and embraced direct action. Whether this was a necessary or inevitable course is not an issue here. It happened. And one of the results was the Great Calcutta Killing, the communal riots that raged in that city over the next several days and the dreadful cycle of killings and counter-killings between Muslims and Hindus that happened.
But Calcutta, for all its horrors, proved to be a mere curtain raiser. Communal riots and killings next broke out in the Noakhali region of East Bengal, followed shortly by the plunge into disorder of the province of Bihar. As the riots spread westward across British India, Viceroy Lord Wavell was sacked, Lord Louis Mountbatten flew in, the Partition Plan was announced and Cyril Radcliffe Q C was commissioned to chop up Punjab and Bengal. What Sir Winston Churchill had called “Operation Scuttle” was on.
The tide of violence reached Punjab and became a veritable tsunami of blood. The land experienced the forced dislocation, both ways, of over 12 million people and incredible carnage that left perhaps three million dead. Our greatest poets and writers have written about that “Daaghdaar Ujala” [eclipsed light], none more vividly than Saadat Hasan Manto who, amongst his other writings, captured something of the surreal pointlessness of the violence in his Siyah Haashiya [Black Margin].
In the midst of this khoon ki holi aur aag ki barsat (game of blood and rain of fire), the nation state of Pakistan was midwifed. My readers will say: but we know all this; we too have read Manto, Qasmi, Amrita Pritam and all the other chroniclers of those days down to Bapsi Sidhwa more recently. I ask my readers to bear with me a little.
Following independence, a quarter of a century jolted along through two wars and three coups d’état (Ghulam Mohammad, Ayub, Yahya), climaxing in the military massacre in Dacca. There followed a civil war, another 10 million refugees, another million dead, a third war and the further division of the country. After this, there were yet another four coups d’état: Bhutto, Zia, Musharraf and Musharraf again.
It was the Zia dictatorship that unleashed numerous scourges: heroin, the Kalashnikov culture, reactionary perversion of the legal and penal systems, religious bigotry, extremism and sectarian and ethnic violence. The formally bright and vibrant port city of Karachi now has the highest number of hard-drug addicts of any city in the world. Karachi has also become a free-fire zone, whose streets and alleys echo with the rattle of gunfire at all hours and turf wars and target killings are the order of the day. The Zia years also saw Pakistan enter — indeed, initiate — the war in Afghanistan. This is now the longest running war in the history of the world for the last five centuries. More, this war has fanned international terrorism as well as the suicide bombings and religion-based militancy that swept across our land, while the civil war against the insurgency in FATA continues to rage.
Alongside all this have been many political assassinations: Liaquat Ali Khan, Dr Khan Sahib, Shaheed Suhrawardy, Hayat Sherpao, Samad Achakzai, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shahnawaz Bhutto, Ziaul Haq, Ghulam Haider Wyne, Azim Tariq, Hakim Saeed, Murtaza Bhutto, Akbar Bugti, Benazir Bhutto, Imran Farooq and now Salmaan Taseer; this list is not exhaustive. In all but one of these cases, the murderer has still not been identified. In the one instance where the killer has, himself, surrendered, he is being lionised and treated as a hero.
Ours, it seems, is a nation born in violence and which continues to remain in a state of violence. Is this characterisation excessive? Surely, it could be argued, many other nations have been through even more traumatic times. Consider, for example, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan today, Vietnam of the late 20th century and even Europe of the great, wrenching wars. Yes, perhaps we have not yet approached those levels of collapse, yet. But consider that all of these, despite the massive destruction and violence, have also had their periods of relative calm, social progress and governmental legitimacy. This has not been true of Pakistan.
Moreover, in each of these cases, it can be shown that upheaval was thrust upon them from the outside. This has not been true of Pakistan, whose terrible wounds are self-inflicted, notwithstanding our constant railing against perceived conspiracies.
Where then is the fatal flaw that has created such a stinking cauldron of violence where there could have been a country of perfectly normal and more or less tolerant people? The flaw is a failure of leadership — leadership as a process, not of this or the other particular leader. And leadership is provided, as the great historian Arnold Toynbee pointed out, by a creative minority. The so-called silent majority is a passive force, an inertial mass, silent precisely because it has little to say. Dynamism is provided by leaderships that can identify and articulate the people’s needs, not their uninformed prejudices. It is the task of leadership — whether political, judicial, entrepreneurial or professional — to provide the vision, strategies and executive action that will fulfil those needs and provide people with physical security, economic opportunities, cultural enrichment and all the other good things of a civilised life.
Although the people may not be the prime actors on the historical stage, who drive the action forward, they are the ones whom the play is all about.
The writer is a marketing consultant based in Karachi. He is also a poet
Home | Editorial
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war, by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war, by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Islamofascism is a reality - Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war, by Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistan’s foremost progressive intellectual and physicist.
The War within Islam 18 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com
I am sharing with you some lines that I have just written for family and friends who are warning me:
Whatever one might think of Governor Salman Taseer's politics, he was killed this Wednesday for what was certainly the best act of his life: trying to save the life of an illiterate, poor, peasant Christian woman.
But rose petals are being showered upon his murderer. He is being called a ghazi, lawyers are demonstrating spontaneously for his release, clerics refused to perform his funeral rites. Most shockingly, the interior minister - his political colleague and the ultimate coward - has said that he too would kill a blasphemer with his own hands.
Pakistan once had a violent, rabidly religious lunatic fringe. This fringe has morphed into a majority. The liberals are now the fringe. We are now a nation of butchers and primitive savages. Europe's Dark Ages have descended upon us.
Sane people are being terrified into silence. After the assassination, FM-99 (Urdu) called me for an interview. The producer tearfully told me (offline) that she couldn't find a single religious scholar ready to condemn Taseer's murder. She said even ordinary people like me are in short supply.
I am deeply depressed today. So depressed that I can barely type these lines.
Yesterday a TV program on blasphemy (Samaa, hosted by Asma Shirazi) was broadcast (it'll be rebroadcast today). Asma had pleaded that I participate. So I did - knowing fully well what was up ahead. But I could not bear to watch the broadcast and turned it off after a few minutes.
My opponents were Farid Paracha (spokesman, Jamaat-e-Islami) and Maulana Sialvi (Sunni Tehreek, a Barelvi and supposed moderate). There were around 100 students in the audience, drawn from colleges across Pindi and Islamabad.
Even as the mullahs frothed and screamed around me (and at me), I managed to say the obvious: that the culture of religious extremism was resulting in a bloodbath in which the majority of victims are Muslims; that non-Muslims were fleeing Pakistan; that the self-appointed "thaikaydars" of Islam in Pakistan were deliberately ignoring the case of other Muslim countries like Indonesia which do not have the death penalty for blasphemy; that debating the details of Blasphemy Law 295-C did not constitute blasphemy; that American Muslims were very far from being the objects of persecution; that harping on drone attacks was an irrelevancy to the present discussion on blasphemy.
The response? Not a single clap for me. Thunderous applause whenever my opponents called for death for blasphemers. And loud cheers for Qadri, the murderer. When I directly addressed Sialvi and said he had Salman Taseer's blood on his hand, he exclaimed "How I wish I did!" (kaash ke main hota!).
Islamofascism is a reality. This country is destined to drown in blood from civil war. I wish people would stop writing rubbish about Pakistan having an image problem. It's the truth that's really the problem.
Am I afraid? Yes, I'd be crazy not to be. And never more than at the present time. The battle for sanity has been lost. Many friends have written to me to leave Pakistan. How can I? One must keep fighting as long as possible. It is what we owe to future generations.
Warm regards,
Pervez
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=3953
Islamofascism is a reality - Pakistan is destined to drown in blood from civil war, by Pervez Hoodbhoy, Pakistan’s foremost progressive intellectual and physicist.
The War within Islam 18 Jan 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com
I am sharing with you some lines that I have just written for family and friends who are warning me:
Whatever one might think of Governor Salman Taseer's politics, he was killed this Wednesday for what was certainly the best act of his life: trying to save the life of an illiterate, poor, peasant Christian woman.
