Same Story Every Time
Raza Habib Raja Once again, a Christian colony has been attacked in Gujranwala and with similar results. Once again the alleged “Insult to Islam” has been used to vent out gutter instincts. Once again it is the ordinary masses who have been involved, putting this theory to dust bin that masses are just trying to meet their ends meet and are hence immune to religious chauvinism. Last time when Joseph colony in Lahore was attacked, some of … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities, Religion
Article of the Day: Leave it to Allah
by Muhammad Shehzad [Excerpts] A new trend was noticeable in the recent sectarian attacks in the country. Earlier, the target was primarily the Asna Ashri Shias(followers of the 12 Imams). Now, however, the scope is widening. The Asna Ashris are a powerful community in Pakistan. Like their Deobandi rivals-whose proteges include the now defunct militant Sipah Sahaba Pakistan and the Lashkar e Jhangvi-the Asna Ashri have the Sipah Mohammad. In the late ‘90s and early 2000, the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, baluchistan, Citizens, History, human rights, Identity, Iran, ISI, Islam, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, minorities, Pakistan
Attack on Christians: The Real Tragedy is Even More Horrifying
Raza Habib Raja What happened in Lahore yesterday has again put our heads to shame. A Christian was accused of insulting Holy Prophet and soon after the mob attacked the Christian colony forcing its inhabitants to flee. Under pressure from the mob, Police had to file charges against the accused man. The communal violence is not new to Pakistan and for that matter South Asia as the history of this entire region is full of incidents. However, … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities, Pakistan, Religion
Are There Any Liberal “Extremists” in Pakistan?
Raza Habib Raja Lately one of the phrases being repeatedly used at the mainstream media is of “liberal extremism”. I have repeatedly heard and read that our society is polarized and both the “extremes” are equally harmful. A few columnists and anchor persons continuously point towards the “dangers” emanating from liberal extremists. Some or the other our media is trying to project itself as striking the vital middling position and professes “miana rawi” or moderation in opinion. This term is no longer just restricted to the media but has also found its way in everyday conversations and drawing room discussions. Well at least semantically a phrase like liberal extremism or liberal fascism can only be termed as an oxymoron. From a philosphical point of view you can not be a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Egalitarian Pakistan, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Opinion
Gaza and Pakistan
Raza Habib Raja As a liberal, I believe we should be consistent across issues. There is absolutely no way can I justify what Israel has done over the years. It has usurped Palestinian land and has indulged in severe human rights violations. Moreover extremely biased support of United States for Israel has enabled it to simply ignore the rest of the world. Let us not forget, that there have been numerous resolutions in … Read entire article »
Filed under: human rights, Islam, minorities, Palestine-israel
CITIZEN RIMSHA, DAUGHTER OF PAKISTAN
By Ghazala Akbar: Last week I attended a funeral, followed by a ‘Mehendi’ (Henna) ceremony. Fortified by a chicken tikka masala, I was also able to sandwich in an episode from the new BBC sit-com, ‘Citizen Khan’. What’s the big deal you might very well ask or the connection? This is all part of the vicious circle of life and death. Well to me it was a big deal. A humongously big deal. Here’s why: The ‘Mehendi’ was held within the precincts of a picturesque old English Church, the bride, a British Asian Pakistani Muslim. The deceased also a Pakistani Muslim was buried in a famous Victorian era graveyard just a few yards away from where Karl Marx, co – author of the Communist Manifesto lies. ‘Religion,’ observed Marx some 160 years … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities
Pakistan’s Black September
Syed Ahmad: More than 40,000 civilians and 5,000 soldiers dead at the hands of religious fanatics leaves every Pakistani guessing – where did we go wrong? Can we point out any single day in our 65 year history which symbolizes our collective decision to surrender to the Mullah? Thirty eight years ago, on 7th of September 1974, the Parliament of Pakistan brazenly stepped into a territory which is the exclusive domain of God. Pakistan’s law-makers adopted a constitutional amendment, which excommunicated the Ahmadiyya community as “not Muslims” for the purposes of law. This was the second amendment to the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan for which Z. A. Bhutto proudly took credit. The truth is that the parliamentary proceedings were a farce. The debate between Ahmadi representatives and the Ulema has been kept hidden from the public eye for the last thirty eight years. If … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities
Rebuttal to Dr. Taqi’s “Balochistan’s Ho Chi Minh Moment”
By Yasser Latif Hamdani It seems that there is a section within Pakistan’s intelligentsia that equates liberalism with unquestioning loyalty to Baloch separatism. In other words it does not matter if you believe in a separation of church and state, equal rights for women and minorities and other things that would be considered the touchstones of liberalism in most countries of the world – if you do not believe in the righteousness of the cause of Baloch nationalism you cannot be considered a liberal. A corollary of this argument is that a true liberal is by definition anti-Pakistan! A true liberal – according to this definition- is necessarily pro-ethno-nationalism and pro-India. Any deviation from this sanctioned liberalism means you are a product of Pakistan Studies. Consider for example the views of Dr. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, baluchistan, Citizens, Colonialism, Constitution, Islamabad, Law, Left, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, liberal Pakistan, Marxism, minorities
Yielding in Front of Extremism
