Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "extremism"
In a perpetual state of mourning
By Saad Hafiz: Tens of thousands of people have been killed in extremist violence in Pakistan since the late 1980s. The country has earned a reputation for being a hotbed of extremism and violence. The latest atrocity is the bomb blasts in Quetta targeting the Shia minority, which killed and injured over 200 people. The self-contained killing machines of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) and their acolytes are operating at full capacity and with total impunity, butchering vulnerable communities at will. The Islamic Republic has clearly failed in its primary responsibility to protect the people, particularly the minorities and the weak from the extremist threat. James Madison aptly described this responsibility: “It is of great importance for a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy
Confronting extremism
By Saad Hafiz: US Senator Robert F Kennedy once wrote, “What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.” Contemporary extremists, motivated by a religious imperative, have engaged in more hate speak against a far wider category of opponents, encompassing not merely their declared enemies but anyone who does not share their religious faith, and even persons who are of the same faith but who do not share their extreme political views and theological constructs. The dissemination of personalised hate messages is being assisted by the omnipresence and timeliness of the Internet, which can easily circumvent official censorship. Inflammatory messages can be circulated anonymously, quickly, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Terrorism
Are Liberals to blame for Pakistan’s Extremism?
Kashif. N. Chaudary Imran Khan is Pakistan’s sports superstar. His philanthropy is also admirable. This, however, does not mean I should not exercise my right to criticize Khan’s politics. Sadly,Imran Khan’s followers do not take criticism all that well. Anyone who calls him Taliban Khan is quickly ascribed a set of views and labeled a “pseudo-liberal” and “fascist”. In a recent interview, Imran Khan said he believed in engaging the far right and justified being represented at rallies of extremist groups by stating that his was a political party that believed in engaging marginalized groups. Will Imran Khan also engage the ostracized Ahmadi Muslims, Hindus and Christians of Pakistan? Or is his engagement limited to those that preach and execute their killings? Imran Khan has been represented at rallies organized by banned terrorist … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Extremism is getting embedded in the medical profession
By Abdul Majeed: Science is supposed to inculcate rational thinking among its practitioners. The whole scientific methodology relies on definitive evidence and not just myths or fable. Paradoxically, in case of religious extremism, it has been observed that students of science have been actively involved in acts of terrorism and their scientific education failed to change their narrow-mindedness and bigotry. Research by Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog has shown that engineers are more susceptible to join Islamic Radical groups than other people. Similar data is not available about Doctors. However, based on information about the terrorist networks and terrorists themselves it is not difficult to find doctors in prominent roles. Most famous and perhaps dangerous is Dr Ayman-az-Zawahiri, a pediatrician from Egypt believed to be the second-in-command of Al Qaeda and the chief … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Aaloo-eating zionists – Pakistan’s youth reacts to daily doses of ghairat and lies
By Saadia Gardezi The latest music video to go viral in the Pakistani blogosphere, Aaloo Andey by Beyghairat Brigade, says most of what those on the centre and left are thinking. The Pakistani virtualverse has been twittering about the satire since it came out. However there has also been some verbal violence against the views expressed in the song, characteristic of the Pakistan we live in… what for one man thinks is xenophobic nationalism, for another is just … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Humor, liberal Pakistan, Music
Myth and reality of extremism
Pakistan needs to undertake research on militancy for effective policymaking By Raza Rumi: A recent attempt to understand militancy, “Poverty and Support for Militant Politics: Evidence from Pakistan” (Graeme Blair, C. Christine Fair, Neil Malhotra, Jacob N. Shapiro, 2011), provides us fresh insights into the phenomenon or myth of popular support for militant extremism in Pakistan. Using a sample of urban and rural population and employing inventive techniques, this research is an important document if only Pakistan’s policymakers would ever pay attention to the little evidence that is generated with respect to militancy. It is a sad state of affairs that our national policy institutes and ‘think-tanks’ are yet to undertake such studies even when the state and its agencies have been brutally attacked and over 35,000 Pakistanis have died due to … Read entire article »
Schools cross extremism out of textbooks
By Ashfaq Yusufzai Turn schools into hate-free zones, and achieving peace in violence-wracked Pakistan may not be far behind. This, says Fazal Rahim Marwat, chairman of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board, is the thinking behind current efforts to weed out what he calls hate material used in school curricula that helps fan the flames of religious extremism in this South Asian country. (891 Words) - A poster published by the textbook board and pasted in schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Photo: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS For years, says Marwat, Pakistan’s educational institutions have been unwitting tools in the spread of militancy in this mainly Muslim country. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Education
Shahbaz Bhatti’s murder: Capitulation, once again