But rose petals are being showered upon his murderer. He is being called a ghazi, lawyers are demonstrating spontaneously for his release, clerics refused to perform his funeral rites. Most shockingly, the interior minister - his political colleague and the ultimate coward - has said that he too would kill a blasphemer with his own hands.
Pakistan once had a violent, rabidly religious lunatic fringe. This fringe has morphed into a majority. The liberals are now the fringe. We are now a nation of butchers and primitive savages. Europe's Dark Ages have descended upon us.
Sane people are being terrified into silence. After the assassination, FM-99 (Urdu) called me for an interview. The producer tearfully told me (offline) that she couldn't find a single religious scholar ready to condemn Taseer's murder. She said even ordinary people like me are in short supply.
I am deeply depressed today. So depressed that I can barely type these lines.
Yesterday a TV program on blasphemy (Samaa, hosted by Asma Shirazi) was broadcast (it'll be rebroadcast today). Asma had pleaded that I participate. So I did - knowing fully well what was up ahead. But I could not bear to watch the broadcast and turned it off after a few minutes.
My opponents were Farid Paracha (spokesman, Jamaat-e-Islami) and Maulana Sialvi (Sunni Tehreek, a Barelvi and supposed moderate). There were around 100 students in the audience, drawn from colleges across Pindi and Islamabad.
Even as the mullahs frothed and screamed around me (and at me), I managed to say the obvious: that the culture of religious extremism was resulting in a bloodbath in which the majority of victims are Muslims; that non-Muslims were fleeing Pakistan; that the self-appointed "thaikaydars" of Islam in Pakistan were deliberately ignoring the case of other Muslim countries like Indonesia which do not have the death penalty for blasphemy; that debating the details of Blasphemy Law 295-C did not constitute blasphemy; that American Muslims were very far from being the objects of persecution; that harping on drone attacks was an irrelevancy to the present discussion on blasphemy.
The response? Not a single clap for me. Thunderous applause whenever my opponents called for death for blasphemers. And loud cheers for Qadri, the murderer. When I directly addressed Sialvi and said he had Salman Taseer's blood on his hand, he exclaimed "How I wish I did!" (kaash ke main hota!).
Islamofascism is a reality. This country is destined to drown in blood from civil war. I wish people would stop writing rubbish about Pakistan having an image problem. It's the truth that's really the problem.
Am I afraid? Yes, I'd be crazy not to be. And never more than at the present time. The battle for sanity has been lost. Many friends have written to me to leave Pakistan. How can I? One must keep fighting as long as possible. It is what we owe to future generations.
Warm regards,
Pervez
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=3953
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
We are urged to join this Pakistan
We are urged to join this Pakistan
Dr Shabir Choudhry 19 January 2011
It is true majority of people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir DONOT want the status quo. They want this forced division, extremism, violence, hatred and culture of fear and intimidation to end. Many in Pakistan also want the suffering of the Kashmiris to end. Some even say, let Kashmiris be independent if that helps to end their miseries.
But that is not the view of those who control the Kashmir policy, indeed many other policies. It won’t be wrong to say that Pakistani governments, their agencies and religious zealots give people of Jammu and Kashmir, practically one choice and that is to join their country; or else the tragedy will continue in the form of forced division of the State, religious extremism, violence, armed infiltration, death, destruction and suffering.
People of Jammu and Kashmir have expressed more than once in various surveys that they don’t want to be part of Pakistan. All that, however, fall on deaf ears and the old policies continue with some cosmetic changes. Kashmiri struggle is not a religious struggle or struggle for accession. Despite that, let us look at what Pakistan has to offer to us people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The following quote is taken out from an article written by a loyal Pakistani who is a Chief Coordinator of a Pakistani Think Tank called, ‘Pak International Friendship Forum’ (PIFF). He also had very close working relationship with the Pakistani establishment. He writes:
‘The law and order situation in the rest of the country is also not satisfactory. The terrorists and criminal seems to be rampantly taking the population hostage. Fear and insecurity are prevalent everywhere. Influential personalities and government functionaries living in metropolitan cities have build fortress around their living places. It looks that Pakistan has gone back to the tribal period, where each family has to take up arms for their protection. The bomb blasts, suicide attacks, target killings, kidnapping for ransom, looting, arson are rampant everywhere.’
Does the above quote motivate anyone to be part of this society? I know many who are part of this society and they desperately want to dissociate themselves from there because they see no future there for them or for their children. Anyway, if you are a Kashmiri and still think that we should join Pakistan, before you cast your vote read the following:
‘Power shortage, gas load-shedding, price-hike, unemployment, protest and demonstration by masses have become the order of the day. Hardly any day passes when there is no mass demonstration, turned violent against long and unscheduled power shutdowns and outage of gas supply to domestic consumers. Prices of essential commodities are now raised by hours and government seems to have no control over profiteering, hoarding and unlawful price-hikes. The people of Pakistan are facing the worst shortages of everyday commodities and services in our history; no gas, no electricity, no petrol, no sugar, no flour, no onions, ever rising prices and inflation, new taxes, more factories being closed or going bankrupt, unstoppable judicial corruption, injustice, rising unemployment, rising energy costs, more people dying every day for no fault of theirs, police killing those whom they are protecting, mullahs inciting everyone to kill those who do not conform to their thinking, newly unleashed black mailing and self serving electronic media on the loose only caring for their ratings, hoarding, looting, black marketing, touts, pimps and plunderers having a ball of a time and most important a total breakdown of law and order anywhere and everywhere.’
The author, in this article titled, ‘Dilemma of Pakistan’ gives more details of the Pakistani society, what I could call a true picture of the Pakistani society. I commend him for writing that. I know he is not ‘anti Pakistan’. He is a loyal son of soil who wants these serious problems to be resolved. It is only Kashmiri nationalists who are labelled as ‘anti Pakistan’ when they expose wrongs of Pakistan.
I have many reasons for not wanting to be part of Pakistan; one is that it is not a practical solution, because there is no way India would give away Jammu and Kashmir to its arch enemy – Pakistan. Also if resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute is to be found in religion or Two Nations Theory, then it will surely lead to a division of the State on religious lines causing more trouble, hatred and extremism.
As a conviction I have worked against accession, because the struggle is for right of self determination and not for accession; and in doing so I have consistently written to expose Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, and evils of the Pakistani society. And for this I have been labelled as: anti Islam, anti movement, anti jihad, anti Pakistan, an Indian agent, British agent, American agent, Jewish agent and a Hindu, even though I am a practicing Muslim.
Apart from that, I get threats from some quarters. People behind these threats and verbal abuse are the people who have vested interest in the Kashmir dispute. Kashmir dispute has become a business for them; and when their interests or politics is harmed by my work and writings they try to intimidate me. I have never given in to these threats; and will never give them the joy of silencing another rebellious voice.
Another Think Tank of Pakistan, ‘Pak Institute of Peace Studies’ (PIPS) writes: ‘Rule of law is a critical element of good governance, which is lacking not only in KPK and FATA but across the country. According to World Justice Project rule of law index 2010, Pakistan is among the countries where rule of law is sorely lacking. The latest Funds for Peace failed states index ranks Pakistan as the 10th most poorly governed state on account of poor governance as well as security indicators.’
PIPS report further reveals that in year 2010 there were 3393 terrorism related incidents in Pakistan, which resulted in death of 10003 people; and injured 10283.
The situation in Pakistan is likely to get worse in 2011, we can pray for betterment, but let me assure all the concerned, that prayers in matters like these do not help, people who are running the country or controlling the society have to devise appropriate policies to establish peace and harmony.
I don’t mean to say that Pakistani society is the only one to have problems. Problems are part of the human civilisation; but why we – people of Jammu and Kashmir should be a part of the society which has more problems than others, and where no one seems to be safe and where there is no future for our future generations.
