Picture of an earlier New York Protest against Shia Genocide

Protest Against Atrocities in Pakistan:  Sat, April 14, 2012, 11:00AM in front of Embassy of Pakistan, Washington D.C

Oh martyrs of Chilaas, at your service we stand,

Although your blood was shed upon our homelands,

Your cries and pleas are loud, your legacy now in our hands

Your voices they muffle and mute,

We hear your heartbeats as we arise to salute,

Buses burnt alight, throats slashed, eyes removed from sight

Media blockade, your mobiles silenced your screams stolen,

Hopes have been murdered and your dreams fallen,

Do not cry oh little one, wipe away your tears my dear mother.

For snatched away were your sons, fathers and dear brother,

In their place will rise and stand elite in your support thousands more,

Your names raised upon banners high, written amongst Al-Hussain and names so pure,

Oh sons of Yezid, how you gloat today, that victory is yours.

Anxious for your arrival are scorching red hot hells’ hungry boars,

The blood you shed has now transcend its’ perfume deep into our veins

Hazarath Fatima upon Chilaas today shares her pains.

Announce to the world the calls and cries of Chillaas.

For today is blood red, Gilgit’s green grass,

The bodies fell today, tomorrow justice shall see,

The reign of the awaited one, upon this earth, raising the flag of the free.

By Zahra Tabasum

USA

When a woman hits another woman, in normal cases it’s an assault. If there are many witnesses, good, the assailant gets punished quickly. Open and Shut case, we move on. But Pakistan doesn’t do normal; even our assaults have deeper meanings and ramifications behind them.

The Act
When the, now MPA, Waheeda Shah slapped an on duty election official. This was uncalled for, even if the official had herself placed ballots right in front of the candidate. Violence is never acceptable. What makes the situation worse is that only reason Ms. Shah did slap the officials is because she has this sense of entitlement. As she belongs to a higher caste, being more socially higher and is much more affluent, she felt she can slap her lesser. This is not new or radical and happens almost regularly. What was different is that whole incident was caught in camera and televised throughout.
As always, the very elite who batter their lesser on daily basis woke up as horrified as to what they were seeing. Much like when you see yourself on the video taken by someone else, is that how I look? Only that no one here seems to recognise themselves and have started to prepare a pyre to burn that witch.
Some members of Sindh found it unbearable to sit with such a woman. Oddly no one found it unbearable when the then CM Arbab Rahim slapped people, with same contempt and sense of entitlement.
There is an immediate need to bring about a change in attitudes of the more affluent to treat others with respect. There is very little of this in our society.

The Win

Waheeda Shah was running on a general seat. She eventually won her election, making her only the second woman to win on the general seat in the Sindh Parliament. An important milestone for woman of Sindh, one might say, yet ironically this is a woman who has beaten another weaker woman in public, just because she could!
The Suo Moto
Influenced not at all by media rampant reporting and any personal grievances, the Chief Justice of Pakistan promulgated a Suo Moto action against the now elected MPA. Everytime a Suo-moto is taken by the highest court in such a fashion, the due process is severely affected. Trying to explain such intermediation, in the while where there was already an FIR lodged; CJP stated that to him this incident was worse than cold-blooded killing of a boy by a trigger happy Ranger official. Perhaps he meant the underlying social issues that lurk within the slap, but he made no mention of them. He did mention that this showed inadequacy of the Election Commission to provide full security and showed lack of security to public official, though Suo-Moto was taken on this one incident and not on other incidents of shootings that also occurred in Punjab. No wait, sorry I forgot slapping is more harmful than guns. Suo-Moto wasn’t also on overall lack of security provided by EC, with all the incidents that happened that day. It was for that one slap, by a PPP MPA. Incidentally no Suo-Motos for the killings of many Shias.
A better way may have been to advice a session court judge and Sindh IGP to direct the investigations to ensure no influence is done. It is not a perfect scenario, but if the CJP wants there to be a structural change then he should at least let law run its course, for once.

The Apology and the Forgiveness
When Waheeda Shah was shown the video of her actions, she apologised for it. She also sought apology from the Chief Justice at the Suo moto hearing. This did not end the case, and the hearing was said to continue for next date.
Subsequently the official who was slapped by the Waheeda Shah came out with a statement, saying she forgives her assailant after former had apologised. After this the Election Commission decided to close the case. Similarly the FIR too would now be in jeopardy. Similar to case of Raymond Davis, being freed after family of his victims forgave him. Oddly enough while following the Islamic injunctions, Waheeda Shah would have no case against her, but the Suo Moto is not based on any Islamic injunctions but has an underpinning in the common law. These proceedings can still continue, as they are independent of the victim’s right to seek redress. This is odd because Islamic provisions in this case allow the MPA to go free, yet the SC court that has expressed high regard for ensuring and introducing Islamic law and principles, would be using common law to redress the situation, to come to a conclusion as they see fit.
As I said, it’s not a normal assault – we don’t do normal.