By Raza Rumi Shahbaz Bhatti’s brutal assassination indicates that Pakistani state has to battle with a compounding existentialist crisis. As if Bhatti’s murder was not a shameful indictment of the state of security for a sitting minister, the muted response of the country’s civilian leadership reminds us of the near impossibility of governing a dysfunctional state and a fractured polity. The federal cabinet meeting, which late Shahbaz Bhatti (SB) was supposed to attend on the fateful morning of March 2, continued on schedule, which came as a surprise given the gruesome murder of a fellow colleague, a federal minister in the heart of a barricaded capital. Furthermore, a mere two minutes of silence were observed in parliament as a mark of respect for SB during which time, 3 representatives of the JUI-F … Read entire article »
“Appeasement of extremism is a policy that will have its blow-back”
By Raza Habib Raja Recently the PPP government has decided to retract the Anti Blasphemy amendment bill thus signalling a retreat. The major reason for that is to appease the militants who after the assassination of Salman Taseer have become even more brazen in their behaviour. However even before this retraction, the federal government had completely mismanaged the aftermaths of the assassination and failed to use it to their advantage for cultivating some sort of collective opinion against Islamic radicals. Whenever a horrific act of terror, particularly an assassination takes place, in a strange way it also presents an opportunity to create awareness about the dangers of radical Islam. Compared to a suicide bombing targeting ordinary people, assassination of a liberal political figure is often easier to pin down on religious forces. Moreover, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Walking on the Egg Shells
Fayyaz Ahmed Mughal Extremism is commonly an ideology or act violating the political centre of a society or more simply violation of common moral standards set by a group of people. But the term could not be cramped to a single line only; it varies from people to people, state to state and ideologies to ideologies. For a multicast, multi-cultural, multi-sect and multi-class society, the meaning of extremism can not be confined to a specific group or limited people. We are such a multi-facial society where every group, individual or character is inclined towards extremism in one way or the other. We are fundamentalists in our beliefs, thoughts, actions and even relations. Our minds are authoritative and our souls are polluted. We must confess that we are all fundamentalists. Everyone among … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
2010: A roller coaster year
Raza Rumi Nearly three years after the restoration of civilian rule, the most pertinent question would be the fate of Pakistan’s democratisation and how far has it progressed. There can be no simple answers to this question given that Pakistan is in the midst of a war next door and battling against homegrown extremists. The conflict and 2010’s natural disaster in the shape of floods have adversely impacted the economy. Whilst the passage of 18th and 19th Amendment to the much mutilated Constitution have heralded political reforms, sadly, a comprehensive institutional reform agenda is nowhere in sight. At the end of 2010, we find ourselves facing the prospect of political instability due to a weak and opportunistic coalition and unresolved issues of civil-military imbalance. Democratisation scuttled?: The year started with increased pressure by … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Pakistan, public policy
Religious Right in Their Own Words; the Concept of an Islamic State
Part 1 By Adnan Syed This two part 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 political- 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, Islam, Islamism, Jinnah, Judiciary, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion
Pakistan's disaster could lead to a systemic collapse
Raza Rumi The colossal humanitarian tragedy and the imminent economic meltdown, will now shape a new Pakistan or rather, exacerbate its predicament in the months and years to come. Pakistan’s chronic political instability, structural economic constraints and a warped national security policy are all going to be affected by the unfolding drama of the national disaster, perhaps the severest, in the country’s history. Whilst the challenges have snowballed within a short duration of ten days, the … Read entire article »
Filed under: baluchistan, Pakistan, strategy, Terrorism, violence, Zardari
What Constitutes a Stable Society?
By Adnan Syed Pakistan is passing through a vicious negative feedback loop that is beginning to gather momentum. The vicious circle is a result of country’s inability to provide for the basic individual rights of its citizens. Combine that with a burgeoning population, and the rampant nationalist tensions within the society that have been suppressed in the name of religious identity, Pakistan is staring at a nightmarish scenario in the coming decade. Pakistan needs to realize that the existential threat is coming from the failure of its society and not due to the external influences that consume majority of the resources of our nation. Unless we start spending on providing for the four basic rights to our citizens, the chaos will just feed on itself in the years to come. This is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, human rights, Identity, India, Islamabad, Islamism, musings, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion, Rights, violence
REFLECTIONS POST-MAY 28
An exclusive post by Aamenah Yusafzai for PTH The recent attacks on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore demonstrate the urgent need to strengthen the rights of Pakistani minorities. Pakistan is not a country inhabited by Muslims only, or even Sunni Muslims. This is represented by the green and white of the Pakistani flag, a fact often taken for granted. The three quarter green represents the majority Muslim population, while the one quarter white represents non-Muslim minorities. The preamble to the Constitution provides that provisions be made for “minorities freely to profess and practice their religion and develop their cultures.” Furthermore, it provides for guarantees to “fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism
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