You can call me anything, stick with my name any label which makes you happy, call me Hindu, Sikh or Jew, but I will continue with my struggle for united and independent state of Jammu and Kashmir, and oppose accession. I will also oppose forces which promote extremism, communalism and hatred.
Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com
www.k4kashmir.com
Dr Shabir Choudhry 19 January 2011
It is true majority of people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir DONOT want the status quo. They want this forced division, extremism, violence, hatred and culture of fear and intimidation to end. Many in Pakistan also want the suffering of the Kashmiris to end. Some even say, let Kashmiris be independent if that helps to end their miseries.
But that is not the view of those who control the Kashmir policy, indeed many other policies. It won’t be wrong to say that Pakistani governments, their agencies and religious zealots give people of Jammu and Kashmir, practically one choice and that is to join their country; or else the tragedy will continue in the form of forced division of the State, religious extremism, violence, armed infiltration, death, destruction and suffering.
People of Jammu and Kashmir have expressed more than once in various surveys that they don’t want to be part of Pakistan. All that, however, fall on deaf ears and the old policies continue with some cosmetic changes. Kashmiri struggle is not a religious struggle or struggle for accession. Despite that, let us look at what Pakistan has to offer to us people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The following quote is taken out from an article written by a loyal Pakistani who is a Chief Coordinator of a Pakistani Think Tank called, ‘Pak International Friendship Forum’ (PIFF). He also had very close working relationship with the Pakistani establishment. He writes:
‘The law and order situation in the rest of the country is also not satisfactory. The terrorists and criminal seems to be rampantly taking the population hostage. Fear and insecurity are prevalent everywhere. Influential personalities and government functionaries living in metropolitan cities have build fortress around their living places. It looks that Pakistan has gone back to the tribal period, where each family has to take up arms for their protection. The bomb blasts, suicide attacks, target killings, kidnapping for ransom, looting, arson are rampant everywhere.’
Does the above quote motivate anyone to be part of this society? I know many who are part of this society and they desperately want to dissociate themselves from there because they see no future there for them or for their children. Anyway, if you are a Kashmiri and still think that we should join Pakistan, before you cast your vote read the following:
‘Power shortage, gas load-shedding, price-hike, unemployment, protest and demonstration by masses have become the order of the day. Hardly any day passes when there is no mass demonstration, turned violent against long and unscheduled power shutdowns and outage of gas supply to domestic consumers. Prices of essential commodities are now raised by hours and government seems to have no control over profiteering, hoarding and unlawful price-hikes. The people of Pakistan are facing the worst shortages of everyday commodities and services in our history; no gas, no electricity, no petrol, no sugar, no flour, no onions, ever rising prices and inflation, new taxes, more factories being closed or going bankrupt, unstoppable judicial corruption, injustice, rising unemployment, rising energy costs, more people dying every day for no fault of theirs, police killing those whom they are protecting, mullahs inciting everyone to kill those who do not conform to their thinking, newly unleashed black mailing and self serving electronic media on the loose only caring for their ratings, hoarding, looting, black marketing, touts, pimps and plunderers having a ball of a time and most important a total breakdown of law and order anywhere and everywhere.’
The author, in this article titled, ‘Dilemma of Pakistan’ gives more details of the Pakistani society, what I could call a true picture of the Pakistani society. I commend him for writing that. I know he is not ‘anti Pakistan’. He is a loyal son of soil who wants these serious problems to be resolved. It is only Kashmiri nationalists who are labelled as ‘anti Pakistan’ when they expose wrongs of Pakistan.
I have many reasons for not wanting to be part of Pakistan; one is that it is not a practical solution, because there is no way India would give away Jammu and Kashmir to its arch enemy – Pakistan. Also if resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute is to be found in religion or Two Nations Theory, then it will surely lead to a division of the State on religious lines causing more trouble, hatred and extremism.
As a conviction I have worked against accession, because the struggle is for right of self determination and not for accession; and in doing so I have consistently written to expose Pakistan’s Kashmir policy, and evils of the Pakistani society. And for this I have been labelled as: anti Islam, anti movement, anti jihad, anti Pakistan, an Indian agent, British agent, American agent, Jewish agent and a Hindu, even though I am a practicing Muslim.
Apart from that, I get threats from some quarters. People behind these threats and verbal abuse are the people who have vested interest in the Kashmir dispute. Kashmir dispute has become a business for them; and when their interests or politics is harmed by my work and writings they try to intimidate me. I have never given in to these threats; and will never give them the joy of silencing another rebellious voice.
Another Think Tank of Pakistan, ‘Pak Institute of Peace Studies’ (PIPS) writes: ‘Rule of law is a critical element of good governance, which is lacking not only in KPK and FATA but across the country. According to World Justice Project rule of law index 2010, Pakistan is among the countries where rule of law is sorely lacking. The latest Funds for Peace failed states index ranks Pakistan as the 10th most poorly governed state on account of poor governance as well as security indicators.’
PIPS report further reveals that in year 2010 there were 3393 terrorism related incidents in Pakistan, which resulted in death of 10003 people; and injured 10283.
The situation in Pakistan is likely to get worse in 2011, we can pray for betterment, but let me assure all the concerned, that prayers in matters like these do not help, people who are running the country or controlling the society have to devise appropriate policies to establish peace and harmony.
I don’t mean to say that Pakistani society is the only one to have problems. Problems are part of the human civilisation; but why we – people of Jammu and Kashmir should be a part of the society which has more problems than others, and where no one seems to be safe and where there is no future for our future generations.
You can call me anything, stick with my name any label which makes you happy, call me Hindu, Sikh or Jew, but I will continue with my struggle for united and independent state of Jammu and Kashmir, and oppose accession. I will also oppose forces which promote extremism, communalism and hatred.
Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com
www.k4kashmir.com
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
DILEMMA OF PAKISTAN
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
DILEMMA OF PAKISTAN
It is said that Pakistan is presently facing the most critical problems of its time. These problems if not tackled properly could change the future of the country. At the onset these problems could be categorized into four major classes. First are the problems originating from the government itself, such as corruption, bad governance, law and order, power shortage, unemployment, price-hike, etc. The next category is that of problems originating from the people, such as, religious extremism, sectarian violence, blasphemy issue, madressa issues, terrorism, etc. Third are the economic issues, like trade deficit, excessive government expenditure, foreign and domestic loans, inflation, etc. The forth category of problems are those which are purely political in nature such as the issues emanating from lack of the absolute majority of the ruling party in the Parliament, exploitation of such issues by the party leaders, political immaturity, polarization in society, insurgency like situation in Balochistan, war on terror, fighting extremism, etc.
First of all let’s talk about the corruption and the bad governance charges leveled against the government. This is the fourth government of Pakistan People’s Party at the federal level. Each time when PPP came into power the party seemed to be not prepared to perform the task diligently. They never did their homework or gave it a serious consideration as to how to run the affairs of the country. On the contrary, they always ruled on the bases of hollow slogans and to accommodate and oblige the party loyalists and the top leadership. In doing so all norms of fairness, honesty, morality, ethics, responsibility and competency were regarded as hurdles and were trampled under the feet. All charges of corruption against the party loyalists are either ignored or refuted as mere allegations leveled by political opponents. The first government of PPP led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto left behind legendary stories, like dalai camps, throwing out parliamentarians from the Assembly, killing of opponents, military operation in Balochistan and much more. There was no print or electronic media to dig out cases of corruption during that period but as events unfolded later on, it was alleged that Libyan President Moamer Qadafi donated one hundred million dollars to Pakistan to help strengthen the national economy but the amount was deposited into the personal account of Mr. Bhutto. Later on, the same amount became the cause of family feud and the breakup of Bhutto clan.
