I will have my own two cents worth of comments on the topics below for which some great posts have already been linked-in and highlighted. I will highly recommend readers to go through these blogs/vlogs to get the whole picture. These events highlight what has been happening in Pakistan and where are we heading? I think we all know the answer..
1. Ahmadies in Pakistan
Just a week ago, this happened. All Pakistan is silent on the issue. The perpetrator of this act, S.Mir, must be thrown in the jail for terrorizing people (Ahmadies in this case)and not letting them pray violating the Constitution of Pakistan: 20(b) which stipulates that:
"Every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions."
..but oh, I forgot that we are a country where killers are hailed as heroes and criminals can, in the name of Allah and Rasool, have the licence to do whatever. A very sad side of this act is: an Imam of Satellite Town Mosque is an accomplice to this businessman - S.Mir. A very enlightening post by Saroop Ijaz entitled "Why Speak for the Ahmadies" can be read here.
What a shameless act...ahhhh!
Pakistan is a place where most heinous of crimes and acts happen and nobody even want to say a word about it and people get away with everything. Here people have hijacked Islam and are busy making mockery of it. A little hint is: Islam has its roots in the Arabic word 'salum' meaning PEACE. There you go my fellow Pakistani muslims... and Bravo for your actions against other Pakistanies in the name of religious intolerance and distrubing the peace.
Well, this had to happen when illiterate mullahs and imams made their way to mosques by pulling politico-religious strings. Before I forget, have to add that even Imams in mosques etc. are a part and parcel of a long chain of father-to-son successions which is NOT only in politics here but it is in every profession in Pakistan, even clerks, peons etc.. This attitude has damaged our society to the core because it has marginalized the really talented and deserving candidates and have thrown them out of the race to get "any" position is any sort of public office/ religious/political organization on merit. One such example is that of Lal Masjid's first imam(Red Mosque) in Islamabad, one of the oldest mosques in the capital of Pakistan with Qari Muhammad Abdullah who was succeeded by his son Maulvi Abdul Aziz (of escaping in burqa fame). That is pretty much the criteria every where.
It is a reality that mosques in Pakistan can single handedly fight the country's army for days and weeks. No kidding.
So, in short, seeing an imam of Satellite Town, Pindi collaborating with this man, S.Mir - a businessman in the area, I was thinking will oppression, humility and destruction of other religious groups is what Islam teaches or what an imam must be doing - I am even more ashamed of this imam who seems to have more knowledge of Quran, Hadith and also of Islamic history (he ought to have but...)????
At this point, I pray to God in hope that this hate campaign against the Ahmadies in Rawalpindi MUST come to a halt and madness must stop! For me every Friday is a sad day as it is a reminder of what many Ahamdies, a minority group, have to go through - fear and terrorism by these so called muslims of Pakistan, an overwhelming majority.
2. Rape of female students at the International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan was reported by Dawn Newspaper. Yes. you read it right. The cradle of Islamic learning. On this issue some very valid points were made by a blogger Syed Nadir El Edross in which he rightly points out that:
"This case is shocking because of the International Islamic University Islamabad’s indifference to these cases and its efforts to cover it up. Further, they have tried to justify their actions by claiming that they hushed up these allegations to protect the parents of female students and the reputation of the institution."
No wonder, such a horrific state of affairs has to be tackled on urgent basis. Right!
Wrong, actually. As far as I know, the said university has been unable to tackle other evils big and small in the past few years. Unfortunately, nothing of sort seems to be in the university's agenda hence, how will anything improve? Cancer only spreads unless it is treated as soon as possible - cancer is engulfing our society in the shape of countless immoral acts but hell, it's OK, it's just fine, take it easy because this is Pakistan...
On the other hand, I also wonder how the victims and their families "also" let it go! This is a reminder that same acts will happen again and again and again!
3. Last but not the least, I read a few times here and there on the Internet about a "debate" between this man named Hamza Andreas Tzortzis an atheist who converted to Islam and Professor Hoodbhoy (a Pakisani intellectual). This dork, Hamza, was not just blatantly disrespectful but also haven't had his facts straight, a very very confused person, very stubborn to the idea that he is 'always' right about everything (but he isn't) - can be indentified with a type that we have in hoards in Pakistan. I am saddened that Professor Parvez Hoodbhoy entertained him in the first place. Idiots like Hamza need to be ignored. I wish that the professor must NOT have listened to his students but then he is a humble man. The entire debate between Hamza A Tzortzis and Professor Hoodbhoy can be seen here and by the way, this man - Hamza, is such a waste of time, honestly (warning!).
However, I have to say that in a country like Pakistan, people such as Hamza A. T can sell their theories pretty easily and make a million man fanclub, nevertheless, we are a country with a history where terrorists were hailed as heroes and logic does not mean much. We have been hosting many such kind of varieties lately and have also paid the price but then we as a country will NOT learn any lessons from our past mistakes.
Having said that, I believe that Professor Parvez Hoodbhoy will be careful in future when such schmuuugs will try to approach him to get a few minutes of fame and a repertoire that he/she actually sat down with him and will throw whatever analogies and accusations.
Professor Hoodbhoy as I said before, is a very humble person and has genuinely spent his entire life in Pakistan trying to make a difference even though he could easily get a job in Harvard or MIT his Alama mater. BUT he chose Pakistan over the rest of the world. He left every comfort but he preferred to come back (how many Pakistanis with such an education and achievements return to Pakistan? Hardly any). He is really one of the best intellectuals that we in this country have. I am really proud of Professor Dr.Parvez Hoodbhoy for his enlightened op/eds, his books, his discussions and see him as one of the best teachers this country has seen. A selfless Pakistani. May God bless him!