ہمارے ممدوح ڈاکٹر بلا بڑے پائے کے دانشور ہیں اور جو کہتے اور لکھتے ہیں ایسا ہوتا ہے کہ دل جھومنے لگتا ہے اور روح کانپنے لگتی ہے، وہ اس لیے کہ دل تو بچہ ہے جی مگر روح کو تو روز محشر نزدیک نظر آتا ہے. ان کے دل میں قوم کا جو درد ہے وہ اکثر ابل پڑتا ہے ویسے ہی جیسے ہمارے آپ کے گھروں میں کچھ اور ابل پڑتا ہے، جب یہ درد ابلتا ہے تو دانش اور فکر کے ایسے ایسے موتی بکھر جاتے ہیں کہ ہم ایسے کم عقل تو عش عش کرتے اپنی انگلیاں چبا ڈالتے ہیں، ہم نے تو اب یہ طریقہ نکالا ہے کہ ڈاکٹر بلا کا تازہ کالم پڑھنے سے پہلے ہی انگلیوں پر پٹیاں چڑھا لیتے ہیں تاکہ بے خودی اور جوش میں چبا ڈالیں تو زخم نہ پڑیں، ڈاکٹر صاحب تو ہر ہفتے کالم لکھ دیتے ہیں، اتنی جلدی زخم تھوڑی صحیح ہو جاتے ہیں، اب ڈاکٹر صاحب سے درخواست تو کی نہیں جا سکتی کہ

زخم کے بھرنے تلک کالم نہ چھپوائیں گے کیا

ویسے کہتے یہ ہیں کہ زوال کی ایک نشانی یہ بھی ہے کہ مفکر علم و فکر سے دور اور خوش فہمی سے نزدیک ہو جاتے ہیں، یعنی نام کے مفکر رہ جاتے ہیں، اب دیکھیں ڈاکٹر بلا کل ہی کیا دور کی کوڑی لائے ہیں یعنی روحانی جمہوریت، کہتے ہیں کہ وطن عزیز کے تمام مصائب کا حل روحانی جمہوریت کے نفاز میں ہے اور یہی وہ جمہوریت ہے کہ جس کا خواب علامہ اقبال مرحوم و مغفور نے دیکھا تھا. یہ تو خیر ایک فیشن ہو گیا ہے کہ تمام کٹھ ملا اور بناسپتی دانشور حضرت اقبال کو اپنی فکری خوش فہمیوں کے اندراج کے لئے استعمال کرتے ہیں، شاعر کی خوش قسمتی اور شعر کی بد قسمتی ہوتی ہے کہ اسے جو جیسا سمجھے ویسے بیان کرتا ہے. یہاں تک کہ سہل ممتنع میں کہے گئے شعر کی بھی مٹی پلید کی جا سکتی ہے، مثلآ

جگر کی چوٹ اوپر سے کہیں معلوم ہوتی ہے
جگر کی چوٹ اوپر سے نہیں معلوم ہوتی ہے

ہمارے پیارے دوست مجید اس کی تشریح یوں کرتے ہیں کہ جگر کے سروسس کا علاج پیٹ چاک کے بغیر یعنی آپریشن کے بغیر ممکن نہیں. خدا جانے ڈاکٹر حضرات کی کیا راءے ہوگی اس سلسلے میں, اس سے مجید کو کوئی غرض نہیں. اسی طرح لگتا ہے کہ ڈاکٹر بلا کو بھی کوئی غرض نہیں کہ ان کے فرمودات کو شگوفہ سمجھ کر قہقہے لگیں ، ہمارے ہاں کسی بھی اوبڑ کھابڑ اور در حقیقت مضحکہ خیز بات کو قبولیت اور سند دلوانے کا طریقہ یہ ہے کہ ایسے خیال کو تقدیس کا جامہ پہنا دیا جائے اور احترام کے لفافے میں ملفوف کر دیا جائے. اس کے بعد کچھ کرنے کی ضرورت ہی نہیں، ہمارے جذباتی اور حسّاس لوگ خود ہی قاضی بن جاتے ہیں اور فیصلہ  بھی دے ڈالتے ہیں، پھر کس میں ہمت ہے کہ کچھ کہہ سکے،  ڈاکٹر بلا جیسے لوگ اس ذہنیت سے فایدہ اٹھانا خوب اچھی طرح جانتے ہیں اور رہے وہ جو منطق اور مقصد کے پھیر میں پڑتے ہیں ان کے لئے زیادہ ضروری ہے کہ جان بچانے کا بندوبست کریں

