LAHORE:
A lawyer has approached the court because he wants an FIR registered against the administration of the National College of Arts and publishers of an art journal for “promoting homosexuality and mocking religious values by publishing nude photographs and obscene articles”.
Advocate Abid Ali has filed the petition, through his counsel Advocate Mumtaz Ahmed Mangat, in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sheikh Sajjad Ahmed. The judge on Friday issued a notice for June 12 to the Old Anarkali SHO on the petition that seeks registration of an FIR against 14 people for publishing ‘objectionable material’ in the journal Sohbet.
Ali said that he had recently come across the third issue of the journal that is described as a journal of contemporary arts and culture. He submitted that in the issue, he read an article ‘Shedding the Fig Leaf’ by Asim Akhtar. He said he was shocked when he read the article and saw the prints of the paintings. It was obscene, he said, adding that the author had tried to promote homosexuality and had mocked Islamic values and ethics.
Such obscene writings and paintings hurt the sentiments of Muslims should not be allowed to be circulated, the petitioner said. He warned that such publications would lead to riots.
Advocate Ali told the court that the journal was published under the supervision of the administration of the National College of Arts. He said that the journal is a joint venture of the National College of Arts and One Nine Two (Pvt) Ltd, which he said is headed Muhammad Ali.
He has named members of the editorial board – Atteqa Ali, Nazish Ataullah, Saroosh Irfani and Ayesha Jatoi – designer Hasnat Mehmood, copy editor Liana Krissoff, art critic Asim Akhtar, Portraitors Muhammad Ali, Anwar Saeed, Samlam Toor, Syed Faraz Ali, Ahsan Masood and chief executive of the publishing company One Nine Two (Pvt) Ltd as respondents.
He approached the SHO of the police station concerned for the registration of an FIR, he said, but claimed that the SHO had ignored his request. He prayed the court to direct the Old Anarkali SHO to register an FIR against the respondents.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (8)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Can we have a copy of tha magazine scanned and published on Internet. That would be wonderful !!!
As probably the youngest and most ill experienced of the infamous twelve, though i am thrilled to be made part of this list, nevertheless i must admit that i am a little scared and nervous as well now. I do hope that this does not blow out of proportion...
Half of the county will be tempted too become a homosexual after reading, and looking at the OBSCENE paintings!
while i was reading this... the first thing that came in my mind was "Our case against Manto" by Muhammad Hanif. Like he said "We, sir, have become a rape-positive republic."
Crimes are happening here all the times, including sex related crimes. How many of those crimes are instigated or caused by institutions like N.C.A.? Unfortunately the gay thing has proverbially been associated with the clergy.
I often wonder how someone finds the motivation to go through court proceedings which are downright tiresome in Pakistan for something as harmless as that. I highly doubt the man has even read the journal. And if he has, I imagine him keeping meticulous notes of the things he should be offended at; a list that would give serious competition to the notorious PTA list of banned words.
Good going. Molvi happened to booze, now everyone drinks at home. Molvi happened to prostitution, now there's a dozen hanging around eateries. Molvi happened to gambling, every locality has a den. Now if Molvi also happens to art, there's going to be a lot more anxiety, trapped minds, and frustration in this country. But then, there's also no cure for stupidity.
What absolute rubbish. For whatever artistic expression there is left in Pakistan, there is always somebody ready to trample all over it in the name of religious values, political nonsense, or some other concocted story. Music, art, culture - all getting bottle necked into a barely breathable spot. .
Abid Ali needs to get a life and fight real cases. Not try and get his name in the newspaper. From the 14 people listed in the FIR, most of them are those that I have worked very closely with and I can vouch for their intellect and good intent, and the fact that their agenda is not to destroy the moral fabric of this hypocritical society.
Long Live NCA. Down with these fascists!