Salman Taseer: Pakistan must face up to the enemy within By Praveen Swami 05 Jan 2011 Eight hours before

an officer on Salman Taseer's security detail emptied a Kalas hnikov into his back, the governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab posted hi s own epitaph on Twitter. "I am unafraid of the embers that are flying through the darkness," reads the co uplet by the poet Shakeel Badayuni (in translation), "but I fear that the flamelike bloom of my flowers might reduce my garden to ashes." Mr Taseer's murder makes clear that Pakistan remains on the edge of the abyss. T housands of lives, and billions of pounds, have been lost in an effort to defeat the insurgents who threaten to seize control of the nuclear-armed state. And it is becoming clear that the Pakistani state either isn't willing, or isn't able, to confront the Islamist movement that it has nurtured for decades and which no w threatens to turn the country into a burnt-out dystopia. The police officer who killed Mr Taseer was enraged by his decision to seek clem ency for an impoverished mother of five who is on death row for violating Pakist an's blasphemy laws. In June 2009, Asiya Noreen, a member of the only Christian family in the village of Ittan Wala, was asked to fetch water for a group of wom en working in the blazing sun. Some of the women refused to accept the water, be cause of her low caste, sparking off an argument. Mr Taseer, who visited Mrs Nor een in prison, said she was beaten and gang-raped. Later, the other women involved claimed that she had blasphemed the Prophet Moha mmed, and in November, a judge handed down a death sentence. Pakistani liberals were appalled. Shahbaz Bhatti, the minorities minister, said the charges were "b aseless". Sherry Rehman, an influential politician, sought to amend the blasphem y laws, a move backed by Mr Taseer, who said they were "man-made, not God-made." But the religious Right hit back. The ultraconservative Deoband movement allied with clerics from the Barelvi sect, often claimed to represent a tolerant, antiIslamist tendency in south Asian Islam. In December, the alliance was able to br ing tens of thousands of people on to city streets in defence of the blasphemy l aws. Fearing the clerics' wrath, Pakistan's government panicked. Babar Awan, the just ice minister, announced that he would not countenance amendments to the laws. Da ys before his death, Mr Taseer complained that the government was "not willing t o face religious fanaticism head on". It isn't hard to understand why. Pakistan's political system, regularly disrupte d by military rule, long failed to address the need for development, or to impro ve the chronic inequality that besets the country. Instead, says the Pakistani s cholar Ayesha Siddiqa, the politicians sought the clerics' support, in an effort to legitimise their position. In 1956, Pakistan's first constitution decreed that the country would be an "Isl amic Republic", in which no laws could contravene religious practice. Zulfikar A li Bhutto the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto's father and, ironically, Mr Taseer's mentor went further, declaring Islam the state religion and setting up a council to bring secular law in line with sharia. In 1974, he made it illegal for Ahmadis, an Islamic movement founded in the 19th century, to describe thems elves as Muslims. Over the years, the process continued. Zia-ul-Haq, who deposed and later execute d Mr Bhutto, mandated harsh punishments for "whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo or insinuati on, directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammed" . Nawaz Sharif, the subsequent prime minister, made this offence punishable by d eath. Pakistan is reported to have prosecuted 1,276 individuals for blasphemy between 1986 and 2010 up from nine cases in the period from 1929 to 1982. No death sente nces have so far been carried out, but several people have been murdered while o

n trial. Last summer, Rashid Emanuel, a Christian pastor, and his brother were s hot as they emerged from court. In 2003, Samuel Masih, was beaten to death while on trial by a police officer who wanted "to earn a place in heaven". Efforts to reform these laws have been fitful. General Pervez Musharraf, Pakista n's former military ruler, sought to sidestep the Hadood laws, which require rap e victims to find four male witnesses, but the federal sharia court recently str uck down his reforms. The government has also failed to repeal the Qisas and Diy at Laws, which treat murder as a civil offence allowing influential perpetrators to buy their way out of prison. The events this week, following Mr Taseer's death, illustrate how toxic the clim ate has become. The clerics representing the purportedly moderate Barelvi tradit ion ordered that there "should be no expression of grief or sympathy" over his d eath. Even within Mr Zardari's cabinet, the pro-Islamist voices are becoming str onger. Last month, Attaur Rehman, the tourism minister, described the Taliban as "true followers of Islamic ideology". "Fighting terrorism isn't just about drones and troops," says Rafia Zakaria of A mnesty International. "It's about ensuring respect for the law and human rights. Here, you have people inciting assassination, and others applauding them and th e state refuses to act." Source: Telegraph.co.uk URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamWarWithinIslam_1.aspx?ArticleID=3892 Forward to a friend Print

COMMENTS 1/8/2011 6:45:22 AM A Reader This is the English Version of an article written by Mr. G. Parthasarathy which appeared in todays edition of the Hindi Daily "Nai Duniya."

Growing Religious Fanaticism in Pakistan By G Parthasarathy Though 96% of Pakistans 175 million people are Muslims, laws on b lasphemy enacted during the rule of military dictator General Zia ul Haq are use d frequently to target and harass the small minority of Christians and Hindus. T he infamous blasphemy law can be used to arbitrarily incarcerate anyone who is a lleged to have insulted Islams Holy Prophet or made any derogatory remarks agains t any Muslim holy personage. Those accused of blasphemy are regularly subjected to harassment, threats and attacks. One Christian was sentenced to be hanged mer ely for the factually remarking that the Prophet Mohammeds parents could not have been Muslim, as they died before the Prophet proclaimed Islam. Police, lawyers and even judges are regularly subject to threats and attacks in cases involving blasphemy, where in several cases, people have been sentenced to death on what a re false and fabricated accusations. Where the judges show understanding, those acquitted are forced to flee from their homes, or are killed. In November 2010, Asia Bibi, a poor Christian village woman, was sentenced to be hanged on a charge of blasphemy, following flimsy and obviously motivated charg es levelled against her, of having abused Prophet Mohammed. The evidence in what was an obviously fabricated case was so thin that the sentencing provoked inter national outrage, with the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, vowing to seek a P residential pardon. Pakistans former Information Minister Mrs. Sherry Rehman move d a bill in Parliament to do away with the excesses of Sharia Law. Islamic Parti es immediately launched a nationwide protest, with clerics even offering a rewar d to anyone who would execute Asia Bibi. Television channels broadcast inflammat