جس کو ہو جان و دل عزیز بلا کی گلی میں جائے کیوں

ویسے ہم کو روحانی جمہوریت کے خیال نے خود اپنے رخش خیال کو آزاد چھوڑ دینے پر اکسایا ہے اور محشر خیال میں کیا کیا نقشہ کھینچ لیا ہے ، یہ تو سمجھ نہیں آتا کہ روحانی جمہوریت میں حاکم کیسے منتخب ہونگے اور کیا طریقہ ہوگا مگر فرض کریں کہ ایسے روشن ضمیر اور بے مثال افراد مل گئے اور ان پر اس ملت کا اجماع بھی ہو گیا جو سر پٹھول کا کوئی موقع نہیں کھوتی، تو جو حکومت بنے گی اس کو کسی اسمبلی کی ضرورت نہیں ہوگی، کیوں کہ جملہ ذمّہ داران روحانی روابط رکھیں گے اور عوام کو کوئی غرض ہی نہیں ہوگی کہ  کاروائی سے اگاہ ہوں، خدا بھلا کرے منجملہ صحافی حضرات جو آج اسمبلیوں کی کروائی اور دیگر حکومتی اقدامات پر کام کرتے ہیں، سب کے سب سبکدوش ہو کر خانقاہوں اور مزاروں پر جاروب کش بن جائیں گے، آج ہماری عقلوں پر جھاڑو پھرتے ہیں کل سچ مچ جھاڑو ہاتھ میں ہوگی. اسی طرح ایوان صدر، ایوان وزیراعظم اور دیگر رہائشی سہولیات کی ضرورت نہیں رہے گی کہ سب اپنی اپنی خانقاہوں میں رہیں گے وہیں سے راج پاٹ کی ذمّہ داری سنبھالیں گے اور قوم کا پیسا بچے گا ساتھ ہی ساتھ کئی فکر مند اس فکر سے نجات پائیں گے کہ کہاں کتنا خرچ ہو رہا ہے. آج جو وی آئ پی آمدورفت پر حفاظت اور دیگر اقدامات کے جاتے ہیں ان کی ضرورت نہیں رہے گی کیونکہ جملہ صاحبان اقدار ٹیلی پیتھی سے کام لے کر بیٹھے بیٹھے دنیا گھومیں گے، چلیں جی بڑے بڑے ٹریفک جیم سے عوام کی جان چھوٹے گی. اور تو اور کوئی میمو سکینڈل بھی نہیں بن سکے گا کیونکہ یہ خطرہ ہی نہیں رہے گا کہ کوئی خود غرض دھوکے باز حالات سے فایدہ اٹھائے، جو صاحب چاہیں گے امریکی صدر کی بارگاہ میں بیٹھے بیٹھے جا پنہچیں گے اور اپنی غرض کو عرض کر کے واپس آ جائیں گے، بلیک بیری سے ڈیٹا نکالنے کی کوشش فضول ثابت ہوگی. عامل اور سنیاسی جیسے ہمارے محبوب بنگالی باوا مشیروں کا درجہ پائیں گے. اگر کوئی افسر باوردی یا بغیر وردی حکومت کو الٹنے کی کوشش کرے گا تو خود سر کے بل لٹکا دیا جائے گا. ہاں اگر افسر صاحب خود روحانیات کے ماہر نکلے تو پھر کچھ نہیں کہا جا سکتا، ہو سکتا ہے کمیشن کے کورس میں روحانیت کا اضافہ کر دیا جائے

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غرض یہ کہ ہماری سمجھ میں تو روحانی جمہوریت نہیں آتی جس طرح ڈاکٹر بلا کی سمجھ میں سیدھی سادھی جمہوریت نہیں آتی. ہمارے ہاں جس قدر تیزی سے اقدار اور حالات زوال پذیر ہیں اسی تیزی سے نت نئی اصطلاحات کا استعمال ہو رہا ہے، یعنی در حقیقت کچھ بھی نہیں ہو رہا ہے. جیسا کہ لفظ شفاف، بھائی جہاں شفاف استعمال نہیں ہوتا وہاں بھی انتخابات شفاف ہو سکتے ہیں اور ہوتے ہیں تو آپ اپنے طریقے صحیح کریں بجائے اس کے کہ نئے نئے لفظوں کے پھیر میں پڑ کر لوگوں کو الو بناتے رہیں. جس جمہوریت سے ڈاکٹر بلا جیسے لوگ نالاں ہیں وہ تو کبھی اس ملک کے لوگوں نے دیکھی ہی نہیں، جمہوریت عوام کی حاکمیت ہے، ہمارے ہاں کب عوام کو یہ درجہ ملا جو آپ جمہوریت سے اس قدر ناراض ہیں ؟ دنیا میں جہاں بھی جمہوریت ہے آپ اس سے جس قدر متنفر ہوں حقیقت یہ ہے کہ وہاں عوام کو جو تحفظ حاصل ہے اس کا خواب بھی ہماری آنکھوں سے نہیں گزر سکتا. بات یہ ہے کہ ہم ہمیشہ صرف ایک جہت میں سوچنے پر مجبور کیے جاتے ہیں حالانکہ دنیا میں ترقی  یا تبدیلی یک جہتی نہیں ہو سکتی، اور جمہوریت محض ایک جہت ہے، تعلیم اور صحت کی سہولتوں کی فراہمی، جاگیر داری کا خاتمہ، ملایت اور پیری فقیری سے نجات، برادری اور ذات پات پر مبنی تعصبات کا خاتمہ، قبائلی نظام کی بالا دستی کا خاتمہ، دیہی پاکستان کی ترقی، صنعتوں میں اضافہ، زرعی ترقی، انسانی حقوق کا تحفظ ، عورتوں اور دیگر پسماندہ طبقات کی بحالی،   اور بہت کچھ ہے جو کہ ترقی کے لئے ضروری ہے، آدھے سے زیادہ پاکستان تو ڈنڈے کے زور پر چل رہا ہے اور ہم جمہوریت سے نالاں ہیں، ابھی سورج طلوع نہیں ہوا اور آپ سویرے سے خوف زدہ ہیں، کیا منطق ہے

