Posts Tagged ‘Minority’

I have never really been vocal about rights for Ahmadis, even privately, but my compassion trigger is easily pulled if there are atrocities against Pakistani Hindus and Christians. Part of this can be ascribed to my belief in the prejudice that the Ahmadis are a relatively well-off community, making the Christians and Hindus of Pakistan uniquely [...]

ہماری داستاں تک بھی نہ ہو گی داستانوں میں....سویرے سویرے …نذیرناجی اسلام میں مذہبی پیشواؤں کی گنجائش نہیں ہے۔ دین کو پیشہ بنانے کی بھی اجازت نہیں ۔ اسی چیز کو روکنے کے لئے اللہ تعالی اور رسول [...]

What kind of sick democracy do we live in, where the declaration of equality of all citizens of the state can be deemed unconstitutional? This twisted logic was deployed by the JUI-F in its criticism of Nawaz Sharif’s comments describing Ahmadis as ‘brothers and sisters’ who are an ‘asset to the country’. Among several other absurd [...]

What the eye did not see Source: Dawn, 13 Jun, 2010 On May 28 of this year, how many members of the minority Ahmadi community were massacred in cold blood by the ‘student’ fraternity upholding their version of the religion of the majority? The official reaction: silence. Unforgivable! - Photo by Reuters. “Wherein adequate [...]

Source: Pakistan Media Watch Reading Nadeem Paracha’s column yesterday, I was immediately reminded of a video clip from Shahid Masood’s TV programme that was recently posted on the blog Let Us Build Pakistan. The clip features a conversation between Shahid Masood and Zakir Naik, and purports, in Zakir’s way, to “prove [...]

Abbas Ather has written a series of articles on this topic (published in Express on 3-6 June 2010): (more...)

Source: Dawn, 06 Jun, 2010 Here’s a question: How come whenever there’s a drone attack (in which most of those killed generally are extremists), or a case of perceived obscenity or blasphemy surfaces, street corners are at once filled with burqa-clad women and bearded men chanting slogans like ‘Death to infidels’? But none of these [...]

Source: Dawn, 05 Jun, 2010 A day after the slaughter of nearly 100 Ahmadis in Lahore last week, Britain’s Channel 4 aired a programme on Iraq in its ‘Unreported World’ series. The narrator described the plight of the Christians and other minorities in the north who were being regularly targeted by Sunni militias. One ancient [...]

For any humble citizen of Pakistan, religion may not be the criteria of one’s nationality, as Islam, a peace loving religion, teaches that ‘there is no compulsion in religion’ and there should not occur any clash in understanding one another as ‘For me is my work and for you is your work. You are not responsible for what I do and I am not [...]

I know our semi-literate elitist urban class writers and bloggers (with a very few notable exceptions) are least bothered about this topic (except when they are forced to because of a populist wave). However, consistent with our vision of an inclusive and democratic Pakistan, we at the LUBP will keep highlighting the plight of religious and [...]

"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State". Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's speech in Pakistan's first constituent assembly on 11 August [...]

Picture of a banner from Mall Road outside the Lahore High Court, which and reads "Jews, Christians, Ahmadis are enemies of Islam". Source: Dawn Blog Incomprehensible. That is the only word I can use to express my feelings about the indifference of people, the authorities, and the media towards the attacks against the Ahmadi community in [...]

An Ahmadi man weeps as victims are loaded onto an ambulance after gunmen attacked their place of worship in Lahore's Garhi Shahu neighborhood on May 28, 2010. –Reuters Photo/Mohsin Raza I saw the news of the massacre much after it had happened, being out of the house when I received an alert on my cell about “12” people getting killed in [...]

Members of the Ahmadi community console a grieving woman at a graveyard in Chenab Nagar, located in Punjab's Chiniot District, about 200 km northwest of Lahore, May 29, 2010. — Reuters Here is yet another case of systematic violence against the Ahmadi community under the patronage of PML-N's Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, a political ally of [...]

'You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State.' Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. August 11th [...]

At least ninety five people killed and hundreds wounded but what I failed to understand was that what was the fuss about? My family and friends were truly horrified, in fact saddened, disgusted and many other things, but I remain confused, why?! Were not those who died Ahmedis? Correction; Qadiyanis? Were those not Ahmedi Mosques? Correction: [...]

First of all I condemn the attack on two Ahemdi mosques in Lahore. What is more condemnable is the media reporting of the incident. The term "dehshatgard " which is usually used for terrorists  is changed with term "hamla-awar" (invaders).  Masjid /Mosque is changed with the term Ibadatgah (place of worship) . Ahmedi is changed with Qadyani. [...]

Source Business Recorder STRASBOURG (May 21 2010): The EU parliament on Thursday called on Pakistan to guarantee minority rights, claiming that its blasphemy laws could be used to murder members of political, racial and religious minorities. In a resolution adopted in Strasbourg, the assembled Euro MPs expressed "deep concern" at the Pakistani [...]

An intolerant nation Dawn Editorial Monday, 19 Apr, 2010 The site of the suicide attack outside an emergency ward at a local hospital in Quetta. A suicide bomber attacked a hospital emergency room where Shiite Muslims were mourning a slain bank manager, police said. –Photo by AP We are reaping the harvest of the seeds of hatred sown [...]

Our political leadership must make up its mind: either it commits itself to non-discriminatory policies on minorities or confesses to bigotry., writes Asma Jahangir. The much-awaited constitutional reforms may have sailed through the National Assembly and Senate but there are trials ahead. Senator Raza Rabbani deserves praise as do the other [...]

All of us who have attended school in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan were taught at one point or the other that the white strip that runs down the flag stood for non-Muslims who make up an estimated three per cent or so of the population. Now it seems this white is to be washed over with a shade of green that denies the existence of [...]