ory statements calling for Taseer and Sherry Rehman to be declared as heretics. Amidst fiery rhetoric denouncing him as being a heretic, Punjabs Governor Salman Taseer was assassinated, in cold blood on January 4, by one of his own security guards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who pumped 24 bullets into the man he was designated to protect. The extent of religious fanaticism prevalent in Pakistan can be gauged from the fact that rather than being condemned, Qadri was showered by crowds with flower petals when produced before a Magistrate in Islamabad. Moreover, no notable cler ic in Lahore, including the Khateeb of the famous Badshahi Mosque Maulana Abul K hatir Azad was willing to perform Governor Taseers last rites. Letters to the Ed itors of newspapers and postings on Websites like Face book and Twitter by Pakis tanis across the world, overwhelmingly denounced Taseer and lauded his killer. W hile Pakistani diplomats, officials, politicians and journalists have repeatedly spoken of Pakistan being a moderate Muslim country despite playing host to terror ist groups ranging from the Lashkar e Taiba to the Taliban, the public reaction to Taseers assassination has exposed the dangerous extent to which religious fana ticism and violence are shutting out moderate views. It is interesting that Peop les Party Leader Sherry Rehman has not yet found a single legislator, even from h er own ruling Party, to openly back her efforts to amend blasphemy laws. The gun s and grenades of the Jihadis and suicide bombers are definitely prevailing over the voices of reason and moderation in Pakistan. While Islamic extremism has been a fact of life since the birth of Pakistan, com mencing with riots to declare the Ahmediyas as non-Muslims in the 1950s, the rot really set in when General Mohamed Zia ul Haq overthrew and executed Zulfiqar A li Bhutto. In order to terrorize and contain the influence of Bhuttos Pakistan Pe oples Party, General Zia armed and equipped cadres of Islamic Parties like the Ja mat e Islami. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 led to close c ollaboration between the CIA and ISI, in arming and training radical Islamic gro ups for Jihad in Afghanistan. When the Russians finally withdrew from Afghanista n, Zia and his successors in the Pakistan army commenced using Jihadi groups tha t had emerged for Jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. Jihad in Kashmir soon turned to Ji had against India and across India, with a terrorist strike against the Red Fort in Deli which preceded the December 2001 attack on Parliament, and indeed all a cross India, culminating in the terrorist strike of 26/11 in Mumbai, by the Lash kar e Taiba. The determination of Pakistans army to wage Jihad against India and establish Tal iban extremism in Afghanistan, led to Jihadi groups from Chechnya to the Philipp ines assembling in Pakistan and Afghanistan, for terrorist activities all across the world. This culminated in the terrorist strikes of September 11, 2001 on Ne w York and Washington and led to the Bush Administration launching it global war on terror and, ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan. But the ISI, while profess ing to support the Americans, continued to assist radical groups against India a nd provide support and safe haven to the Taliban leadership and fighters in Paki stan. With extremist groups continuing to receive support from the ISI, it was o nly a matter of time before they established control over the Lal Masjid in the capital Islamabad and started terrorising the capitals population. The attack by the Pakistan army on pro-Taliban radicals in the Lal Masjid in Jul y 2007 led to the deaths of hundreds of the Masjids inmates, including over 300 P ashtun women students studying in the Masjids Madrasssa for women. The pro-Taliba n radicals, who the Pakistan army and ISI had assiduously cultivated for years, turned their guns against the Pakistan army, under the banner of the Tehrik e Ta liban e Pakistan. The Taliban today controls virtually the entire North West Fr ontier province now renamed Pakhtunkhwa. Moreover, pro-Taliban Punjabi groups like the Lashkar e Jhangvi not only targeted Shias, but also have assisted in attack s on military personnel in urban centres in Punjab Province, like Rawalpindi and Lahore. Public support for these groups, however, remains, because of the consi

stent propaganda unleashed by the army that they are waging Jihad against India and are freedom fighters fighting and prepared to die for the Muslims of Kashmir. Adding to these self inflicted wounds, Pakistans economy is growing at barely 3-4 % annually, despite massive foreign aid. Investment in education and literacy is minimal. Unemployed youth brainwashed in Madrassas, find Jihad against India, i n Afghanistan and indeed worldwide, an attractive proposition. In effect, Pakis tan faces a siege within, wherein radicalism, witnessed in the aftermath of Tase ers assassination is steadily gaining ground. The larger issue is that a State fo unded in the name of religion, has turned away from the basic premises of modera tion, on which it was founded. Irfran Hussian, a leading voice for moderation an d toleration in Pakistan aptly noted: When a country is created in the name of fa ith, then inevitably that faith will come to dominate modes of thought and behav iour.

1/7/2011 1:43:42 PM Ghulam Mohiyuddin Deobandies allied to Barlevis! That is a dangerous combination.

1/7/2011 12:49:43 PM Syed Rizvi Not Jinnah. But Bhutto did SR

1/7/2011 8:04:33 AM Abdul Ahad Khan Jinnah and Bhutto were secular leaders but they had to bow to the pressures of t he religious l obby allowing the country to head where it has come today.