PAKISTAN PERISCOPE – Curse of Blasphemy Law

The likelyhood of death sentence being awarded to an 11 year old for alleged blasphemy is symptomatic of the naked abuse of power exercised by religious zealots

By Ayesha Siddiqa, Independent Social Scientist

Let us roll a dice and guess who is more lucky: Abbas, tortured and burnt to death for allegedly blasphemy, or Rimsha who may survive death but will forever be scarred for being nearly sentenced to death on similar charges? Some will probably consider the young Christian girl lucky, compared to Abbas and scores of others who suffered under the archaic blasphemy law.

When the pseudo-sentiments of the pseudo-religious are pseudo-hurt

By: Shivam Vij

In neighbouring Pakistan, an Islamic cleric recently accused a young Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, of blasphemy, a charge punishable by life imprisonment. He said she had burnt some pages that contained verses from the Quran. The 14 year old girl hails from a poor family and suffers from Down’s Syndrome. An eyewitness to the event showed courage and told a magistrate the truth: it was the Muslim cleric who had put those burnt pages in Rimsha’s bag. The cleric has been arrested and is set, in turn, to be charged with blasphemy.

I have been thinking about the incident. Insulting somebody’s religion is bad. It may cause offence. Often it is intended to cause offence. If somebody insults Islam, by doing things like burning pages containing verses from the Quran, it is bound to outrage a Muslim.But what happens when the Muslim has burnt those pages to implicate a Christian? Where does the outrage disappear? Why are the right-wingers and the mullahs in Pakistan suddenly silent? The cleric’s lawyer had threatened the judge that if the girl is let off she could be lynched – such was the outrage! Where has the outrage suddenly disappeared? Where are the calls for lynching the blasphemer to death?

And what does this hypocrisy tell us? It tells us that such outrage is, in the first place, fake.  That their religious sentiments weren’t really hurt when they said they were hurt. It was just that they wanted to persecute Christians and for doing so they were happy to commit blasphemy that they could then accuse Christians of doing!

What does that tell you of the claims of such people over how strong their religious, nationalist or whatever “sentiments” are?

I have noticed several such incidents in both Pakistan and India in the recent past. Let me give you a few examples.

Has Pakistan gone fascist?

Go figure!

By: Nadeem F. Paracha

There is a genuine fear among some (yes, just some) Pakistanis that their society and state is headed straight to becoming a 21st century model of fascism.

I say the fear is being noted and felt by just some Pakistanis because it seems to most of their compatriots – especially those squirming within the growing, agitated and uptight urban middle-classes – the emergence of such a state and society is actually something to do with abstract concepts like ‘national sovereignty,’ ‘honour’ (ghairat), ‘revolution’ and a ‘positive Pakistan!’

It’s like saying chronic neurosis is a pretty positive thing to have.

Recently in a sharp and pointed article, author and scientist, Pervez Hoodbhoy, clearly alluded to how the Pakistani society and state are showing signs of the kind of myopic mindset that the German society plunged into in the 1920s and 1930s, setting the scene for Hitler and his fascist outfit and mentality to become Germany’s overlords – eventually taking the nation over the brink and towards widespread destruction.

So is the Pakistani society headed in the same direction?

A number of experts and sociologists have drawn some prominent symptoms to look for in figuring out if a particular society is drifting into the clutches of fascism.

Let’s discuss a few in Pakistan’s context:

• Symptom 1: Powerful and Continuing Nationalism

Fascist societies/cultures tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

In Pakistan patriotism has been intertwined with the belief in a divine monolithic deity. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a person is singing praises of God or the state. It’s as if both are one and the same. Thus, if you are not all that enthusiastic about singing loud patriotic songs or displaying 50X10 Pakistani flags over your 5X2 office cubical, you are a traitor and/or/thus a kafir.

Forced faith or force of faith?

By: Waris Husain

Excerpt;

…… When the decision by the Pakistani Supreme Court was released, a commentator on twitter noted that Rinkle Kumari, one of the three females in the case, was showing signs of Stockholm Syndrome. Neither the commentator nor I have the credentials to administer a psychological diagnosis to Ms. Kumari, now known as Faryal Bibi. However, let us think of the hundreds of other cases that have existed throughout Pakistan’s history where Hindus, Sikhs, or Christians were converted against their will.

Stockholm Syndrome has been described as a condition where an individual is abducted or kidnapped, and begins to empathise with their captor to the point that they defend their actions. In evolutionary psychology, theories have been developed that explain the evolutionary benefit of the Syndrome. When humans lived in hunter gatherer societies, clans of men would continually fight one another, and women would be taken as “victory prizes.” The women who protested their capture were regularly killed, while the ones who adjusted to life with their brutal captors survived.

Therefore, one should examine the case of religious minorities in Pakistan from this brutal, archaic, and outdated perspective. Potential converts are born into a society that subjects them to massive social and institutional discrimination, for public services and employment. Non-Muslims have been subject to murder, rape, or beatings merely for simply being born to a different religion in a nation where the right to spread Islam is more protected than the right of minorities to live in peace. In this environment, when a woman, child, or minority is converted to Islam, they could likely develop Stockholm Syndrome and embrace their new faith as an instinct to survive in a brutal society.

This raises a question that should be asked to the ‘gairatmand.’ Is the benefit of forcibly converting one individual to Islam worth jeopardising the validity of all the converts to their faith? Many say that the justice system is flawed if it mistakenly punishes one man, even when it rightfully punishes thousands. In that light, does the forced conversion of one soul not call into question the thousands of others that may have converted voluntarily?