The latter two governments of Mohterma Benazir Bhutto were dismissed on most blatant charges of corruption. The second government was dismissed by a PPP loyalist, who was made President on the assumption that a PPP man in the Presidency would be a better protector of the government. The party claims that these charges were never proved so they were innocent and the corruption stories were part of the great propaganda game against Pakistan Peoples Party. The accountability process in Pakistan could be leveled as non-transparent and devised to target and harass political opponents but there was always enough material in the corruption charges so as to keep the investigation going even in foreign courts. As a replay of the past attitude, the PPP government is keeping mum on all corruption charges brought against its loyalists and front-
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
1
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
men. The Hajj scam, ICP fraud, financial embezzlement of the highest degree in PSM, RPP, PIA, PEPCO and so on are not mere stories. But the Prime Minister has not shown an iota of concern for any of them.
The lack of governance and the ineptness can be seen in every sphere of government institutions but no step has been taken to improve the situation. Merit and competency is always ignored while appointing heads of autonomous bodies. The problem of PPP is that it wants to accommodate party loyalists, who always remained the bone and flesh of the party. They sacrificed for the party to keep it in the limelight during the most unfavorable times. But most of these party loyalists are not academically qualified to such levels as to hold any important position in the government. When the party comes into power, it has only those poorly educated or not educated at all to run the affairs of the government. Pakistan is still an under developed country and highly competent people are required to run the affair of the country. When mediocre or incompetent individuals are appointed to run the affair of the country, in particular into such institutions and departments, which are supposed to provide financial backing to the nation, a non-ending decaying process starts. To add to this decaying process, the incompetent individuals appointed to head those departments start making illegal money from those departments. The decay in some of the key departments like PIA, PSM, Railway, Pakistan Shipping Corporation, Pakistan Investment Board, Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, NHA, NTC, etc, etc is due to this chain process. The irony of fate is that the PPP Government is not ready to accept the mistakes and mend the fault lines.
Next are the law and order situation, which cannot be stated as satisfactory. Karachi, the financial hub of the country is the most disturbed, where the target killings could not be controlled despite repeated pledges by the federal and provincial governments. Some of the old friends of President Asif Ali Zardari, holding key positions in the Sindh Government are daggers drawn with one of the most popular parties of Karachi. The war of words between PPP and MQM could not be stopped despite the fact that MQM threatened to quit the collation Government number of times. The compulsion of the MQM is that they cannot afford to quit the government. They need to remain with every government in power, lest they might lose their vote bank and hold of Karachi and Hyderabad. So they always return to old position after every sore point with the PPP, the major partner in the alliance.
The law and order situation in the rest of the country is also not satisfactory. The terrorists and criminal seems to be rampantly taking the population hostage. Fear and insecurity are prevalent everywhere. Influential personalities and government functionaries living in metropolitan cities have build fortress around their living places. It looks that Pakistan has gone back to the tribal period, where each family has to take up arms for their protection. The bomb blasts, suicide attacks, target killings, kidnapping for ransom, looting, arson are rampant everywhere. Police and law enforcing agencies are more involved in security of important government functionaries instead of controlling law and order or curbing crimes from the society.
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
2
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
Power shortage, gas load-shedding, price-hike, unemployment, protest and demonstration by masses have become the order of the day. Hardly any day passes when there is no mass demonstration, turned violent against long and unscheduled power shutdowns and outage of gas supply to domestic consumers. Prices of essential commodities are now raised by hours and government seems to have no control over profiteering, hoarding and unlawful price-hikes. The people of Pakistan are facing the worst shortages of everyday commodities and services in our history; no gas, no electricity, no petrol, no sugar, no flour, no onions, ever rising prices and inflation, new taxes, more factories being closed or going bankrupt, unstoppable judicial corruption, injustice, rising unemployment, rising energy costs, more people dying every day for no fault of theirs, police killing those whom they are protecting, mullahs inciting everyone to kill those who do not conform to their thinking, newly unleashed black mailing and self serving electronic media on the loose only caring for their ratings, hoarding, looting, black marketing, touts, pimps and plunderers having a ball of a time and most important a total breakdown of law and order anywhere and everywhere.
Religion is another issue which has serious implication on the integrity and security of the country. Perhaps, the Father of the Nation did not have the slightest notion that in this newborn country Islam will be used as a weapon for radicalization and indoctrination of masses so that they can outcast their rivals in religious beliefs. Today religious extremism and sectarian violence are threatening the very existence of Pakistan. In the early days after independence, some disesteemed politicians incited the clerics and religious zealots to converge on undetermined ideologies to prolong their control. The first constituent assembly could only come out with the Objectives Resolution instead of devising a constitution for the country. The main feature of this Objectives Resolution was the Islamic conditionality to be spun around all future dispensations. What we are reaping today was perhaps sown during those early days. There are numerous examples, when Quaid-e-Azam stressed on a secular form of Government in Pakistan but the zealous armies of the clerics inspired by the military elite poisoned the national atmosphere to such as extent that the fanatics are riding the public sentiments today. Religious zealots were further nurtured by the Islamization of Gen Zia. Immediately before Gen Zia, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto nourished the Islamic sentiments among masses by introducing some sudo-Islamic steps like closing wine-stores, declaring Friday as closed holiday, introducing blasphemy notes in the Penal Code and few other injunctions. During Zia’s tenure a network of religious seminaries known as “Deeni Madaris” were established throughout the country, five time prayers were made mandatory for government employees and numerous other Islamic Laws were introduced, which have taken roots in the society. Today we are at such a stage that the killer of Salman Taseer is being hailed as Ghazi and defender of the faith although Salman Taseer committed no Blasphemous offence. Where is the law and justice, what is the government doing when murderers and law-breakers are heralded as heroes and all the religious groups have ganged up to fight any attempt to change the Blasphemy Law?
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
3
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
To add fuel to fire, the country is going through the gravest of the financial upheavals. The Government is borrowing two billion rupees daily from the State Bank to keep its affairs running. The foreign debts are piling up in the face of fast depleting domestic resources. The shortage of power and gas is rendering more and more domestic industrial units to shut down. Industrialists are shifting their production units to more attractive lands and the capital is very fast moving out of the country.
On top of all these the political dispensation in Pakistan is not matured enough to foresee the dangers lurking on the horizon. In the first place no party could secure the absolute majority in the last elections resulting in a collation government where the largest party has to make compromises and adjustments at the cost of national integrity and honor. The weak government at the centre is the mother of some allied problems, which could have been done away without losing much. Furthermore, the majority party is all the time blackmailed by smaller partners of the collation. Thus the stakes of the government are too many to manage the affairs smoothly. Secondly, the PPP government wants to make maximum out of the opportunity which came its way as sympathy of the nation after the sad demise of Benazir Bhutto. To get maximum benefits they have left some very important functions of the government to the army. The foreign policy, parts of the fiscal matters, maintaining law and order in troubled areas, operation against militants, war against terror are those few matters left to be performed by the Army alone and the government has disassociated itself from them.
The incumbent government has perhaps not assessed the dangers and thus has no plans to put things right. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had been making efforts to improve the governance matters by taking suo moto action on some grave misdoings of the government. But that does not seem to be doing the trick as the implementation of the Supreme Court directives still rests with the government. In such circumstances the only option left is the dissolution of the current government and formation of a national government with a mandate to hold fresh elections, if elections could be the answer to the national disorders. Meanwhile, a mass awareness campaign needs to be launched at the national level, wherein the masses are required to be told that the responsibility to elect honest, efficient and dynamic people to lead the country out of the current troubles lies on them and they should act with diligence if they want to live with honor in the comity of nations.
Contributed by the Chief Coordinator.
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
DILEMMA OF PAKISTAN
It is said that Pakistan is presently facing the most critical problems of its time. These problems if not tackled properly could change the future of the country. At the onset these problems could be categorized into four major classes. First are the problems originating from the government itself, such as corruption, bad governance, law and order, power shortage, unemployment, price-hike, etc. The next category is that of problems originating from the people, such as, religious extremism, sectarian violence, blasphemy issue, madressa issues, terrorism, etc. Third are the economic issues, like trade deficit, excessive government expenditure, foreign and domestic loans, inflation, etc. The forth category of problems are those which are purely political in nature such as the issues emanating from lack of the absolute majority of the ruling party in the Parliament, exploitation of such issues by the party leaders, political immaturity, polarization in society, insurgency like situation in Balochistan, war on terror, fighting extremism, etc.