جو چاہے آپ کا ذہن کرشمہ ساز کرے

بات یہ ہے کہ آج کی دنیا جتنی ترّقی یافتہ ہے اور دنیا کی آبادی کی اکثریت کو جو سہولتیں آج حاصل ہیں وہ پہلے کبھی نہیں تھیں، عام آدمی کی اوسط عمر میں اضافہ ہو رہا ہے کمی نہیں، تعلیم پھیل رہی ہے ختم نہیں ہو رہی، سہولتیں بڑھ رہی ہیں، آمدورفت کے ذریعے بہتر ہو رہے ہیں، صحت سے متعلق سہولتیں بھی بہتر ہو رہی ہیں، مگر اس کا مطلب یہ بھی نہیں کہ سب کچھ اچھا ہے، جی نہیں انسانی معاشرے کی پیچیدگی میں بھی اضافہ ہوا ہے، آبادی پھیلی ہے تو  ذرایع کے حصول میں مشکلات بڑھ رہی ہیں اور ساتھ ہی ساتھ کشمکش بھی، انسان انسان کے استحصال سے آج بھی فایدہ اٹھا رہا ہے، یہ سب انسانی جدوجہد کا حصّہ ہے مگر اس کا یہ مطلب ہرگز نہیں کہ ہم جو حاصل کر چکے ہیں اس سے دست بردار ہو جائیں، ہم کو آگے بڑھنا ہے واپس نہیں جانا. بے معنی خیالات اور نظریات در اصل ان طبقات کا ہتھیار ہیں جو ترقی کی جنگ میں اپنی قوّت اور اقتدار سے محروم ہو رہے ہیں اسی لئے سب سے زیادہ شور مچاتے ہیں اور چاہتے ہیں کہ لوگ منتشر رہیں، عام آدمی ایک دوسرے کے پیچھے لگا رہے اور ترقی پسند خیال اس کی سوچ کا حصّہ نہ بن سکیں. یہ لوگ تقلید پر زور دیتے ہیں اور تنقید سے خوف کھاتے ہیں، اس لئے روحانیت اور تقدس کا جامہ ان کو خوب زیب دیتا ہے.

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari at Flood Relief Camp while distributing aid to the victims of flood

Mother Teresa once said, “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity”. Many people come and go but only those are remembered who dedicate their lives for serving humanity. The meaning of serving humanity in these materialistic days can only be understood by those who are helpless and needy. All religions of the world teach not to harm others and to share problems with each other and to try to solve them collectively. Basically all religions teach their followers to do good deeds. Human difficulties, problems, natural disasters, accidents, diseases have been striking from the beginning of the human race. Despite great many advancements and inventions in the fields of science and technology, human is still at the mercy of natural forces. He is always in need to solve his problems.

As we know Pakistan is facing worst kind of flood disaster in history. Rains have devastated large parts of Southern Pakistan. About eight million people have been affected losing their homes, households, grains, crops and livestock. Worst affected districts are Badin, Umer Kot, Benazirabad, Khairpur, Jamshuru and Tharparker. Badin’s more than 90% area is underwater. About 4.5 million acres of crops have destroyed, more than 60,000 livestock have missing or died, 1200 houses are damaged and 60,000 houses have been completely destroyed. Hundreds of mothers have lost their children and great many have lost source of income for the whole family. We also witnessed similar kind of destruction in 2010.

Having seen this terrible condition of flood affected people, many kind hearted people came forward to help. The name of Bakhtawar Bhutto is one of them. Who is Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and what does she want? The answer is very simple. She is the elder daughter of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto who always raised her voice for the poor and the helpless people. She gave her energies for the rights of the masses, and even scarified her life in this mission. Bakhtawar Bhutto has inherited the passion of serving the people from her mother. Following the footsteps of her mother, Bakhtawar Bhutto started with social services even during her educational period. She’s a very active social worker involved in humanitarian and relief activities at both national and international levels.

Last year when Pakistan was suffering with worst floods disaster was like no other in living memory and Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari’s response was remarkable. The floods have affected 20 million people an 1/5 of the country. Like everyone, she also worried and decided to help her countrymen during the critical juncture. She launched an NGO with the name “Save the Flood and Disaster Victims Organization” (SFDVO). Given the efforts and difficulties of running an NGO in our country, it was a great step. Only people with sincere commitment and passion to serve people can carry such mission and Bakhtawar Bhutto is one of them. Inheriting the passion, she is following the great tradition of her brave mother, grandfather and father.