There should be no societal benefit for belonging to the majority religion, just as there should be no detriment for being a minority. Therefore, one hopes that Parliament can address the societal discrimination at the heart of this issue by passing appropriate legislation. This legislation could thereafter be utilised and enforced through the Court. The Pakistani Constitution recognises the right to religion as fundamental, and despite contradictory laws that discriminate against minorities, a legislation is required to fairly deal with forcible conversions.

Read more » DAWN.COM

What is Down syndrome?

 

Down syndrome is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome in the body cells. John Langdon Down the doctor who first described it. Down syndrome is a genetic condition. Different countries use different names for Down syndrome. People with Down syndrome all have a certain degree of learning disability. It means that they are slower to learn new things than other people. The common features of Sown Syndrome are; A lower than average birth weight and shorter than average, Broad hands with short fingers, A small mouth and tongue look a bit too big, looser muscle an joints. The older woman is, the more likely she is to have a baby with Down syndrome.

What is Insulin Resistance Syndrome (metabolic problem)?

If you have excess fat around your abdominal (apple shape tummy/ Bear belly), High blood pressure, High cholesterol, high triglycerides, and tendency to clot the blood and fatigue then you may have Insulin Resistance Syndrome (metabolic problem) or pre- diabetic condition or full blown diabetic.

The number one cause of aging is chronically elevated insulin levels. Too much insulin, a response to sugar/glucose or processed refine carbohydrates, stores extra glucose as fat. Excess insulin levels raise stress hormone cortisol and their elevated combination cause obesity, diabetese, decreased energy, poor health, dcreased mental focus and fatigue.

The following suggestions may help- Cut off sugar and sugar products, wheat, rice, corn, banana and potato products, Walk half an hour or exercise, reduce your weight and take vitamin B-complex,  Zinic 05 mg, Magnicium 10 mg, calcium 10 mg everyday or high potency multi-mineral supplements, eat yogurt early in the morning with a full glass of water, eat fresh washed leafy green and colorful vegetables and 8 to 10 glasses of crystel clean and fresh water every day.

Lettuce

Vegetable named Lettuce has been found to be effective for anxiety, muscle relaxation, joint pain, headache and insomnia. It also may decrease restless leg syndrome.

A New Trend among Sindhi writers

Responding to a posting “A New Trend among Sindhi writers”

By Iqbal Tareen

Washington DC- April 4, 2009 – Your posting triggered an avalanche of thoughts and concerns that I would like to share with you and other readers. In my new book “Harvest will come” there is an article titled “Battle between Millat and Umma”. The moral of that article is that Pakistani state has come to the crossroad where its existence hinges upon separating religion from state and state from religion. What goes on in Waziristan, Qandhar, or Quetta has a direct bearing on fate and future of Sindhi nation no matter how hard we pretend otherwise. The last eight years of Bush-Cheney administration only added more fuel to the fire.

The extreme rightist forces are pushing the envelope to forge the ugliest regional “One Unit” Sindhis have ever seen. Unfortunately many of our writers and political activists have dire difficulty seeing “Beyond the end of nose “.

Political acumen is becoming a rarest commodity. Many of us are lost in the symptoms whereas the earth underneath us is being pulled by the Islamic extremist in more subtle ways than many political icons can notice. Same old forces that have plundered the nation for decades have their foot on Taliban peddle.

If our people have to lose individual dignity and freedoms they will be better off living under Hitler’s rule rather than under a rule of fanatic Taliban or Al-Qaeda. At some point you could reason with anyone who values life on earth but how can you negotiate with the one who feels that the life on earth is actually an outcome of punishment and curse. They are actually in a big hurry to get back to the skies.

I see a lot of “Thy shall not do what your opponent does” syndrome creeping into towering Sindhi intellectuals, writers, and political activists. Because MQM has taken a stand against Taliban, Sindhis seem to be shying away from taking a moral stand against it. Over the centuries Sindhis have rejected extreme religious dictates and have embraced Sufism as a core value. So have majority of people living in Pakistan. It is the unholy alliance of neoliberal and extreme

Islamists who are united not for the love of the people of Pakistan but for the hate of America. Hate can drive ones ego but it feeds on the soul.

We know MQM wants to take advantage of Taliban issue to position itself as the only political entity in Pakistan that has the appetite and will to confront Islamic extremism. It is a very smart and effective marketing and positioning strategy. They are also leveraging this opportunity to get rid of a huge Pushtoon population from Karachi and its surroundings, which MQM considers to be a major threat to its power and influence.

We know every Pushtoon is not a terrorist and every terrorist is not a Pushtoon. We have missed another opportunity to team up with progressive Pushtoon, Baloch, Sindhi, Punjabi, and Urdu speaking population of Karachi, Hyderabad and inner cities to drive a point that Sindhi people are true and natural allies of freedom-loving nations in the

world. On the contrary I read in papers that Mr. Arisar has issued a warning to Pushtoon population in Sindh to leave the province. If that is true, he needs to quit smoking what he is. This kind of mindset will lead to subsequent illusionary ideas demanding expulsion of Baloch population next and so on…

I am not suggesting that managing these issues is a cake walk. What I am saying is that it will require a political spine to take moral stands on critical issues of our times.

I hope Sindhis will take charge of their destiny instead of being the captives of an evil conquest.

Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, April 4, 2009.