By Adnan Syed I am attaching two links here that movingly touch upon the state of barbarity that is inflicted upon the nation of Pakistan. Please give thirteen minutes of your precious time to the moving words of Member National Aseembly Mrs. Asia Nasir. These words describe the anguish and pain of the very Pakistanis who are being discriminated by the society, as well as by the institutions of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Terror reigns supreme in Pakistan. The righteous ones are hunting and killing everyone who calls for absolute equality of every human inside the boundaries of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And in this environment, this brave lady comes out and unequivocally condemns the barbarity that the religious minorities are facing. She has more guts than the spineless members of parliament … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Justice, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, state, Taliban
Shahbaz Bhatti……. You are a martyr
By Muhammad Amjad Rashid When I was teaching in my school, I heard a loud voice of a dull student behind me in the usual noise of students in the class, “Sir, Another PPP minister killed today”. It is now a days very common for a supporter of PPP to receive humorous and funny comments from any one in the public about PPP (even the supporter is a teacher; he or she can evenly receive comments from his or her students). So I thought that it is just a joke sms statement of the student to disturb my attention from the Mathematics Test. … Read entire article »
Filed under: human rights, minorities
Asiya Bibi- The Water Fetcher
Mother of five and farm worker To earn her bread and ale The old routines to fetch water As await her four angels The empty stomachs To fend off hunger and poverty And yet remains in view With disdain and hatred, The old refusal To the hands and its toil Cannot you serve us? You don’t belong to our clan Cannot you run away? We have our laws, We have our might Follow we will to your place, Burn we will you to death Cannot you escape? We will find you Through the laws, … Read entire article »
Filed under: human rights, minorities
International Burn-a-Quran Day: A Test for Freedom, Tolerance and Responsibility
by Raza Habib Raja Due to the proposed “Burn a Quran Day” by Pastor Terry Jones, Muslim world is once again under scrutiny and for reasons pertaining to their faith and extraordinary reverence they attach to it. However, it is not just the Muslims, but the USA’s democracy and its ideals of freedom of action which are also under the critical microscope. The world has become a strange place and in this environment of deep polarization and mistrust even the action of a previously obscure Pastor can light the fuse. But even more important than the issue of burning are the underlying questions which need to be addressed both by Islamic and the Western World. Some of these questions are deeply philosophical and challenge our current understanding of ideals like freedom of expression and ethnic sensitivity. Some … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islam, Law, minorities
Religious Right in Their Own Words; Apostasy Punishment, Jihad and the Role of Non Muslims in the Land of Infidels
Part 3 By Adnan Syed This series revisits one of the pivotal events of the early Pakistani history; the riots by the religious right wing parties to get Ahmadis declared as non-Muslims, and the subsequent Munir-Kiyani inquiry commission report into the causes behind the riots. The report went on to interview the religious leaders of the newly formed state of Pakistan regarding their motives and their ideas of Pakistan as a pure Islamic state. As the interviews revealed the incongruous replies of various leaders, they also showed vague but chilling ideas that the right wing parties harboured to turn the newly formed Muslim nation into a politically Islam dominated theocratic nation. The interviews reveal the role of democracy, non Muslims, Jihad and punishments like apostasy that would be practiced in an ideal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Constitution, Democracy, History, Identity, India, Islam, Jinnah, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion
Religious Right in Their Own Words; What Constitutes a True Muslim
Part 2 By Adnan Syed This series revisits one of the pivotal events of the early Pakistani history; the riots by the religious right wing parties to get Ahmadis declared as non-Muslims, and the subsequent Munir-Kiyani inquiry commission report into the causes behind the riots. The report went on to interview the religious leaders of the newly formed state of Pakistan regarding their motives and their ideas of Pakistan as a pure Islamic state. As the interviews revealed the incongruous replies of various leaders, they also showed vague but chilling ideas that the right wing parties harboured to turn the newly formed Muslim nation into a politically Islam dominated theocratic nation. The interviews reveal the role of democracy, non Muslims, Jihad and punishments like apostasy that would be practiced in an ideal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islam, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Partition, Punjab, Rights
Daily Times: Nationalism: inclusive versus exclusive — III
Cross Post from Daily Times Published July 13, 2010 By Ishtiaq Ahmed Rather than hate India, we should learn from India. It has five times a greater population, far greater ethnic and linguistic variation and myriads of religious faiths and cults. It is not a democracy in the social sense but it is a sophisticated democracy in the political sense I have presented, mainly, the exclusive model of nationalism and state-nationalism that I have argued emerged in Pakistan, notwithstanding the very bold attempt of Jinnah to supplant it with inclusive nationalism. Exclusive nationalism — whether based on race or religion or some other cultural factor — discriminates, constitutionally, people who do not qualify as members of the community because they do not share the specific cultural ties that have been chosen to define the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Identity, India, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Jinnah, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pakistan, Religion, secular Pakistan
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