First of all let’s talk about the corruption and the bad governance charges leveled against the government. This is the fourth government of Pakistan People’s Party at the federal level. Each time when PPP came into power the party seemed to be not prepared to perform the task diligently. They never did their homework or gave it a serious consideration as to how to run the affairs of the country. On the contrary, they always ruled on the bases of hollow slogans and to accommodate and oblige the party loyalists and the top leadership. In doing so all norms of fairness, honesty, morality, ethics, responsibility and competency were regarded as hurdles and were trampled under the feet. All charges of corruption against the party loyalists are either ignored or refuted as mere allegations leveled by political opponents. The first government of PPP led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto left behind legendary stories, like dalai camps, throwing out parliamentarians from the Assembly, killing of opponents, military operation in Balochistan and much more. There was no print or electronic media to dig out cases of corruption during that period but as events unfolded later on, it was alleged that Libyan President Moamer Qadafi donated one hundred million dollars to Pakistan to help strengthen the national economy but the amount was deposited into the personal account of Mr. Bhutto. Later on, the same amount became the cause of family feud and the breakup of Bhutto clan.
The latter two governments of Mohterma Benazir Bhutto were dismissed on most blatant charges of corruption. The second government was dismissed by a PPP loyalist, who was made President on the assumption that a PPP man in the Presidency would be a better protector of the government. The party claims that these charges were never proved so they were innocent and the corruption stories were part of the great propaganda game against Pakistan Peoples Party. The accountability process in Pakistan could be leveled as non-transparent and devised to target and harass political opponents but there was always enough material in the corruption charges so as to keep the investigation going even in foreign courts. As a replay of the past attitude, the PPP government is keeping mum on all corruption charges brought against its loyalists and front-
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
1
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
men. The Hajj scam, ICP fraud, financial embezzlement of the highest degree in PSM, RPP, PIA, PEPCO and so on are not mere stories. But the Prime Minister has not shown an iota of concern for any of them.
The lack of governance and the ineptness can be seen in every sphere of government institutions but no step has been taken to improve the situation. Merit and competency is always ignored while appointing heads of autonomous bodies. The problem of PPP is that it wants to accommodate party loyalists, who always remained the bone and flesh of the party. They sacrificed for the party to keep it in the limelight during the most unfavorable times. But most of these party loyalists are not academically qualified to such levels as to hold any important position in the government. When the party comes into power, it has only those poorly educated or not educated at all to run the affairs of the government. Pakistan is still an under developed country and highly competent people are required to run the affair of the country. When mediocre or incompetent individuals are appointed to run the affair of the country, in particular into such institutions and departments, which are supposed to provide financial backing to the nation, a non-ending decaying process starts. To add to this decaying process, the incompetent individuals appointed to head those departments start making illegal money from those departments. The decay in some of the key departments like PIA, PSM, Railway, Pakistan Shipping Corporation, Pakistan Investment Board, Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, NHA, NTC, etc, etc is due to this chain process. The irony of fate is that the PPP Government is not ready to accept the mistakes and mend the fault lines.
Next are the law and order situation, which cannot be stated as satisfactory. Karachi, the financial hub of the country is the most disturbed, where the target killings could not be controlled despite repeated pledges by the federal and provincial governments. Some of the old friends of President Asif Ali Zardari, holding key positions in the Sindh Government are daggers drawn with one of the most popular parties of Karachi. The war of words between PPP and MQM could not be stopped despite the fact that MQM threatened to quit the collation Government number of times. The compulsion of the MQM is that they cannot afford to quit the government. They need to remain with every government in power, lest they might lose their vote bank and hold of Karachi and Hyderabad. So they always return to old position after every sore point with the PPP, the major partner in the alliance.
The law and order situation in the rest of the country is also not satisfactory. The terrorists and criminal seems to be rampantly taking the population hostage. Fear and insecurity are prevalent everywhere. Influential personalities and government functionaries living in metropolitan cities have build fortress around their living places. It looks that Pakistan has gone back to the tribal period, where each family has to take up arms for their protection. The bomb blasts, suicide attacks, target killings, kidnapping for ransom, looting, arson are rampant everywhere. Police and law enforcing agencies are more involved in security of important government functionaries instead of controlling law and order or curbing crimes from the society.
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
2
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
Power shortage, gas load-shedding, price-hike, unemployment, protest and demonstration by masses have become the order of the day. Hardly any day passes when there is no mass demonstration, turned violent against long and unscheduled power shutdowns and outage of gas supply to domestic consumers. Prices of essential commodities are now raised by hours and government seems to have no control over profiteering, hoarding and unlawful price-hikes. The people of Pakistan are facing the worst shortages of everyday commodities and services in our history; no gas, no electricity, no petrol, no sugar, no flour, no onions, ever rising prices and inflation, new taxes, more factories being closed or going bankrupt, unstoppable judicial corruption, injustice, rising unemployment, rising energy costs, more people dying every day for no fault of theirs, police killing those whom they are protecting, mullahs inciting everyone to kill those who do not conform to their thinking, newly unleashed black mailing and self serving electronic media on the loose only caring for their ratings, hoarding, looting, black marketing, touts, pimps and plunderers having a ball of a time and most important a total breakdown of law and order anywhere and everywhere.
Religion is another issue which has serious implication on the integrity and security of the country. Perhaps, the Father of the Nation did not have the slightest notion that in this newborn country Islam will be used as a weapon for radicalization and indoctrination of masses so that they can outcast their rivals in religious beliefs. Today religious extremism and sectarian violence are threatening the very existence of Pakistan. In the early days after independence, some disesteemed politicians incited the clerics and religious zealots to converge on undetermined ideologies to prolong their control. The first constituent assembly could only come out with the Objectives Resolution instead of devising a constitution for the country. The main feature of this Objectives Resolution was the Islamic conditionality to be spun around all future dispensations. What we are reaping today was perhaps sown during those early days. There are numerous examples, when Quaid-e-Azam stressed on a secular form of Government in Pakistan but the zealous armies of the clerics inspired by the military elite poisoned the national atmosphere to such as extent that the fanatics are riding the public sentiments today. Religious zealots were further nurtured by the Islamization of Gen Zia. Immediately before Gen Zia, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto nourished the Islamic sentiments among masses by introducing some sudo-Islamic steps like closing wine-stores, declaring Friday as closed holiday, introducing blasphemy notes in the Penal Code and few other injunctions. During Zia’s tenure a network of religious seminaries known as “Deeni Madaris” were established throughout the country, five time prayers were made mandatory for government employees and numerous other Islamic Laws were introduced, which have taken roots in the society. Today we are at such a stage that the killer of Salman Taseer is being hailed as Ghazi and defender of the faith although Salman Taseer committed no Blasphemous offence. Where is the law and justice, what is the government doing when murderers and law-breakers are heralded as heroes and all the religious groups have ganged up to fight any attempt to change the Blasphemy Law?
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
3
Pak International Friendship Forum
Patron-in-Chief: Sardar Muhammad Iqbal Khilji
To add fuel to fire, the country is going through the gravest of the financial upheavals. The Government is borrowing two billion rupees daily from the State Bank to keep its affairs running. The foreign debts are piling up in the face of fast depleting domestic resources. The shortage of power and gas is rendering more and more domestic industrial units to shut down. Industrialists are shifting their production units to more attractive lands and the capital is very fast moving out of the country.
On top of all these the political dispensation in Pakistan is not matured enough to foresee the dangers lurking on the horizon. In the first place no party could secure the absolute majority in the last elections resulting in a collation government where the largest party has to make compromises and adjustments at the cost of national integrity and honor. The weak government at the centre is the mother of some allied problems, which could have been done away without losing much. Furthermore, the majority party is all the time blackmailed by smaller partners of the collation. Thus the stakes of the government are too many to manage the affairs smoothly. Secondly, the PPP government wants to make maximum out of the opportunity which came its way as sympathy of the nation after the sad demise of Benazir Bhutto. To get maximum benefits they have left some very important functions of the government to the army. The foreign policy, parts of the fiscal matters, maintaining law and order in troubled areas, operation against militants, war against terror are those few matters left to be performed by the Army alone and the government has disassociated itself from them.
