The Pattern of Violence

Beena:

Welcome back:) … this is a conditional welcome!

[…General is, or was, uniquely placed to cut the umbilical ties that have long bound the Pakistani establishment with the militant `Islamic` groups that are behind the current wave of terror in the country….]

…these umbilical ties have to be cut…in that you have my full agreement…with a caveat…my concept of the umbilical connections are perhaps lightly different…on one end are the people of pakistan BUT…the other end of this umbilical chord is the ‘occupying’ army…

…I for one want NO part of this occupying force in the political affairs of the country…obviously as a disenfranchised expatriot I cannot do much but articulate a need for this to happen…

…but am hopeful and am bolstered by the pseudo referendum and the way things are going…this anachronism has to end and the way events are unfolding hopefully shall lead to that much needed anarchy…

…it is a pity indeed that things have come so far that some like me would hope for the fires of anarchy…out of the ashes of any new order that emerges HAVE to be better…AND certainly they cannot be worse than what we have had for the past many years…


…in conclusion you say […This control it can only wrest back if the man at the helm of affairs sees the larger picture and takes firm steps to consolidate the process that he had begun….]

…my response…GOD FORBID! …we need army or its cohorts in the affairs of the state as much as the unfortunate camp dwellers in gujrat need retirement financial planning right now.

love,

t

Bina Sarwar,

A Great article as always:

``The `religious` (religio-political) lobby which initially opposed the very creation of Pakistan has since 1947 been engaged in trying to appropriate the country according to their own narrow vision - although, as Justices Munir and Kiyani observed in their straightforward report, no two learned divines could agree on the fundamental of what it meant to be a Muslim. The twelve years under Gen. Ziaul Haq, while not solely accountable for the slide into their wicket, played a significant part in strengthening their lobby. A part in this slide was played by those have tried to censor the founder of the nation Mr Jinnah`s address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on Aug 11, 1947, in which he stressed that citizens of Pakistan would be free to go their places of worship, and that this would have nothing to do with the business of the state.``

Very accurate...



``The slide downwards was further accelerated by those who pushed through the Objectives Resolution, declared Islam to be the `state religion` (forgetting that it is people who have religion, not states)``

Again well said... though one correction, horrible as the objectives resolution was, it didn`t declare Islam to be the state religion. Islam became the state religion in 1973`s constitution.

Fauzism, ZABism, BBsm, democracy, sultanshai, 2.5 years of Generalsahibism we have and all isms are tried. What pakistan never tried is religious REAL ISLAMIC rule. They are blamed for everything and used and misused and abused by all otherrs.This time to give chance to pure Islam atleast once free from American bosses. Let not blame religious parties , they may not be good but that is only type not tried. Let have run for Pure islamic Chhap rule for change.

This is excellent and thorough work. Well done!

I beleive an America-based think tank, before 9/11, gave Pakistan about 15 years max to survive.

If Musharraf does not heed what the Pakistani people, and the press, are saying, he will finish off Pakistan in 5 years. How sad.

Good to see an article from Beena Sarwar after a long time. There is hardly any point to argue against your identification of the problem. It is all about the questions of coping and reversing these trends that need to be discussed. Even a government with two third majority in the National Assembly was helpless to act against these tendencies, a man with, perhaps, 5 percent or less popular support is not expected to achieve anything.

The opiate of the masses used to be a slowly infecting disease during last 2000 years - before that it was almost benign. With higher level of interdependence of the modern societies, it has become very infectious and spreads like black plague. Certain derivatives of this amphetamine, developed more recently, are much more potent than the original concoction.

:))I think the development of these potent derivatives of Islam is a zionist/ Hindu conspiracy and only Imran Khan, Musharraf on high ground (Presidency in Islamabad is on high ground) and the end of feudalism could eliminate this scourge. Islam was a peaceful religion in both temporal and eternal senses until Zionists, Trilaterals, Free Masons and Builderbergers infiltrated, forging the doctrine and dogma. If you do not believe me, just wait for few posts!!!

There is something I have never been able to figure out about us Pakistanis. We keep saying that religious parties do not have any political or electoral support. We keep saying that they are destructive. Then why in the world do they have so much influence on govt. policy.

The answer is quite simple. They stand up for what they believein , in many cases violently. If someone makes a minor change in the blasphemy law, within seconds tens of thousands of people who don`t believe the change should be made, are mobilized and carrying out protests.

However, when the change is taken back, none of the people who claim that maulvis never win more than 5% of the seats in any assembly (which they don`t) do anything. They write a few articles, and whine by blaming the govt.

What the hell is the govt. supposed to do? Not only the present govt. but any govt. If it sees tens of thousands of people protesting for the blasphemy law and none protesting against it, it will take it back; even a military govt.. That is how govts. work.

