Our gods of hatred
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Dawn, Pakistan, Thursday, 02 Jul, 2009
A NATION is born with the birth of ‘the other’, as the latter helps identify ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences. “Until I came to Karachi, I thought everybody was a Punjabi,” said a bemused friend.
The problem is not with the discovery of one’s collective identity. The predicament begins with the transformation of ‘the other’ into a threat, or when it is relegated to a sub-human status as reflected in sectarian killings or the carnage wreaked by the Taliban.
More
A NATION is born with the birth of ‘the other’, as the latter helps identify ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences. “Until I came to Karachi, I thought everybody was a Punjabi,” said a bemused friend.
The problem is not with the discovery of one’s collective identity. The predicament begins with the transformation of ‘the other’ into a threat, or when it is relegated to a sub-human status as reflected in sectarian killings or the carnage wreaked by the Taliban.
More
Labels: Ethnicity, Sectarionism
posted @ 10:59 AM,
,
The Kingdom in Pakistan
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Daily Times, Pakistan, Saturday, June 20, 2009
COMMENT: Saleem H Ali
During my last visit to Lahore when I interviewed various progressive scholars, they also expressed the strongest concern about America’s unflinching support for Saudi Arabia’s policies, which made them more suspicious of the West’s resolve in tackling extremism.
The assassination of Dr Sarfraz Naeemi at a prominent madrassa in Lahore marks a turning point in Pakistan’s civil strife. The Taliban profess to be “pure” Sunni Muslims, and have targeted Shia mosques and seminaries many times before. However, Maulana Naeemi is the first notable Sunni scholar to be murdered by the Taliban.
More
COMMENT: Saleem H Ali
During my last visit to Lahore when I interviewed various progressive scholars, they also expressed the strongest concern about America’s unflinching support for Saudi Arabia’s policies, which made them more suspicious of the West’s resolve in tackling extremism.
The assassination of Dr Sarfraz Naeemi at a prominent madrassa in Lahore marks a turning point in Pakistan’s civil strife. The Taliban profess to be “pure” Sunni Muslims, and have targeted Shia mosques and seminaries many times before. However, Maulana Naeemi is the first notable Sunni scholar to be murdered by the Taliban.
More
Labels: Islamization, Madrassahs, Saudi Arabia, Sectarionism, Wahhabi Islam
posted @ 9:43 AM,
,
A terrible threat
Monday, June 15, 2009
The News International, Pakistan
Monday, June 15, 2009
The letter sent to an Imambargah in Lahore, and reproduced by this newspaper, says nothing that is very new. It threatens an attack on the place of worship unless Shias stop ‘anti-Islamic’ activities. It insists the Shias are in fact ‘non-Muslims’. What is shocking is that we as a people, and as a state, have done so little to stop such attacks, to act against those who promote hatred for a community that according to some estimates forms around 20 per cent of the country’s Muslim population.
Read More
Monday, June 15, 2009
The letter sent to an Imambargah in Lahore, and reproduced by this newspaper, says nothing that is very new. It threatens an attack on the place of worship unless Shias stop ‘anti-Islamic’ activities. It insists the Shias are in fact ‘non-Muslims’. What is shocking is that we as a people, and as a state, have done so little to stop such attacks, to act against those who promote hatred for a community that according to some estimates forms around 20 per cent of the country’s Muslim population.
Read More
Labels: Sectarionism, Taliban, War on Terror
posted @ 9:17 AM,
,
Now the Muttahida-Haqiqi war
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Daily Times, Pakistan
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Editorial
The target-killing in the last seven days in Karachi reached another peak on Sunday when 13 people were killed, most of them belonging to two factions of the MQM. Earlier, on June 4, the toll was 11 MQM (Haqiqi), two MQM (Altaf), one PPP and one Jama’at-e Islami. This Sunday, MQM-H says seven of its members were killed; the rest were MQM-A members, barring one who was an ANP worker. The Karachi police has arrested a confidant of Baitullah Mehsud with Al Qaeda links who has confessed to plans to cause widespread mayhem in Karachi. A large collection of suicide jackets too has been captured, implying that as many suicide-bombers were expected to be in Karachi, ready to kill innocent citizens to add to the confusion of mindless homicide.
Read More
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Editorial
The target-killing in the last seven days in Karachi reached another peak on Sunday when 13 people were killed, most of them belonging to two factions of the MQM. Earlier, on June 4, the toll was 11 MQM (Haqiqi), two MQM (Altaf), one PPP and one Jama’at-e Islami. This Sunday, MQM-H says seven of its members were killed; the rest were MQM-A members, barring one who was an ANP worker. The Karachi police has arrested a confidant of Baitullah Mehsud with Al Qaeda links who has confessed to plans to cause widespread mayhem in Karachi. A large collection of suicide jackets too has been captured, implying that as many suicide-bombers were expected to be in Karachi, ready to kill innocent citizens to add to the confusion of mindless homicide.
Read More
Labels: Karachi, MQM, MQM Haqiqi, Sectarionism, Violence
posted @ 9:50 AM,
,
Karachi in crisis
The News International, Pakistan
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Words now seem insufficient to describe or to condemn the regular descent into violence we see in Karachi. The most recent round has taken an especially dangerous form, with at least five and possibly up to nine members of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-H) among the 13 people killed in planned, targeted attacks. Within a week, 29 people are reported to have died as a result of such murders. Even more ominously, the ethnic tensions that have this year gripped Karachi on at least two occasions and brought it to a screeching halt as people cower within their homes could resurface again with at least one of those killed stated to be a member of the ANP. That party and the MQM have over the past month been locked in increasingly angry verbal exchanges.
Read More
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Words now seem insufficient to describe or to condemn the regular descent into violence we see in Karachi. The most recent round has taken an especially dangerous form, with at least five and possibly up to nine members of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-H) among the 13 people killed in planned, targeted attacks. Within a week, 29 people are reported to have died as a result of such murders. Even more ominously, the ethnic tensions that have this year gripped Karachi on at least two occasions and brought it to a screeching halt as people cower within their homes could resurface again with at least one of those killed stated to be a member of the ANP. That party and the MQM have over the past month been locked in increasingly angry verbal exchanges.
Read More
Labels: Karachi, Sectarionism
posted @ 9:38 AM,
,
Pakistan: Prachinar, The Valley Of Death
Friday, May 15, 2009
Parachinar is the capital of Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. The area jutting into the Afghan Province of Paktia once served as the summer residence for the Mughal emperors. However the scenic beauty has been overshadowed by the fears of Taliban insurgency after the long Afghan war during the 80s and 90s. Today the Taliban insurgents have possessed the land with a reign of terror, forcing the locals to evacuate in fear.
The insurgency is not a recent event. Blogger Razz provides a quick peek in the past at Waking Life:
Parachinar and Pakistan's other frontier regions have been the victim of a Taliban insurgency ever since the Americans invaded Afghanistan. The ensuing conflict has literally obliterated the tourism industry of that region, and such beautiful places and others (Swat etc.) have sadly been marred by conflict for months now
Read more
The insurgency is not a recent event. Blogger Razz provides a quick peek in the past at Waking Life:
Parachinar and Pakistan's other frontier regions have been the victim of a Taliban insurgency ever since the Americans invaded Afghanistan. The ensuing conflict has literally obliterated the tourism industry of that region, and such beautiful places and others (Swat etc.) have sadly been marred by conflict for months now
Read more
Labels: Pakistan, Para Chinar, Sectarionism, Taliban, Terrorism
posted @ 10:59 AM,
,