Save the Flood and Disaster Victims Organization’s (SFDVO) basic purpose is to assertively network to ensure fundraising for flood victims. It aims to pull the affected people out of disastrous situation and to make their lives better so they can live on their own. SFDVO has taken many steps to provide help to flood victims. Until now, the collected funds are distributed over 50,000 families across the country. About 200 houses were built in Shahadkot in September 2011. In August, 200 sewing machines were distributed among widows. In December 2010, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari visited camps in Karachi, Larkana and Nauderu and announced 10,000 blankets to affected people as well as 3 water filter pumps. Each pump will be able to deliver 50,000 gallons on a daily basis to the affected area. Besides that, food which included milk, rice, flour etc., readymade clothes for women, men and children, medicines, and clean water have been distributed among flood affected areas in all provinces. 12 trucks of food items were distributed among Larkana’s affected people. Special relief packages for women have also been prepared by SFDVO. These packages are specially arranged for pregnant women to cater to their special needs. This organization has also prepared special relief packages for children, which mainly consist of ready-to-eat snacks, milk and vitamins enriched edibles. And the efforts are still on.

“Save the Flood Victims Fund” was launched on 10th August 2010 and managed to collect over Rs. 100 million at start. This NGO also has the credit that Bakhtawar managed to collect Rs 112.2 million in just four days. To ensure the transparent distribution of funds, its website enlists detailed measures for transparency. It will ensure that money from donors is used in the right way, at the right time and in a totally transparent manner.

It was just a short summary of Save the Flood and Disaster Victims Organization’s aims and activities. It’s highly remarkable that in short time SFDVO has achieved so much with hard work and honesty. We believe that Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari will complete her mission of serving people. Soon she will be known at home and abroad to take a leading role on social services and will create a positive image of Pakistan around the world.

Funds for Save the Flood and Disaster Victims Organization can be deposited on Account Number 168901003437. Zip Code, UNILPKKA UBL SEA VIEW BRANCH KARACHI.

The writer is an advocate and can be reached at shaizicheema@hotmail.com. She tweets at http://twitter.com/#!/ShaiziCheema

List of Ahmedi muslim students recently expelled

Dedicated to the students
Those who arrived at the gates of the officials
Petitioning with open arms for pen and paper.
But never came back.
Those innocents who, in their idealism,
took the fire of dedicated learning in their young hearts
and reached where
Were being promiscuously distributed the shadows of endless nights. (Faiz translated by Raza Rumi)

“No they are Kafirs” was my Islamiat teacher’s abrupt response to my classmate’s inquiry about Ahmadis. Until that moment, I was 14 and Pakistani, no different than the rest of them. My teacher continued to fulfill her God-given duty and shared her deep misunderstandings of Ahmadiyya beliefs; “Ahmadis dishonor the Quran, blaspheme the Prophet Muhammad (as), and worship their Khalifas.” All this was graphically explained. These lies made my cheeks burn, and a shiver ran down my spine. I felt helpless and vulnerable as the lecture hall buzzed with sounds of astonishment from my closest friends. My mind oscillated between declaring my faith and being hated or staying silent and letting them be brainwashed with falsehood.

As my teacher continued her propaganda, I heard myself speak in a trembling yet confident voice, “Ma’am, I am an Ahmadi and we do not commit such things.”  The session ended after a heated discussion on different sects in Islam, and I became different in everyone’s eyes. While I felt terrible at the time, today I feel grateful for not being kicked out of my college. Thank you Mrs. Rabia Shah, you were much too kind to not expel me, instead only agitating my friends against me. In today’s Pakistan, Mrs. Shah’s act is arguably moderate. Not moderate when compared to a civilized society, but moderate compared to the expulsion of 13 Ahmadi children from 2 schools of Hafizabad a few days ago.

For example, during the ghastly summer of 1974, a number of Ahmadi students and teachers faced severe torture and persecution. In Multan, five Ahmadi students were ruthlessly beaten. A few days later, Professor Abbas bin Abdul Qadir was killed in Hyderabad. On September 7th 1974, the day when Ahmadi Muslims were declared Non-Muslim, five Ahmadi students were expelled from a Faisalabad university. Two students were forced to ride a donkey through city streets with their faces painted black. Later that month, Master Ziauddin Arshad, a teacher in Sargodha, was murdered for the crime of being an Ahmadi.

On October 1, 2011 a Judge of Pakistan anti-terrorism court sentenced Mumtaz Qadri to death over the murder of former Punjab Governer, Salman Taseer. As soon as the news came out, it has stirred up the debate regarding blasphemy again as this is an issue that is a cause of high polarization in our society.

