Pak Tea House » secular Pakistan
Can an Islamic State be Secular?
Amaar Ahmad has written another thought-provoking and bold post for PTH. His argument and approach needs to be taken seriously if we have to overcome our current predicament and survive as a country. Raza Rumi It can be argued that the minimum definition of a secular state is one that permits all its citizens to freely practice, profess and propagate their religion (or the lack thereof) and it does not enact laws which discriminates in worldly affairs between citizens on the basis of their faith. Can an Islamic state offer a constitution and an environment which meets this description of secularism? If you seek an affirmative answer using the orthodox version of Islam as represented by our conservative politico-religious groups then you are going to be disappointed. But if you analyze … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Islam, Pakistan, secular Pakistan, secularism
Why Pakistan is not a nation
And how it could become one. By Pervez Hoodbhoy Himal South Asia, June 2010 Pakistan has been a state since 1947, but is still not a nation. More precisely, Pakistan is the name of a land and a people inside a certain geographical boundary that is still lacking the crucial components needed for nationhood: a strong common identity, mental make-up, a shared sense of history and common goals. The failure so far to create a cohesive national entity flows from inequalities of wealth and opportunity, absence of effective democracy and a dysfunctional legal system. While it is true that most Punjabis think of themselves as Pakistani first and Punjabi second, this is not the case with the Baloch or Sindhis. Schools in Balochistan refuse to hoist Pakistan’s flag or sing its national anthem. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Identity, Islamism, Pakistan, Partition, secular Pakistan, Society, state
Religious Liberalism – Our Greatest Hope?
A.A Khalid has sent us his exclusive post for PTH. It is quite gratifying to note that PTH is becoming a hub for many of us who want things to improve without using the violent means and indiscriminate jihadist agenda. Raza Rumi Is religious liberalism an oxymoron, or is it something long established? More to the point is there something known as Islamic Liberalism, or Liberal Islam? Surprisingly, there is indeed something, a discourse known as Liberal Islam. And contrary to popular perception it is not a contradiction in terms. Charles Kurzman a Professor in Sociology who deals with Islamic movements asserts there is a tradition with specifically Islamic context known as Liberal Islam (pdf file) . What’s more Liberal Islam is not monolithic it has multiple schools and traditions each … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islam, Religion, secular Pakistan, secularism, Society
Why waste your time with me, after all I am an Ahmadi
It is a shame that a massacre of Ahmadi community by religious fanatics has brought to fore their plight in Pakistan. We firmly believe that any one’s religion is his or her own private matter and the state of Pakistan is absolutely wrong in branding its citizens as Muslims or non Muslims. Based on conversations with many of my Ahmadi friends inside and outside of Pakistan, it seems almost inconceivable that the state and the society can so heartlessly discriminate against a minority sect. Below we are reproducing a touching blog post by Wajahat S. Khan titled “Why waste your time with me; I am an Ahmadi”. For all of our valued readers, we want to make it clear that we are not a theological debating forum. We are about complete seperation of the state … Read entire article »
Filed under: human rights, Identity, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Lahore, minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Religion, secular Pakistan, state, Taliban, Terrorism, violence, World
Our Internal Demons
By Adnan Syed It has been 30 years since Pakistan took the fateful steps of sponsoring the Jihad on a state level. The fight against the Russian aggression in Afghanistan was probably justified. It was a blatant attack on a sovereign nation by a teetering super power. However when Pakistan went on to label the fight as a state sponsored Jihad, flock of die hard Islamists started congregating in Pakistan to fight the godless communists. This was precisely the turning point in Pakistani history when all the internal confusion of Pakistan’s relationship with Islam translated into a thoughtless action by the state that still haunts us to this day. We can blame General Zia-ul-Haq or Jamaat-e-Islami, or our dreaded indescribable “establishment” for pointing out the path of state sponsored armed Jihad. General … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Benazir Bhutto, Constitution, Democracy, FATA, Islamabad, Jinnah, Justice, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, psychology, Religion, secular Pakistan, state, strategy, Taliban, Terrorism
Pakistan: Clear and present danger
Raza Rumi If the parliament and judiciary want to continue exercising their newfound powers, they have no option but to act strictly within the framework of the Pakistani Constitution Pakistan is a surreal country. Only here we have long, protracted struggles for democracy and only here we are almost always ready to scuttle democracy. Perhaps Iskander Mirza was not all too wrong while making the assessment that democracy does not suit the genius of our people. An added qualification is that it does not suit the genius of the elites, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Constitution, human rights, Judiciary, Justice, Law, lawyers movement, Media, minorities, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, Rights, secular Pakistan, Society, state
SHAME: "Progressive" 18th Amendment Ends Forever The Possibility Of A Non-Muslim Prime Minister!
