Owais Mughal
The Confederate Battle Flag (commonly called the Southern Cross) was first designed during the American Civil War (in 1861) by the Army of Northern Virginia. The 13 stars on the flag symbolize the original 11 US confederate states plus Kentucky and Missouri. 146 years later, the flag has found a new home. It is being used as decoration in a village fruit shop outside Islamabad. Wonder if the shopkeeper knows about the flag?
Photo is courtesy of Aurangzeb Khan
Dear Readers,
While All Things Pakistan has remained alive and online, it has been dormant since June 11, 2011 - when, on the blog's 5th anniversary, we decided that it was time to move on. We have been heartened by your messages and the fact that a steady traffic has continued to enjoy the archived content on ATP. While the blog itself will remain dormant, we are now beginning to add occasional (but infrequent) new material by the original authors of the blog, mostly to archive what they may now publish elsewhere. We will also be updating older posts to make sure that new readers who stumble onto this site still find it useful.
We hope you will continue to find ATP a useful venue to reflect upon and express your Pakistaniat. - Editors
The person who wrote this apparently has never gotten a history lesson on this flag so he automatically listens to what YANKEES say about it, so he thinks that it is a bad thing! No that shoekeeper should not have that flag, not because it is a bad thing to have, but because he does not know what it stands for, what it means, or how many men lost their lives fighting for the South. Hmm.. yeahh i wonder if he knows that!! Hell, did you?
I wonder what that shopkeeper thinks of this?: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/mushar raf-and-lincoln-in-their-own-words/
If anyone knows, please let me know.
Does anyone know if there’s anything more to this? Maybe this humble shopkeeper is an opponent of Musharraf? Are there any Pakistanis who understand the old Southern Confederacy and favor it, as a model of resistance to centralized tyranny?
I know nothing about Musharraf or Pakistan’s politics, but I see the neocons’ love for Lincoln is rubbing off in some strange ways. Take a look at Musharraf’s praise for the world’s most evil anti-Confederate, President Lincoln: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-cSj-V_II8.
Please email me privately ManningT@rqasc.com.
Tim
A Short History Lesson
Just as the War for American Independence of 1776, the War for Southern Independence of 1861 was fought over “taxation without representation.” The North was constantly trying to raise taxes on Southerners through high tariffs on imported goods in order to protect the inefficient big businesses in the North. These big businesses could not compete with manufactured goods from England and France with whom the South traded cotton. The South did not have factories and had to import most finished products.
The Industrial Revolution allowed England and France to produce and ship across the Atlantic products that were cheaper than the products of Northern manufacturers.
When Lincoln was elected President, he and the U.S. Congress immediately passed the Morrill Tariff (the highest import tax in U.S. history), more than doubling the import tax rate from 20% to 47%. This tax served to bankrupt many Southerners. Though the Southern states represented only about 30% of the U.S. population, they paid 80% of the tariffs collected. Oppressive taxes, denial of the states’ rights to govern their states, and an unrepresentative federal government pushed the Southern states to legally withdraw from the Union.
Since the Southerners had escaped the tax by withdrawing from the Union, the only way the North could collect this oppressive tax was to invade the Confederate States and force them at gunpoint back into the Union.
It was to collect this import tax to satisfy his Northern industrialist supporters that Abraham Lincoln invaded our South. Slavery was not the issue. Lincoln’s war cost the lives of 600,000 Americans.
The truth about the Confederate Flag is that it has nothing to do with racism or hate. The Civil War was not fought over slavery or racism.
The Confederate Battle Flag represents all Southern, and even Northern, Confederates regardless of race or religion and is the symbol of less government, less taxes, and the right of the people to govern themselves. It is flown in memory and honor of our Confederate ancestors and veterans who willingly shed their blood for Southern independence.
Deo Vindice
— Eagle Feather