I started learning about blasphemy and its punishment in Islam in 2006, when a Danish newspaper  published offensive cartoons regarding Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and as a result fierce protests broke out in Pakistan. First question that I asked which apparently others didn’t bother to was that why are these protestors destroying our own country by burning cars and markets when we had nothing to do with it? Anyways, as far as I did my research regarding this topic, I came to the conclusion that there is no point in having a punishment for blasphemy.

First of all, let’s start with the logical argument which apparently people in our country don’t like.  Not everybody thinks the same about everything; people are brought up in different circumstances, with different sources of information around them and in different countries. Now if somebody is brainwashed or is prejudiced against our Holy Prophet (PBUH), don’t we need to talk to that person and erase any misconceptions? If we start killing everyone who we think is a blasphemer according to our definitions and criteria of judgement, we close any prospect of dialogue before it even starts and can’t bring him to “the right path” as we see it. Moreover, when we as Muslims start going crazy over any incidence of Blasphemy e.g. by issuing death fatwas on people like Salman Rushdie, it gives them a lot more importance than those stupid people deserve. The sales of his book sky rocketed after the whole controversy because people wanted to know what it was that he said. In addition, when people saw the images of violence from the Muslim world, they thought him to be the victim and sympathized with him. It was so sad to see that at a time when the whole world was criticizing Islam for being intolerant, Muslims were on the forefront to prove it. The question that we have to ask ourselves is that is our love for our Prophet or our faith so weak that we have to take somebody else’s life to keep it strong?

For those of you who didn’t like the first argument, let’s go to the religious one. First question that all of us need to ask is that that how many of us know Classical Arabic i-e the language of the Quran. The truth of the matter is that even those people who live in the Middle East cannot interpret Quran just by reading it, much like not every person who knows Urdu can interpret Ghalib or Mir. The Holy Quran, much like the Old and the New Testament can be interpreted in different ways. Then there is a proper way to study Hadith, anybody who is a student of Hadith knows that they contradict each other at several points and there is a proper way to figure out which ones are stronger, which ones are weaker and which ones are totally not valid. Even in the Hadith, there are always disagreements as some Hadith that might be considered strong by some scholars would be considered weak or non-valid by others. When even after 1400 years of Islamic scholarship, there is such confusion regarding sensitive religious matters, shouldn’t we spend more time in understanding our religion instead of being God and passing judgements in this world? In Surah Al-Baqarah, talking about unbelievers, God says that “God has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a covering” (2:5). Honestly, take a look at our society and see how perfectly it applies.  Our ears are sealed as we have no tolerance to listen any other point of view and our eyes are covered when we shamelessly turn them blind to severe injustices happening in our society in the name of religion.

Furthermore, anybody who studies the history of Islamic empire should know that Islamic law has never been fixed or absolute.  From the time of the 4 Caliphs to the Ummayads to Abbasids and finally up to Ottomans, laws have always been interpreted and changed depending on the time and place. More recently take the example of Saudi government; the same Shura council that didn’t give women the right to vote for so long has now concluded that it’s ok to let them have a vote in municipal elections. Hopefully sooner they will get a right to drive as well. Now can someone please explain that something that was considered to be un-Islamic till yesterday became suddenly Islamic today? Religion has always evolved as situation, time and place changes. In fact that’s what the concept of ijtihad is all about it. On the other hand, if we want to remain stagnant in a medieval mindset, well we can clearly see how well that’s going for us!

Even after these arguments if any of you believe that punishment of blasphemy is death in Islam, you should also know that one of the basic principles of Islamic law requires having a Qazi (judge), credible witnesses, proper procedure and then awarding of any punishment based on circumstances as Qazi can always mitigate or aggravate the punishment depending on the situation. No individual has the right to take laws into his or her own hands as it undermines the authority of Islamic courts.

Last part is related to the idea of whether having a punishment for blasphemy works or not. First of all, the point of any Islamic law is to prevent fitna or disorder in the land. But we can clearly see that this law has been a cause of fitna, instead of preventing it. Minorities are discriminated against without any proper evidence, religious right uses it for political power and leverage, and worst part is that it increases blasphemy outside Pakistan, especially in the West. I would like to start with a personal example of how in our religious studies class, the professor showed the news clipping when lawyers were showering rose petals over a person who had just taken somebody’s life.  The discussion in that class made me realize how serious is it for us as Muslims to reclaim our religion from wrong understandings as it is increasing the hatred against our Prophet instead of stopping it, which is a point of any punishment, to stop the crime. The blasphemy was not limited to my class, Western newspapers, Tv-Channals and Media pundits got a point to slander Islam and Prophet Muhammad in the worst possible way. They called him a warrior, man who brought sword and started and encouraged violence in the name of religion. If punishment of blasphemy is death, should I now start killing these people too? Why apply this law only to Pakistan? This is what our religion has reduced too, an example of pure violence. How can we convince people that Islam is the religion of peace when there is nothing peaceful that we are doing in its name?