Professor Hoodbhoy's interview after the debate can be seen here.
1. Ahmadies in Pakistan
Just a week ago, this happened. All Pakistan is silent on the issue. The perpetrator of this act, S.Mir, must be thrown in the jail for terrorizing people (Ahmadies in this case)and not letting them pray violating the Constitution of Pakistan: 20(b) which stipulates that:
"Every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions."
..but oh, I forgot that we are a country where killers are hailed as heroes and criminals can, in the name of Allah and Rasool, have the licence to do whatever. A very sad side of this act is: an Imam of Satellite Town Mosque is an accomplice to this businessman - S.Mir. A very enlightening post by Saroop Ijaz entitled "Why Speak for the Ahmadies" can be read here.
What a shameless act...ahhhh!
Pakistan is a place where most heinous of crimes and acts happen and nobody even want to say a word about it and people get away with everything. Here people have hijacked Islam and are busy making mockery of it. A little hint is: Islam has its roots in the Arabic word 'salum' meaning PEACE. There you go my fellow Pakistani muslims... and Bravo for your actions against other Pakistanies in the name of religious intolerance and distrubing the peace.
Well, this had to happen when illiterate mullahs and imams made their way to mosques by pulling politico-religious strings. Before I forget, have to add that even Imams in mosques etc. are a part and parcel of a long chain of father-to-son successions which is NOT only in politics here but it is in every profession in Pakistan, even clerks, peons etc.. This attitude has damaged our society to the core because it has marginalized the really talented and deserving candidates and have thrown them out of the race to get "any" position is any sort of public office/ religious/political organization on merit. One such example is that of Lal Masjid's first imam(Red Mosque) in Islamabad, one of the oldest mosques in the capital of Pakistan with Qari Muhammad Abdullah who was succeeded by his son Maulvi Abdul Aziz (of escaping in burqa fame). That is pretty much the criteria every where.
It is a reality that mosques in Pakistan can single handedly fight the country's army for days and weeks. No kidding.
So, in short, seeing an imam of Satellite Town, Pindi collaborating with this man, S.Mir - a businessman in the area, I was thinking will oppression, humility and destruction of other religious groups is what Islam teaches or what an imam must be doing - I am even more ashamed of this imam who seems to have more knowledge of Quran, Hadith and also of Islamic history (he ought to have but...)????
At this point, I pray to God in hope that this hate campaign against the Ahmadies in Rawalpindi MUST come to a halt and madness must stop! For me every Friday is a sad day as it is a reminder of what many Ahamdies, a minority group, have to go through - fear and terrorism by these so called muslims of Pakistan, an overwhelming majority.
2. Rape of female students at the International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan was reported by Dawn Newspaper. Yes. you read it right. The cradle of Islamic learning. On this issue some very valid points were made by a blogger Syed Nadir El Edross in which he rightly points out that:
"This case is shocking because of the International Islamic University Islamabad’s indifference to these cases and its efforts to cover it up. Further, they have tried to justify their actions by claiming that they hushed up these allegations to protect the parents of female students and the reputation of the institution."
No wonder, such a horrific state of affairs has to be tackled on urgent basis. Right!
Wrong, actually. As far as I know, the said university has been unable to tackle other evils big and small in the past few years. Unfortunately, nothing of sort seems to be in the university's agenda hence, how will anything improve? Cancer only spreads unless it is treated as soon as possible - cancer is engulfing our society in the shape of countless immoral acts but hell, it's OK, it's just fine, take it easy because this is Pakistan...
On the other hand, I also wonder how the victims and their families "also" let it go! This is a reminder that same acts will happen again and again and again!
3. Last but not the least, I read a few times here and there on the Internet about a "debate" between this man named Hamza Andreas Tzortzis an atheist who converted to Islam and Professor Hoodbhoy (a Pakisani intellectual). This dork, Hamza, was not just blatantly disrespectful but also haven't had his facts straight, a very very confused person, very stubborn to the idea that he is 'always' right about everything (but he isn't) - can be indentified with a type that we have in hoards in Pakistan. I am saddened that Professor Parvez Hoodbhoy entertained him in the first place. Idiots like Hamza need to be ignored. I wish that the professor must NOT have listened to his students but then he is a humble man. The entire debate between Hamza A Tzortzis and Professor Hoodbhoy can be seen here and by the way, this man - Hamza, is such a waste of time, honestly (warning!).
However, I have to say that in a country like Pakistan, people such as Hamza A. T can sell their theories pretty easily and make a million man fanclub, nevertheless, we are a country with a history where terrorists were hailed as heroes and logic does not mean much. We have been hosting many such kind of varieties lately and have also paid the price but then we as a country will NOT learn any lessons from our past mistakes.
Having said that, I believe that Professor Parvez Hoodbhoy will be careful in future when such schmuuugs will try to approach him to get a few minutes of fame and a repertoire that he/she actually sat down with him and will throw whatever analogies and accusations.
Professor Hoodbhoy as I said before, is a very humble person and has genuinely spent his entire life in Pakistan trying to make a difference even though he could easily get a job in Harvard or MIT his Alama mater. BUT he chose Pakistan over the rest of the world. He left every comfort but he preferred to come back (how many Pakistanis with such an education and achievements return to Pakistan? Hardly any). He is really one of the best intellectuals that we in this country have. I am really proud of Professor Dr.Parvez Hoodbhoy for his enlightened op/eds, his books, his discussions and see him as one of the best teachers this country has seen. A selfless Pakistani. May God bless him!
Professor Hoodbhoy's interview after the debate can be seen here.
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