The incumbent government has perhaps not assessed the dangers and thus has no plans to put things right. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had been making efforts to improve the governance matters by taking suo moto action on some grave misdoings of the government. But that does not seem to be doing the trick as the implementation of the Supreme Court directives still rests with the government. In such circumstances the only option left is the dissolution of the current government and formation of a national government with a mandate to hold fresh elections, if elections could be the answer to the national disorders. Meanwhile, a mass awareness campaign needs to be launched at the national level, wherein the masses are required to be told that the responsibility to elect honest, efficient and dynamic people to lead the country out of the current troubles lies on them and they should act with diligence if they want to live with honor in the comity of nations.
Contributed by the Chief Coordinator.
Patron-in Chief: sardar_khilji@yahoo.com
Chief Coordinator: bqayyum@hotmail.com
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Right to protest and ‘right to violence’
Right to protest and ‘right to violence’
Dr Shabir Choudhry 17 January 2011
Together with other rights, a right to protest is a fundamental human right which derives from freedom to assemble; and it must not be usurped by the authorities in any civilised society. But right to protest should be distinguished from a ‘right to violence’.
Everyone is allowed to enjoy all fundamental rights, as long as one does not infringe rights of others when exercising those rights. Somehow it is erroneously assumed that a ‘right to protest’ also includes a right to violence - attack others and burn property belonging to others.
No government, whether legitimate or not, will allow a challenge to its writ. So when some people assemble to protest, sometimes without permission, they go there with intention of creating trouble. They go there with a supply of stones and other items which could be used to attack those who are entrusted with a responsibility to maintain law and order.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allows the authorities to impose restrictions on freedom to assemble or right to protest if they feel it is detrimental to ‘national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others." (Article 21)
Protest could hardly be categorised as a threat to national security, however, some criminal minded people, anarchists and agents of foreign powers could use the occasion to create chaos and damage private and public property. It is responsibility of the authorities to ensure that law and order is maintained; and that no one is allowed to commit crimes or create mayhem under pretext of right to protest.
Entire State of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed; and its future is to be determined by the people of the State. Decades of militancy, extremism, communalism and uncertainty has very seriously damaged fundamental character of the Kashmiri culture of tolerance, moderation and coexistence. Although militancy is on decline, but forces with agenda of promoting extremism and hatred are still alive and kicking, and waiting in the wings to begin another round. Whereas unfettered right of self determination is priority of majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, some groups with extremist and communal agenda want to exacerbate already bad situation.
Bharatiya Janata Party, an extremist group by any standards, has announced to hoist an Indian flag in Lal Chowk of Srinagar on 26 January is an attempt to pour petrol on fire. BJP surely have plenty of Indian flags and dedicated people to advance their agenda, however, they are advised to hoist flags on Lal Fort and Qutab Minar, and avoid pushing Kashmiri Muslims in the corner of Pakistan once again.
BJP leaders should understand that, at one time, majority of Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir were in favour of joining Pakistan; and at times, they expressed their love for Pakistan or teased India by hoisting a Pakistani flag in Kashmir (people knew hatred between India and Pakistan and they sometimes chant pro Pakistan slogans and hoist Pakistani flag to tease Indians).
Now that love of the Kashmiri people for Pakistan is at its lowest ebb, and romanticism is virtually at its end, as confirmed by various surveys; is it sensible of BJP leaders to hoist an Indian flag in Lal Chowk which could result in people of Srinagar hosting a Pakistani flag, not for love of Pakistan but to ridicule BJP? This will provide an excuse to Pakistani authorities to claim that people of Kashmir are eager to join them; and make them relevant again.
Young Omar Abdullah has faced enough troubles in his two years reign; and nearly lost his post during the stone pelting campaign in the last summer, which some experts call a master stroke of those forces who want the Kashmir pot to remain on the front burner. Now that some kind of normalcy is returning to the Valley, mainly because of the cold weather and some exhaustion, Omar Abdullah would not like the BJP to create chaos and possibly bloodshed.
BJP's campaign known as, Rashtriya Ekta Yatra, started from Kolkata a few days ago and their dedicated and troublesome activists are under the command of Anurag Thakur, President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He is determined to go ahead with his plan and hoist the Indian flag in Lal Chowk on 26 January.
Omar Abdullah government has responsibility to rule and maintain peace in the entire Jammu and Kashmir on the Indian side of the LOC; but he might feel his first priority is to keep peace in the Valley and especially in Srinagar. This peace is under serious threat; and he has to face this challenge with proper planning and vigour.
It is believed that New Delhi has given a free hand to Omar Abdullah to deal with the problem as he finds it appropriate, and have assured him of full support; but he feels the BJP has landed him in a quandary. If he allows the BJP to go ahead with its programme it will be resisted by the political parties with some hold in Srinagar which could lead to unrest and bloodshed; and if he imposes ban or stop the BJP by force that will have implications of its own.
In a separate move, a complaint has been filed in a court against Omar Abdullah and the JKLF leader Yasin Malik for ‘opposing hoisting of national flag’ The complaint was filed under ‘section 153 of the IPC (giving provocation with intention to cause riot) and section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971’. Sumit Parashar, who filed the case, alleges that by ‘opposing hoisting of national flag, both Abdullah and Malik have committed an anti-national act.’
Omar Abdullah has to plan his strategy carefully and act in public interest. He has to prove that he is in control and that he will act with vigour and determination. He has to prove that he will not allow some extremists to imperil peace and harmony of Kashmir; and that his administration will not hesitate to use force to maintain law and order, as they used force on stone throwers in summer 2010.
Be it be the BJP, or any other group, no one should be allowed to promote extremism, communalism and hatred; and destroy peace, harmony and traditional Kashmiri culture of toleration. If designs of these groups are not checked then it is possible that ‘bad old days’ might return; and groups which espouse violence and hatred, and their mentors from outside will call shots and ruin Kashmiri culture of peace and toleration.
Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com
www.k4kashmir.com
Dr Shabir Choudhry 17 January 2011
Together with other rights, a right to protest is a fundamental human right which derives from freedom to assemble; and it must not be usurped by the authorities in any civilised society. But right to protest should be distinguished from a ‘right to violence’.
Everyone is allowed to enjoy all fundamental rights, as long as one does not infringe rights of others when exercising those rights. Somehow it is erroneously assumed that a ‘right to protest’ also includes a right to violence - attack others and burn property belonging to others.
No government, whether legitimate or not, will allow a challenge to its writ. So when some people assemble to protest, sometimes without permission, they go there with intention of creating trouble. They go there with a supply of stones and other items which could be used to attack those who are entrusted with a responsibility to maintain law and order.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allows the authorities to impose restrictions on freedom to assemble or right to protest if they feel it is detrimental to ‘national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others." (Article 21)
Protest could hardly be categorised as a threat to national security, however, some criminal minded people, anarchists and agents of foreign powers could use the occasion to create chaos and damage private and public property. It is responsibility of the authorities to ensure that law and order is maintained; and that no one is allowed to commit crimes or create mayhem under pretext of right to protest.
Entire State of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed; and its future is to be determined by the people of the State. Decades of militancy, extremism, communalism and uncertainty has very seriously damaged fundamental character of the Kashmiri culture of tolerance, moderation and coexistence. Although militancy is on decline, but forces with agenda of promoting extremism and hatred are still alive and kicking, and waiting in the wings to begin another round. Whereas unfettered right of self determination is priority of majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, some groups with extremist and communal agenda want to exacerbate already bad situation.
