Adil Najam
I must confess that after our recent posts on the vigilantism by folks at Jamia Hafsa and the Lal Masjid I had hoped not to write about this issue yet again so soon.
This is not because I shun controversy or duck issues. It is merely because discussions on this issue tend to be prone to slogan-mongering from those holding extreme positions on all sides, they tend to drown out the more serious and more thoughtful deliberations that are so needed, and they quickly turn into mud-slinging matches which take up too much of our time in cleaning up the mess made by those who routinely ignore or are incapable of understanding and following our comment policy. Having said all that, let me also say that it is intellectually dishonest to simply ignore events and trends that are tearing apart the fabric of society.
With that rather long preamble, what has really prompted this post are two things I saw in today’s Dawn. The first is a set of two ads on behalf of ‘The Citizens of Karachi’ (clicking on the images will take you to larger and more readable versions). The first starts off with:
“Are You Ready? Do you want danda bardar and klashnikov shariat?
IF NOT THEN… come to attend the rally in lage number and show your solidarity against the danda bardar and klashnikov shariat.”
I found these ads to be yet more evidence of a polarized society. More than that, I wonder who put these ads? Any clues, readers? I also wonder how many – and who – will show up on the 15th at this rally (starting 2:00PM near the Mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam)?
The second item appears on the back page of Dawn (and most other papers) and is much more disturbing. Here is the story in full:
Militants Beat up Dancers
LAKKI MARWAT, April 12: Clashes between militants and villagers in the Dhoda-Shah Hasankhel area on Thursday morning left two people injured. About a dozen people were taken hostage by the militants.
Sources said a group of Taliban militants had beaten up some transvestite dancers, shaved their heads and broken their musical instruments near Abdulkhel as they were going to the Dhoda village to perform at a wedding on Wednesday night.
Villagers decided to take revenge by raising a Lashkar against the Taliban, the sources said. Light and heavy weapons were used and the Taliban also fired rockets during the clash which lasted for several hours. The Taliban took 12 villagers hostage. Five of them were later freed while the others were in the custody of the Taliban till late evening, according to the administrator of a seminary, Hafiz Amanullah Khan.
A heavy contingent of police and Frontier Constabulary personnel reached the area. A ceasefire was brokered by some local ulema who held talks with village elders and the Taliban. The sources said the situation was tense and additional contingents of the FC had been summoned.
What is common between both stories is that the battle lines in a divided society are being drawn. The only possible good that could come out of this is for the mainstream of the country to recognize the difference between being ‘religious’ and ‘religious extremism.’ Maybe it will take such actions to remind people that we can be religious without being religious extremists; that faith should help flourish a culture of caring, not of violence.
“Whom God wishes to destroy he first makes mad.”
Mullahs certainly fit this description of madness. Rand Corporation could not have done as good a job of inciting hate against Mullahs as Mullahs in their madness have done themselves.
Jabir, visit the URL which is old but very relevent
tinyurl.com/2nefh5
I have been recently given the copy of that mentioned report in PDF format[around 220 pages] and this report reveals how RAND which played big role during cold war and now same RAND is busy to back so called moderate muslims,liberals,humanists etc to fight against Islam. I have just read first chapter and I am amazed how the things are being managed. The things which you hear today like Sufiism,Enlightened moderation ,freedom of speech etc are all part of already written script. Even it has also been mentioned how to use online forums to gather such forces against Islam. if you need the copy then do drop a message on my blog. The report is not less intresting and thrilling than BBC’s Adam Curtis’ documentary about neocons and their role in Middle east and fall of USSR and now busy in Pakistan but as God said himself:
And they planned, and Allah also planned; and Allah is the Best of planners(quran 3:54)
Adnan kyon in ‘becharoon’ kay shishay kay makanon par pathar martay ho?
Their grasp of affairs reminds me of a mathematician who was about to cross a river with his family. He took three different measurements and announced the average depth is only 3 feet. Result, he drowned along with his family :)
another “sin” comitted by Lal Masjid:
tinyurl.com/2ovqvq
COme on liberals! you got another excuse for trolling. Now aunty shamim lovers will fight to back the people who rape these girls and would chant like hell. let’s see how WPB can help these girls.
+Adnan…Saeed shab, it seems you slept on other side of the bed. I was replying to Mohammad sahab.
Hahaha… you were replying to Mohammad sahib but were thinking of the mullahs and kamal baat kahe app nay “Prove yourself good first so that others could follow you.â€