Now it’s mannequins

A Sarhad Ataturk is the need of the hour. Heck, provincial ministries (including NWFP`s first post 1947 one) have been dismissed for far less.

This kind of social atmosphere is a fertile ground for terrorists. If only for that reason, that is contributing to the promotion of terrorism, this MMA ministry ought to be reigned in.

...romair is loving all this...he hates the `secularists`....

Man, this is saddening! :-( Why O why do they want to push this country back to the stone age when the common man is dreaming of a prosperous, free and happy country?! I don`t know what kind of people support all these measures taken... it is this majority I suppose which breaks to fragile dream of an ordinary Pakistani to pieces. The greed for power, for supremacy and control is what drives them, no matter what they claim to be from the outside. If they think they`re being Islamic and are doing right for the nation then they should think again.

How about replacing the male mannequins with female ones? Wouldn`t that be less of a distraction for the good men of NWFP?!

Seriously though, the NWFP region has always been very conservative, by any standard of conservatism, so how much of this `islamization` is imported and how much is of it is inherent within the culture of that area? From what I know, the `tradition` of not allowing females to see male doctors etc widely predates the election of mullahs into government.

It would be nice to read of `the good work` occasionally.

Frankly, this is democracy at work. If most of the voters are of the type that would vote for these parties, then what else is to be expected? These parties did not come to power on a development agenda, but on a religious agenda. No surprise at what they are doing while in power.
I suppose in the next elections, people will figure out that they want their govt to do things other than impose religious edicts. Having a country that is officially non-secular (there is that word again!) makes it very easy for the govt to interfere with religion. Even in an Islamic state, people need to set up boundaries between the state and religion and ensure that the state does not enforce religious practices on anyone.

idiots!!

`` There seems to be no end to the non-issues the NWFP government readily involves itself in. The most recent of these is now a ban placed on the display of mannequins in clothing stores.``

Irrespective of what MMA apologists say the MMA in particular (Islamic fundamentalists in general) have no clue to run a society in this modern world. Unless they are awash in oil. Islam may be a good religion for personal salvation but it does nothing to answer many of the real life problems Muslim citizens of this planet face.

It would be nice to hear of the good work if there were any. I keep telling myself that there is no need for a drastic reaction from the government. That the NWFP citizens that are hurt by these laws will vote the MMA out by the next election. Unfortunately that is unlikely to happen. These people will become the next emmigrant wave out of the NWFP and will probably settle in the Punjab and urban Sindh. They will not be home to vote in the next election.
Also, the president/general`s dealings with the unreliable and shady MMA has made them even stronger. They will bend the system and change the rules in order to ensure re-election.

I say let the Mullahs run the province the way they want to. They promised the ``Garden of Eden`` to voters in election 2002 and got a resounding mandate. Let them create their utopian society. Burqahs, beards, billboards, music, dancing, segregated schools, school curriculum, mannequins, makeup, beauty parlors... whatever the Mullah wants to change in NWFP, let him.

Let no one prevent the Mullah from implementing his Shariah. Because that is the only way, we will know whether Shariah is indeed the panacea to all evils, or is it just a placebo like communism. If Shariah fails to deliver jobs, security and good governance, the entire leadership of MMA will have to retire from politics in 2008. Newton`s law of Physics also applies to politics: to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

I never had much faith in the MMA, one would expect that they would resort to these kinds of antics.

Does anyone have a good analysis of their performance to date? I`m not too concerned with the banning of this and that - as far as I`m concerned this is as foolish and irrelevant as a secular party intent on legalizing alcohol. I`m particularly interested in how well they are managing the affairs of their territory with respect to their predecessors. Are things the same, or is damage being done? Or, are things in fact better?

HisExcellency wrote:

[Let no one prevent the Mullah from implementing his Shariah. Because that is the only way, we will know whether Shariah is indeed the panacea to all evils, or is it just a placebo like communism.]

Not just communism, however ever other form of governance tried in Pakistan to date.

The problems with Pakistan isn`t a lack of ideology...however I think it`s clear that whatever material progress is made will be in spite of political ideology, not because of it. No doubt, whatever party makes the improvement, the ideology they represent will `win` by association...