Bharatiya Janata Party, an extremist group by any standards, has announced to hoist an Indian flag in Lal Chowk of Srinagar on 26 January is an attempt to pour petrol on fire. BJP surely have plenty of Indian flags and dedicated people to advance their agenda, however, they are advised to hoist flags on Lal Fort and Qutab Minar, and avoid pushing Kashmiri Muslims in the corner of Pakistan once again.
BJP leaders should understand that, at one time, majority of Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir were in favour of joining Pakistan; and at times, they expressed their love for Pakistan or teased India by hoisting a Pakistani flag in Kashmir (people knew hatred between India and Pakistan and they sometimes chant pro Pakistan slogans and hoist Pakistani flag to tease Indians).
Now that love of the Kashmiri people for Pakistan is at its lowest ebb, and romanticism is virtually at its end, as confirmed by various surveys; is it sensible of BJP leaders to hoist an Indian flag in Lal Chowk which could result in people of Srinagar hosting a Pakistani flag, not for love of Pakistan but to ridicule BJP? This will provide an excuse to Pakistani authorities to claim that people of Kashmir are eager to join them; and make them relevant again.
Young Omar Abdullah has faced enough troubles in his two years reign; and nearly lost his post during the stone pelting campaign in the last summer, which some experts call a master stroke of those forces who want the Kashmir pot to remain on the front burner. Now that some kind of normalcy is returning to the Valley, mainly because of the cold weather and some exhaustion, Omar Abdullah would not like the BJP to create chaos and possibly bloodshed.
BJP's campaign known as, Rashtriya Ekta Yatra, started from Kolkata a few days ago and their dedicated and troublesome activists are under the command of Anurag Thakur, President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He is determined to go ahead with his plan and hoist the Indian flag in Lal Chowk on 26 January.
Omar Abdullah government has responsibility to rule and maintain peace in the entire Jammu and Kashmir on the Indian side of the LOC; but he might feel his first priority is to keep peace in the Valley and especially in Srinagar. This peace is under serious threat; and he has to face this challenge with proper planning and vigour.
It is believed that New Delhi has given a free hand to Omar Abdullah to deal with the problem as he finds it appropriate, and have assured him of full support; but he feels the BJP has landed him in a quandary. If he allows the BJP to go ahead with its programme it will be resisted by the political parties with some hold in Srinagar which could lead to unrest and bloodshed; and if he imposes ban or stop the BJP by force that will have implications of its own.
In a separate move, a complaint has been filed in a court against Omar Abdullah and the JKLF leader Yasin Malik for ‘opposing hoisting of national flag’ The complaint was filed under ‘section 153 of the IPC (giving provocation with intention to cause riot) and section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971’. Sumit Parashar, who filed the case, alleges that by ‘opposing hoisting of national flag, both Abdullah and Malik have committed an anti-national act.’
Omar Abdullah has to plan his strategy carefully and act in public interest. He has to prove that he is in control and that he will act with vigour and determination. He has to prove that he will not allow some extremists to imperil peace and harmony of Kashmir; and that his administration will not hesitate to use force to maintain law and order, as they used force on stone throwers in summer 2010.
Be it be the BJP, or any other group, no one should be allowed to promote extremism, communalism and hatred; and destroy peace, harmony and traditional Kashmiri culture of toleration. If designs of these groups are not checked then it is possible that ‘bad old days’ might return; and groups which espouse violence and hatred, and their mentors from outside will call shots and ruin Kashmiri culture of peace and toleration.
Writer is Head Diplomatic Committee of Kashmir National Party, political analyst and author of many books and booklets. Also he is Director Institute of Kashmir Affairs.Email:drshabirchoudhry@gmail.com
View my blog and web: www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com
www.k4kashmir.com
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Not just the clerics
Not just the clerics
Sunday, January 16, 2011
S Iftikhar Murshed
Jinnah was wrong when, in a rare outburst of emotion, he triumphantly boasted before students at Aligarh in 1938 that the Muslim League had liberated them from the clutches of the mullahs. He was similarly mistaken nine years later when he declared at the Constituent Assembly on Aug 11, 1947, that the citizens of Pakistan were free to subscribe to any faith they wished, as religion had nothing to do with affairs of state.
He could not have foreseen that the political pygmies who would succeed him would not be able to withstand the relentless onslaught of the religious right. Within six months of his death, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Objectives Resolution, thereby administering a crippling blow to his concept of Pakistan as a modern and progressive state. In one sweep non-Muslims became second-class citizens of a country they loved and did not forsake at the time of Partition. The worst was still to come.
With the introduction of Ziaul Haq’s blasphemy laws in the 1980s, the senseless slaughter of ordinary citizens, vandalism, arson and the destruction of places of worship – all brewed from an alarmingly fascist-religious narrative – have kept occurring with startling frequency. Successive governments, all supposedly secular at heart, have been equally culpable of appeasing, either out of fear or for reasons of political expediency, those who perpetrate such crimes. What is new is that sixty-three years after the emergence of Pakistan, murderers are being extolled for their “valour,” not merely by clerics but also by their brainwashed followers.
Thus Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri has been conferred the title of “ghazi” (holy warrior) for shooting an unarmed man. His victim, Governor Salmaan Taseer, was killed because he had committed the “crime” of opposing the blasphemy laws and had earlier visited and promised help to a poor Christian woman who had been condemned to death by a lower court on flimsy allegations of blasphemy. As a consequence, on Nov 24, 2010, the Aalami Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat declared him an apostate and therefore “wajib-ul-qatl” (deserving of murder). During an address at a rally organised by the Sunni Tehreek that day, Pir Muhammad Afzal Qadri said: “If Arif Iqbal Bhatti, a judge of the Lahore High Court, could be assassinated for acquitting two Christians, government functionaries should not expect to be spared.” Two days later, Law Minister Babar Awan held out the assurance that “no one can change the blasphemy laws.” It was obvious that the government had no intention of standing by Salmaan Taseer.
Within hours of this murder most foul, the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan warned: “No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salmaan Taseer or express any kind of regret or sympathy over the incident.” There was no need for such a warning because those who had drunk from the poisoned chalice of distorted Islamic tenets were already distributing sweets and acclaiming the killer a hero.
On Jan 9, an estimated 50,000 demonstrators in Karachi yelled hysterically that those who criticised the blasphemy laws would meet the same fate as Salmaan Taseer, while the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Syed Munawar Hasan, brazenly declared: “The whole country, all the inhabitants of Pakistan, back Qadri because he has done what people wanted to do regarding a person like Salmaan Taseer.” The JUI chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who the Wikileaks disclosures had solicited US support for his prime ministerial ambitions, told the frenzied mob that Salmaan Taseer “was responsible for his own murder.”
But the religious parties cannot be blamed for strongly condemning blasphemy against Islam, which no Muslim can tolerate, and neither can they be faulted for exercising their right of expressing their views through rallies and demonstrations. What cannot be accepted is murder and violence in any form in the name of religion. Like ink spilt on blotting paper, the stain of extremist ideology has spread rapidly in Pakistan and the clerical community is not exclusively responsible for this. Though the nexus between religion-motivated violence and terrorism is obvious, mainstream political parties have sought the cooperation of banned extremist outfits of southern Punjab to win elections, notably the Sipah-e-Sahaba, which was responsible for the Gojra carnage of July 30, 2009.
In March 2010, the print and electronic media reported that the Punjab law minister, Rana Sanaullah, was seen with the Sipah-e-Sahaba leader, Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, for the purpose of soliciting Ludhianvi’s support for the PML-N candidate in by-elections in southern Punjab. Ludhianvi claimed that all politicians, including those from the PPP, had sought the Sipah’s help in the 2008 elections. He also said that the PPP candidate for the Haroonabad by-election was backed by his outfit and this support had been announced by a Sipah member in the presence of Salmaan Taseer.