As far as the case of Mumtaz Qadri is concerned, one thing that I don’t understand is that as Qadri and his supporters were shouting on the top of their lungs that “Namoos-e-risalat par jaan kurbaan,” then why is he appealing his sentence? Shouldn’t he be happy that he has finally achieved his dream of being a martyr? On the other hand, for the statement of Salman Taseer, I would like to quote Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri who also said that “as far as I listened to (Salman Taseer’s) statement in news and media, technically if I see it as a student of Islam, it doesn’t fall into the category of what we call gushtaki-e-rasool.”

Conclusion: We need more Salman Taseers and less Mumtaz Qadris or else chaos is waiting (if it has not already taken over).

The details of the incident are as follows:

RAWALPINDI: In a first for the garrison city, sixty masked men carrying iron rods barged into a girls’ school in Rawalpindi and thrashed students and female teachers on Friday.

The gang of miscreants also warned the inmates at the MC Model Girls High School in Satellite Town to “dress modestly and wear hijabs” or face the music, eyewitnesses said.

Fear gripped the area following the attack and only 25 of the 400 students studying in the college were present on Saturday. The school employs 30 female teachers.

Attendance in other educational institutions also remained low. After hearing about the attack, all schools in the city shut down, an official of the Rawalpindi District Administration (RDA) told The Express Tribune.

A student of the girls’ school managed to inform the administration of the nearby boys’ high school of the attack. “[However,] the armed gang was so powerful that we could not rescue our teachers and colleagues over there,” Noail Javed, a grade 10 student, said.

In-charge of MC High Schools in Rawalpindi issued a notification to the heads of all girls’ schools to take pre-emptive measures to avoid such incidents in future. According to the notification, a gang comprising 60 to 70 miscreants entered into the school from a gate that was “strangely open”.

All the MC school heads were assigned the responsibility of protecting the students by the notification. A school headmistress wishing not to be named said, “How is it possible for us to protect the students from such elements. The city administration should review its security plan.”

The notification also suggested that the heads should not inform the students about the situation, so that they are not alarmed into skipping school. “Police is investigating the matter,” the notification said. Following the notification, the heads of the schools also shared the numbers of relevant police stations with the teachers in case of any untoward situation in future.

Asjad Ali, a student of class 9 at the nearby boys’ high school, said that his younger brother Awais, a student of grade 5, was also among those who were brutally beaten by the miscreants with iron rods. “The police did not come,” he said.

A police official of the New Town Police Station, asking for anonymity, told The Express Tribune, “We were under strict instructions to do nothing.”

District Education Officer Qazi Zahoor and Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed were not immediately available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2011.

The incident of harassment of women is neither one-off nor isolated, more and more women and minorities are suffering under the PML-N rule and the incident comes one day after 10 Ahmedi students and a teacher were expelled from a government school for being an Ahmedi. Needless to say the news found no takers:

10 students, teacher forced out of schools because of their faith.

“It is extremely unfortunate that my daughters are being deprived of the most basic and fundamental human right such as education … all because of religious intolerance,” Khalil Ahmad, whose three daughters were expelled, told The Express Tribune. “I have no alternative to ensure that their education continues,” he added.

What about the constitutional provisions which ensure equal rights for all? What about the rule of law that says no discrimination can be made on the basis of faith, race, cast and creed, he questions.

“I’ve never seen Christians and students belonging to other religions ever having to deal with such restrictions,” the distraught father says.

“I personally opposed the expulsion on the basis of faith,” Muslim Public School Principal Yasir Abbas responds when contacted by The Express Tribune.

“This is not my decision … the entire village unanimously pressed me to expel all Ahmadis from the school, or else they would forcibly shut the school down,” he added.

A public meeting held in Dharanwali recently was spreading hatred against Ahmadis, Jamaat Ahmadiyya Pakistan spokesperson Saleemuddin says, adding that expulsion came in the aftermath of the intolerance that some religious preachers were bent on evoking amongst locals in the area.

“They went so far as to say that they would never allow for an Ahmadi to be buried in their graveyard, let alone allow an Ahmadi to study in a school with their children,” Saleemuddin alleges.

Soon after the hate speech, ten Ahmadi students and a teacher were expelled from local schools.

The Punjab government’s initiative allowing people to register for schools online makes it mandatory for one to disclose their religion – whether they are Muslim or Non-Muslim. “This was never the case previously. It’s very simply a calculated move to subject the Ahmadiyya community to discrimination and deprive them of their right to education,” Saleemuddin says.

Ahmadis never refer to themselves as “Non-Muslim”, but that doesn’t keep them from being kept away from educational institutions. Similarly, for the first time ever, they’ve introduced this system where religion is displayed on the Roll Number slips. “It’s like they’re making a conscious effort to mentally torture us,” he says.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2011.

Lest we forget, not long ago a number of Ahmedi students were expelled from a medical college in Punjab only to be reinstated on international pressure. The persecution of minorities or assaulting women is increasingly becoming an underlying policy of PML-N. The terrorist Ludhianvi released by a court that shares the ideology in question is doing round all over Punjab declaring a war against Shias under official patronage.