By Yasser Latif Hamdani I know the self styled “progressives” hate it when I bring up Pakistan’s founding father but here I am forced to do so again: Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. - Mahomed Ali Jinnah, The Founder of Pakistan Sadly - Modern Pakistan is one of those states Jinnah warned against! If we started with this fundamental principle, well we have been moving backwards for over … Read entire article »
Filed under: Constitution, Democracy, Pakistan, People's Pakistan, Religion, secular Pakistan, Yusuf Raza Gillani
Jinnah Was The Most Secular Statesman Produced By The Muslim World
By Yasser Latif Hamdani It is amazing that given the confusion created about the word “secular” in Pakistan by both the right and the left has so thoroughly disoriented the thought process of our intelligentisia, especially that which is christened by the state, that it has failed to capitalize on the fact that Pakistan’s founding father was not just unambiguously secular but was the most secular statesman in the history of the greater Muslim world, even … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan, secular Pakistan
Reversing history
By Ahmad Faruqui Dawn, Monday, 01 Feb, 2010 Leszek Kolakowski, the Polish-born Oxford philosopher who passed away last year, left behind a striking insight: “We learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are.” This is a message of tough love for countries such as Pakistan to whom history has not been kind. Admittedly, Pakistan’s rulers are in good company. Like France’s Bourbons and Britain’s Windsors, they have “forgotten nothing and learned nothing”. But this serious cognitive weakness did not prevent France and Britain from attaining greatness. So there are grounds for hope. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Democracy, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, secular Pakistan
Morality and Atheism
By Irfan Hussain Consider this demographic projection for the UK, and ponder its implications for a moment: within five years, the majority of babies will be born to unmarried parents. However, before you put this down to yet another example of Western immorality, just remember that all these babies will have the same legal rights as those born to married couples. This trend is part of the wider decline of marriage as an institution. According to a recent study, the figures for people getting married in Britain is at its lowest ever since these statistics began to be compiled nearly 150 years ago. In 2008, only 21.8 per thousand adult men of marriageable age actually took the vow. At 19.6, the figure for women was even lower. And the average age for men getting … Read entire article »
Filed under: Europe, Islam, Religion, secular Pakistan, Society, World
Is Article 227 indispensable?
By Naeem Sadiq The News, January 28, 2010 If the Taliban were to come to power in Pakistan (which is what their struggle is all about), what would they do to the Constitution? The answer is: they would retain Article 227 and discard the rest of the Constitution. This single article of the Constitution would be sufficient for them to run the country. Their interpretation of this Article would be: “All laws to be brought in conformity with the injunctions of Islam – as perceived by the Taliban.” They could arguably use the article to make laws to kill a barber for a haircut, bomb a school if it was attended by females, gouge the eyes of those who watched television, lash people for wearing shorts and cut off hands for theft, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islamism, Justice, Law, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, liberal Pakistan, minorities, Pakistan, Parliament, Religion, Rights, secular Pakistan, secularism, state, Taliban
Attention Madam Speaker Of The National Assembly Of Pakistan
I received this email and an appended letter to the honorable Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Dr. Fahmida Mirza. This is not being posted here for sectarian debate or any other kind of debate but for right of information- any attempts at introducing a theological debate on the issue shall be subject to automatic deletion. Surely the geniuses who believe that the second amendment to the constitution was justified should not have any problem bringing to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Liberal Democratic Pakistan, liberal Pakistan, minorities, Parliament, People's Pakistan, secular Pakistan
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