Even worse, politicians from supposedly secular parties cannot absolve themselves from the blame of stoking extremist violence. How else can one construe the recent outburst of Interior Minister Rehman Malik that he would personally shoot anyone guilty of blasphemy. This is reminiscent of the police constable who on May 24, 2004, bludgeoned Samuel Masih to death for allegedly spitting on a mosque wall. Barely four years earlier, Justice Nazir Akhtar of the Lahore High Court had issued a statement that blasphemers should be killed on the spot.
It is therefore not surprising that Rehman Malik’s response to the fatwa (decree) by cleric Munir Ahmed Shakir of the Sultan Mosque in Karachi against former PPP information minister Sherry Rehman was to advise her to leave the country. Her “sin,” for which she is under a death threat, was the tabling of a bill in the National Assembly aimed at amending the blasphemy laws.
What has emerged from the recent events is that Ziaul Haq’s blasphemy laws can no longer be amended. After the countrywide strike called by the Tehrik-e-Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (TTNR) on Dec 31, against any such move, the PPP religious affairs minister, Syed Khurshid Shah, declared in the National Assembly that the government has no intention to change the laws. In the Punjab Assembly the PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah described the blasphemy laws as perfect, while the opposition parties staged a token walkout in solidarity with the TTNR. Subsequent to Salmaan Taseer’s assassination, the Khyber-Paktunkhwa Assembly passed a unanimous resolution calling on the government to abort any plans to amend the blasphemy laws, while Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani gave a categorical assurance on Jan 10 that this was not contemplated.
What must be attempted is a return to sanity. There is need to pause and reflect on the actual teachings of Islam. Young Bilawal Bhutto struck the right note when, during a memorial service organised by the Pakistan High Commission in London in honour of Salmaan Taseer, he quoted a saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH): “Beware! If anyone dare oppress a member of a minority or has usurped his or her rights, or tortured, or took away something forcibly, I will fight on behalf of the minority against the Muslim on the Day of Judgement.”
The writer is the publisher of Criterion quarterly. Email: iftimurshed @gmail.com
Sunday, January 16, 2011
S Iftikhar Murshed
Jinnah was wrong when, in a rare outburst of emotion, he triumphantly boasted before students at Aligarh in 1938 that the Muslim League had liberated them from the clutches of the mullahs. He was similarly mistaken nine years later when he declared at the Constituent Assembly on Aug 11, 1947, that the citizens of Pakistan were free to subscribe to any faith they wished, as religion had nothing to do with affairs of state.
He could not have foreseen that the political pygmies who would succeed him would not be able to withstand the relentless onslaught of the religious right. Within six months of his death, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Objectives Resolution, thereby administering a crippling blow to his concept of Pakistan as a modern and progressive state. In one sweep non-Muslims became second-class citizens of a country they loved and did not forsake at the time of Partition. The worst was still to come.
With the introduction of Ziaul Haq’s blasphemy laws in the 1980s, the senseless slaughter of ordinary citizens, vandalism, arson and the destruction of places of worship – all brewed from an alarmingly fascist-religious narrative – have kept occurring with startling frequency. Successive governments, all supposedly secular at heart, have been equally culpable of appeasing, either out of fear or for reasons of political expediency, those who perpetrate such crimes. What is new is that sixty-three years after the emergence of Pakistan, murderers are being extolled for their “valour,” not merely by clerics but also by their brainwashed followers.
Thus Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri has been conferred the title of “ghazi” (holy warrior) for shooting an unarmed man. His victim, Governor Salmaan Taseer, was killed because he had committed the “crime” of opposing the blasphemy laws and had earlier visited and promised help to a poor Christian woman who had been condemned to death by a lower court on flimsy allegations of blasphemy. As a consequence, on Nov 24, 2010, the Aalami Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat declared him an apostate and therefore “wajib-ul-qatl” (deserving of murder). During an address at a rally organised by the Sunni Tehreek that day, Pir Muhammad Afzal Qadri said: “If Arif Iqbal Bhatti, a judge of the Lahore High Court, could be assassinated for acquitting two Christians, government functionaries should not expect to be spared.” Two days later, Law Minister Babar Awan held out the assurance that “no one can change the blasphemy laws.” It was obvious that the government had no intention of standing by Salmaan Taseer.
Within hours of this murder most foul, the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan warned: “No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salmaan Taseer or express any kind of regret or sympathy over the incident.” There was no need for such a warning because those who had drunk from the poisoned chalice of distorted Islamic tenets were already distributing sweets and acclaiming the killer a hero.
On Jan 9, an estimated 50,000 demonstrators in Karachi yelled hysterically that those who criticised the blasphemy laws would meet the same fate as Salmaan Taseer, while the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Syed Munawar Hasan, brazenly declared: “The whole country, all the inhabitants of Pakistan, back Qadri because he has done what people wanted to do regarding a person like Salmaan Taseer.” The JUI chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who the Wikileaks disclosures had solicited US support for his prime ministerial ambitions, told the frenzied mob that Salmaan Taseer “was responsible for his own murder.”
But the religious parties cannot be blamed for strongly condemning blasphemy against Islam, which no Muslim can tolerate, and neither can they be faulted for exercising their right of expressing their views through rallies and demonstrations. What cannot be accepted is murder and violence in any form in the name of religion. Like ink spilt on blotting paper, the stain of extremist ideology has spread rapidly in Pakistan and the clerical community is not exclusively responsible for this. Though the nexus between religion-motivated violence and terrorism is obvious, mainstream political parties have sought the cooperation of banned extremist outfits of southern Punjab to win elections, notably the Sipah-e-Sahaba, which was responsible for the Gojra carnage of July 30, 2009.
In March 2010, the print and electronic media reported that the Punjab law minister, Rana Sanaullah, was seen with the Sipah-e-Sahaba leader, Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, for the purpose of soliciting Ludhianvi’s support for the PML-N candidate in by-elections in southern Punjab. Ludhianvi claimed that all politicians, including those from the PPP, had sought the Sipah’s help in the 2008 elections. He also said that the PPP candidate for the Haroonabad by-election was backed by his outfit and this support had been announced by a Sipah member in the presence of Salmaan Taseer.
Even worse, politicians from supposedly secular parties cannot absolve themselves from the blame of stoking extremist violence. How else can one construe the recent outburst of Interior Minister Rehman Malik that he would personally shoot anyone guilty of blasphemy. This is reminiscent of the police constable who on May 24, 2004, bludgeoned Samuel Masih to death for allegedly spitting on a mosque wall. Barely four years earlier, Justice Nazir Akhtar of the Lahore High Court had issued a statement that blasphemers should be killed on the spot.
It is therefore not surprising that Rehman Malik’s response to the fatwa (decree) by cleric Munir Ahmed Shakir of the Sultan Mosque in Karachi against former PPP information minister Sherry Rehman was to advise her to leave the country. Her “sin,” for which she is under a death threat, was the tabling of a bill in the National Assembly aimed at amending the blasphemy laws.
What has emerged from the recent events is that Ziaul Haq’s blasphemy laws can no longer be amended. After the countrywide strike called by the Tehrik-e-Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat (TTNR) on Dec 31, against any such move, the PPP religious affairs minister, Syed Khurshid Shah, declared in the National Assembly that the government has no intention to change the laws. In the Punjab Assembly the PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah described the blasphemy laws as perfect, while the opposition parties staged a token walkout in solidarity with the TTNR. Subsequent to Salmaan Taseer’s assassination, the Khyber-Paktunkhwa Assembly passed a unanimous resolution calling on the government to abort any plans to amend the blasphemy laws, while Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani gave a categorical assurance on Jan 10 that this was not contemplated.
What must be attempted is a return to sanity. There is need to pause and reflect on the actual teachings of Islam. Young Bilawal Bhutto struck the right note when, during a memorial service organised by the Pakistan High Commission in London in honour of Salmaan Taseer, he quoted a saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH): “Beware! If anyone dare oppress a member of a minority or has usurped his or her rights, or tortured, or took away something forcibly, I will fight on behalf of the minority against the Muslim on the Day of Judgement.”
The writer is the publisher of Criterion quarterly. Email: iftimurshed @gmail.com
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