Over past three years from Gojra to Raiwand and onwards a number of churches have been demolished while more recently a Gurduwara was appropriated and converted into a mosque.  This was only supplemented by a barbaric implementation of Ehtraam e Ramzan Ordinance this Ramzan, with dozens of arrests made on a daily basis.  The curator assaulted for wearing sleeveless and spreading fahashi was indeed the cherry on top!

Hinglaj Mata is a Hindu temple in Hinglaj, on the Makran coast in the Lyari district of Balochistan in Pakistan. Legend has it that when goddess Sati, the consort of god Shiva burnt herself in response to her father's anger at her for not inviting Shiva to a ceremony, Shiva became furious and started to create disasters, problems, violence, and sufferings in the world. In order to calm his anger, god Vishnu took the body of Sati and began to cut it into 51 pieces where they all fell at different parts of the Earth. Hindus believe that the head of Sati fell in the area of Hinglaj Mata in Baluchistan. Thus, this area is a very significant region in the Hindu religion and a revered pilgrimage site.

Editor’s note: LUBP stands with its fellow Pakistani Hindus in these troubling times.   While more is being written about Balochistan, most urban writers wilfully obfuscate the role of the primary agency that is calling the shots in Balochistan. Hint, its NOT the elected Government.  After dumping the dead bodies of Baloch activist youth to crush the nationalist spirit, even Balochistan’s Hindus are not being spared.  The Hindus of Sindh and Balochistan are an essential part of this area’s fabric which extends back to several millenia.  Now they are being forcibly converted by the proxies of the Deep State while another Deep State proxy, the Judiciary, is entertaining the Right-wing Islamofascists and banning Facebook while freeing mass murderers and rapists.  Token support for Pakistan’s Hindu communities is NOT enough, especially when those groups and organizations like Sipah-e-Sahaba  which are  part of those who re oppressing, persecuting and killing Pakistan’s Hindus, Christains, Sikhs, Shias, Ahmedis and Brehlvis are not named.  Similarly, when the role of the Judiciary and the military establishment in perpetuating such oppression is not highlighted, it is a deliberate obstruction of the truth as they are the ones who are currently responsible for the tragic state of affairs in Balochistan.

Minorities in Balochistan, particularly Hindus, are increasingly being abducted for ransom and forced to convert to Islam, the Balochistan chapter of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said.

Addressing a news conference, the HRCP’s Tahir Hussain and Zahoor Shahwani said that as many as 50 people belonging to the Hindu community were abducted over the past three years and were freed after paying large sums of money in ransom, The Express Tribune reports.

The HRCP’s report expressed serious concerns over other human rights matters in the province, such as missing persons turning up as bullet-riddled bodies and incidences of target killing.

It also said that political activities to mobilise public opinion in Balochistan have come to a standstill, as no major political parties hold gatherings and rallies because of the current law and order situation.
Many Hindus have now stopped sending their children to school because of a lack of security. Traders, doctors and retailers are being kidnapped or threatened, said the chairman of the HRCP’s Balochistan chapter. He added that the son of a well-known Hindu doctor was recently kidnapped and a Hindu surgeon was kidnapped a month ago. He also said that most victims do not file a criminal case against their abductors out of fear.

Discovery of mutilated bodies of missing persons is on the increase. As many as 188 decomposed bodies have so far been dumped in Balochistan since June 4 last year.
Most of the victims were political leaders and activists and students. There have also been incidences of lawyers working on the cases of missing persons being killed.

Shahwani, a council member of the HRCP, said they had set up a special cell for collecting evidence and documents about missing persons. About 12 families submitted documents in connection with such cases. Those who ‘resurfaced’ were reluctant to record their statements and appear before the courts, he added.
According to the interior ministry, only 44 people are missing in Balochistan, while the relatives of missing persons in the province insist they have information about 1,300 missing persons.

The HRCP urged the government to refrain from brute force and instead concentrate on political solutions for Balochistan problems.

According to the HRCP, 83 people, including teachers, political activists and police officials, have been killed in 50 incidents of targeted killing this year, while 58 people had lost their lives and 74 were injured in 58 bomb blasts.

“The hoardings displayed in Hindu dominated areas of the province demanding security for members of the community reflect the state of lawlessness and the prevailing sense of fear,” the Daily Times quoted them, as saying.

Many Hindus have now stopped sending their children to school due to the lack of security, said the chairman of the HRCP’s Balochistan chapter, adding that traders, doctors and retailers are being kidnapped or threatened.

Hussain pointed out that the son of a well-known Hindu doctor was recently kidnapped and a Hindu surgeon was abducted a month ago.

He also noted that most victims do not file a criminal case against their abductors because of fear.

The HRCP also expressed serious concern over the increasing number of decomposed bodies of missing persons being recovered from different parts of the Pakistani province.

According to the Interior Ministry, only 44 people are missing in Balochistan, however, the relatives of missing persons in the province insist they have information about 1,300 missing persons.

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