Source Daily Times The 18th Amendment reintroduces the requirement for the prime minister of the country to be a Muslim. Pakistan’s slide down the slippery pole of religiosity is quite clear Frederick Douglass — the great 18th century American statesman and abolitionist — once described democracy as a way to take turns. He was a [...]

While right wing jihadis and Taliban apologists in Pakistani media and politics are known for makings noises about real or perceived grievances of Muslims all over the world, they never seem to complain on Muslim on Muslim or Muslim on non-Muslim persecution and violence such as those against Ahmadis, Shias, Christians and Sikhs in Pakistan. We [...]

The review process has to foresee and incorporate a framework for social, legal and economic reforms. The part that seems to be missing as yet is, in fact, of immense importance for common Pakistanis. It concerns human rights Ever since the passage of the Eighth Amendment in 1985, the constitution ceased to enjoy the status of a consensus [...]

Once upon a time to get on in Pakistan religion did not matter. On the other hand, a criminal record did not help. Today, by the looks of it, one can have a criminal record and still actually occupy sensitive positions in government or industry. Religion, though, continues to be immaterial; mostly because there is only one religion in Pakistan, [...]

In this photo made on March 19, 2010, Surjeet Singh, from Pakistan's Sikh community, sits with family members after his release in Peshawar, Pakistan. Singh, who had been kidnapped for ransom by alleged militants, was freed after 42 days as a result of a crackdown operation by security forces. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) (Mohammad Sajjad, AP / [...]

NFP asks if minorities will ever be treated well enough to not feel like misfits. — File photo Some days ago, while waiting in my car for a traffic signal to turn green, a young kid nonchalantly stuck a flyer under one of the car’s wipers. Usually I throw away such pieces of paper, but this time I decided to take a look at it. It was a [...]

Pakistani Hazara community in Quetta remembers Shaheed Baba Abdul Ali Mazari Photo: Hazara News Last week, the Afghan nation in general, and the Hazara community in Afghanistan and Pakistan in particular, commemorated the 15th anniversary of martyrdom of Abdul Ali Mazari, the former head of Afghanistan's Hezbe Wahdat (Unity Party). Fifteen [...]

ایوان صدر میں سیاسی بم اور پنجاب میں طالبان اعلی اصل میں آج ایک بھی ایسا شخص دنیا میں زندہ نہیں کہ جس نے حضرت امام حسن رضی اللہ عنہ اور امام حسین رضی اللہ عنہ کو دیکھا ھو لیکن حسینیت پر عمل اور [...]

Whether you like it or not, the notion of blasphemy, or of ‘defamation of religion’, creates a hierarchy of beliefs which is simply incompatible with the plurality of the world, and the very right to hold a belief The Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, recently announced the revision of the Blasphemy Law. For anyone remotely familiar [...]

The pattern of by-elections in Jhang and PML-N's alliance with Sipah-e-Sahaba is a worrisome development. However, this is not the first time that PML-N has established alliances with terrorist organisations. Only a few days ago (in February 2010), PML-N forged an alliance with a terrorist Mullah Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid (the spiritual father of [...]

First published at Sherryx's Weblog “Invisibility” and “Silence” are the hallmark of  fascist societies. A national stereotype is built and than implemented through ideological and coercive apparatuses  of the state. Gender is an important battle ground in these “nation-building” projects. A section of Pakistan’s founding [...]

Here are two news items (which remain hidden in the more important headlines) from today's newspapers. These news items once again reveal the typically hypocritical, class- and religion-centric and misogynistic nature of Pakistani society. The first story is about a protest by certain staunch Muslims against the burial of a Hindu girl (child) [...]

The creation of ignorance There can be no doubt that the past seven years, since private media channels went on air in late 2002, have created a kind of revolution in the country. Never before in the history of Pakistan have so many different opinions aired so openly on television channels. The majority are fiercely hostile to the [...]

There is no specific provision on incest in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and police, prosecutors and judges often have dismissive and condemning attitudes towards the victims Today is International Women’s Day. This day is a global celebration of the political, social and economic achievements of women. This year we are also marking 15 years [...]

Photo Source: BBC Urdu A time to humanise Islam There is a screaming silence from the custodians of Islam — the ulema — on the execution of Jaspal Singh, probably because he was not a Muslim. The Muslim masses have not taken to the streets in protest because they have been conditioned to protest only when something is perceived to be [...]

Picture Source: BBC Urdu Pakistani Hindus to miss Holi celebrations February 23, 2010, Islamabad: The few Pakistani Hindus, who have made the federal capital their home, will miss splashing colours at each other as they brace up for a quiet Holi. Many of the Hindus, most of whom are businessmen from Sindh province, have taken on Muslim [...]

Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan (JAP) has lashed out the PML-N leadership over their allegedly links with the banned terrorist outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba,which was involved in the killings of thousands of inncoent Shia’s in Pakistan and having the links with outalwed Al-Qaeeda and Taliban terrorists. Addressing the press conference  at Karachi Press [...]

Family members of Shazia Masih, including, from left, her sister; her mother, Nasreen Bibi; and her aunt and brother. The girl died while working as a maid. Photo: NY Times Lahore: February 13, 2010. (PCP) Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group PML(N) and bureaucracy of the Punjab government bulldozed justice in Pakistan with fabricated medical [...]

Thanks: Hamza Alavi Internet Archive Religious fundamentalism has become a powerful and dangerous force in Pakistan, due mainly to the opportunism of successive political leadership that has pandered to it. Militant sectarian religious groups and parties, led by half-educated and bigoted mullahs,many of them armed to the teeth, are holding our [...]