When the French realized that Le-Pin has a remote shot at becoming the President, all of them, from the extreme left to the right, united under one flag, and carried out some of the biggest protests in post WWII French history. They then overwhelmingly voted for Chirac (a man whom most of them disliked). They voted for him because he was the best available option in comparison to Le-Pen (the same reason why I still support Musharraf, in comparison to BB and NS).

Until Pakistanis stop whining, and actually come out into the streets to take on the extreme religious right in a show of power, any govt. will obviously be hesitant to take on the religious right, also. It can only take them on if it sees the masses supporting it in real (as the French did) and not merely in newspapers.

It`s about time us Pakistanis stopped blaming govts. and started blaming themselves every now and then also. The maulvis, as much as many people may hate them, at least believe in their convictions strongly enough to put their money where their mouth is.

Beena Sarwar

The only segment I agree in your thesis is this:

``There are no two ways about it: what`s needed to prevent the rise of religious extremism is political will and determination - always sadly lacking here.``

The rest of your thesis, unfortunately is self-contradictory. It can be summarized in one sentence that you wrote ``What is needed in Pakistan is `zero tolerance of intolerance`.``

That is like trying to make a right through two wrongs. This is the perfect recipe for the coming anarchy that temporal has very intelligently pointed out to.

I always consider the 9/11 the greatest event in the history, not because of its clamity but because of its aftermath. It has opened up all the covers, lifted all the facades, and we (all including, and especially western colonial powers)are literally naked in this Public bath. Personally, I think a time has come in Paksitan, finally, that the colonial powers and people of Paksitan are standing face to face. Unfortunately, the Paksitan Army whom the very people have been feeding with their blood and sweat has chosen the other side. War is a very fluid situation and nothing is more uncertain than anarchy. One thing that history has always told us, and it has come true through all tests of time is that people always win.

Its like this:
1. You are told that its OK to kill Indians anywhere in India, including Kashmiri civilians and the more the better
2. You are sheltered after hijacking an airplane, killing a passenger and getting your associates released.
3. Your CEO covers up for you in international summits and refuses to acknowledge your existence much less bring you to justice.

4. Over and above that, until Oct 9 2002, you were encouraged and supported for 5-7 years when you decided to risk your life and help kill off fellow Muslims of a different ethnicity in Afghanistan.


After all this, its no surprise that its hard for you to understand some English-speaking types now telling you its wrong to kill your enemies and that its especially bad to kill those with white skin.

The malaise is not just in the religio-political parties. They are merely unsure whether its worth changing their business model or its only a temproary recession and it will be business as usual after a short while.

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re: t # 1

``Anachronism...``

That pretty much sums it up. The answers to any nation`s problems lie in its people, not its #

Some excellent writing here.

Ms. Sarwar wrote:

``What is needed in Pakistan is `zero tolerance of intolerance`.``

All that I can add is Amen

Oh sorry : AAMEEN

Ras

On a lighter note, TV channels have fashed pictures of Omar Saeed from different periods of his life, there seems to be a discongruence, his picture from his teen oe early twenties shows him with a snub nose.More recent pictures have him with a perfect nose, did ISI do a nose job on its most favored agent?

Romair #6:

``When the French realized that Le-Pin has a remote shot at becoming the President, all of them, from the extreme left to the right, united under one flag, and carried out some of the biggest protests in post WWII French history. They then overwhelmingly voted for Chirac (a man whom most of them disliked). They voted for him because he was the best available option in comparison to Le-Pen (the same reason why I still support Musharraf, in comparison to BB and NS).

``Until Pakistanis stop whining, and actually come out into the streets to take on the extreme religious right in a show of power, any govt. will obviously be hesitant to take on the religious right, also. It can only take them on if it sees the masses supporting it in real (as the French did) and not merely in newspapers.``

That is why democracy is important for Pakistan, so that the 5% religious parties are shown their place. In the absence of democracy, one who shouts loudest wins, while loser whines about `silent majority`.

Urstruly Sahib,

You incorrectly imply that state’s “zero tolerance of intolerance” is self-contradictory …

Executing a murderer does not make the state a murderer. Locking up thieves in prisons does not make the state an oppressor. Similarly, by cracking down on the militant religious elements, the state itself does not become an intolerant militant institution.

In a state there should be room for (almost) all ideologies … except those that advocate, and forcefully carry out … violence against the innocents. Such behavior, combined with political arm-twisting, has largely defined the modus operandi of the religious right in Pakistan’s political arena. The state is therefore largely justified in swift actions aimed at shutting down day-to-day activities of these “religious” institutions.

You mullahs need to go back to the drawing board and try to figure out where you went wrong. Your problem is not the USA … not the Ahmadis … not the Jews … rather your own delusions and a fake sense of righteousness that you go around imposing on others.