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.
Both CJ and Ayesha are correct in their own rights,,,,the former is right in that whatever is stated in the Quran is not acceptable to him and yet he wants to stay a Muslim ! The lady, in her frustration, has spoken about ‘conversion’ which is not possible under the prevailing circumstances in the country. This idea is now too late: someone like Maulana Azad was right when he opposed the great divide and is said to have remarked that ‘The hindu majority in India wont gulp away the Muslims” How true he was! Muslims seem to work better in a mixed culture like India where people practice many religions. Among themselves they are : AIK HAMMAM MIEN SUB NANGAY !
Let’s not be AADHA TEETAR AADHA BATAIR. Let’s refuse to follow Mullah’s creed but why shy away from the teachings of Islam as they appear in the holy Quran?
Hussain,
Conversion is not a solution for you.
It is the solution for protecting your children and grandchildren from Mullahs of the future.
I understand what Ayesha says..
Ayesha,
Conversion is not the solution to our problem. We have to come out of the interpretations given by our moulvis. We don’t need any interpreting agent between ourselves and Allah. All religious matters are between the respective individuals and their Creator. Who are these mullas to dictate terms? If I err, let my Creator judge me.
“Muslims” are all confused these days. If you read the quran, some things are clear;
1)Men and Women are not equal and men have greater rights and women were created to show obedience and serve man’s pleasure?
2)Women MUST do parda and hide their body from head to toe?
3)Jihad is clearly mentioned and as Muslim’s we are suppose to pick up arms to save guard our religion?
4)Every Muslim should follow and lead our lives as per Sharia? Only do not force non-Muslims.
5)A Muslim child must be made to pray 5 times. Be physical if he/she has attained puberty and is defying the law of God?
Now, I don’t plan on following any of above but that is what our religion states. This is what Mullah’s say and that is what I read in Quran. It is true. Maybe it’s time that all who do not agree (including me) change our faith to some other religion?? How’s that for a thought? let’s not live our lives two faced.
Extremism is bad in all cases. But what ‘extremism’ actually is? If it is following the tenets of the holy Quran strictly, then I am afraid to say all muslims will have to comply with them. If not then as one of the friends stated in this forum only ”conversion’ to other faiths could be the answer. My question is: whether we want to live by the commands of the Quran or not? If the answer is in affirmative then only Mullahs are not responsible for (re) enforcing Islam as they please. It would be duty of all muslims to play their role voluntarily. And, if the case is in negative, we should forget about calling Pakistan as ”Islamic Republic of Pakistan” and opt for a secular state.