HE-

The Sharia experiment has already been around since ages- the recent one being the Taliban experiment in Afganistan. You think Taliban- the self proclaimed purists- were NOT implementing Sharia?? Best of luck to the inhabitants of MMA`s laboratory.

For the record, the byline for this article should read ``Omar R. Quraishi`` -- and, it was first published in Dawn on Dec. 31, 2003. (These details were mentioned to the editors of chowk when the article was submitted but for some reason were dropped.)

the mullahs running NWFP are like don quixote charging at windmills claiming they are dragons. the tragedy is that they probably believe that the windmills are dragons and are they real, while being blind to the dragons (poverty, illiteracy, lawlessness) that do exist in their province.

!
now it`s mannequins..? what`s next !

Before any Indian`s start gloating here`s what our own MMA is up to. Today all Punekars who supported such lunatics in the name of the ``marathi manus`` should stand with their heads hung in shame.

http://www.indiaexpress.com/news/regional/maharashtra/20040105-0.html

http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2004/january/73054.htm

Pune: The 87-year old Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) bears a sad look. A temple of thousands of rare manuscripts, ancient books and palm leaf inscriptions the institute`s relentless efforts were destroyed in half hour`s time, when a mob ransacked the institute, leaving behind an irreparable loss.

The institute was ransacked by nearly 250 members of a group called Sambhaji Brigade over a book written on Shivaji by foreign author James Lane.

The book `Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India` acknowledges one of the Sanskrit scholars, Shrikant Bahulkar of BORI in it. The Shiv Sainiks had blackened Bahulkar`s face to express their anger over this mention on December 22.

To protest this incident, Gajanan Mehendale, well-known scholar and chief editor, Cultural Index of Mahabharata, BORI tore 400 unpublished pages of his biography of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

However, the controversy seemed to have resolved when Lane apologized for his statements on Shivaji. The book`s publisher, Oxford University Press, too, withdrew the book from the market by its publisher Oxford University Press.

However, today`s incident has aggrieved veteran scholars at the institute who have given every bit of their life for development of the institute. Especially, excruciating is the destruction of manuscripts, 30,000 in all, stored in 50 cupboards in institute`s premises.

The manuscripts, which were based on varied subjects like Ayurveda, veda, kavya, shilpa, mahabharata, bhakti, amongst various other, were sourced from many parts of the world.

Palm leaf inscriptions, photographs, statues too have been caused an irreparable damage. Computers storing digitalized volumes of information lie in a smashed state.

Dr Gajanan Mehendale, 86 years of age, feels, that research will become impossible in institutions like BORI if anti-social elements will try to bog down researchers by use of violence.

N B Marathe, assistant editor, Cultural Index of Mahabharata, says with mellowed eyes, ``We did not give out the original manuscripts to anyone be it person from any part of the world. Today, we do not have words left to express our anger.``

Students from countries like Germany, Japan, Switzerland, China, France, United Kingdom visit BORI for research every year.

President of the Governing Council of the Institute Leela Arjunwadkar, who falls short of words as she stands in front of heaps of broken glasses all over the institute, is unable to assess the monetary loss but feels that the cultural heritage of India has received a big setback. ``It is difficult for the institute to stand back on its feet,`` she says.

According to an eye-witness, the mob came to the institute at a time when the institute was less crowded. While some started pelting stones and breaking glasses, some cut the telephone lines so the police could not be contacted.

The Pune police have rounded up nearly 71 men, who came in Sumo jeeps at 11 am in the institute. Joint Police Commissioner (crime), Maheshgauri, said, ``Those who will be arrested will be booked under relevant sections of IPC like sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 295, 395, 120 (b), and 121.``

BORI was established in the year 1917 to commemorate the works of Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar. When the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute was founded in 1917, the then Government of Bombay handed over its entire collection of manuscripts (nearly 20,000 manuscripts) to the Institute.

The Institute has also received grants from the Government of India and the University Grants Commission for specific research projects.

The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute normally works through its four main Departments: 1. Mahabharata and Research Unit. 2. Manuscripts. 3. Publication and 4. Post-Graduate Teaching and Research.