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Fear itself
We are looking at the wrong horrors. There is terror to be found in the bullet smashed corpse of the Governor.
The writer is a standup comedian sami.shah@tribune.com.pk
We are looking at the wrong horrors. There is terror to be found, no doubt, in the bullet smashed corpse of the Governor. There is even fear to be elicited from the grotesquely smiling face of his killer. But the act of murderous violence and the casualty it resulted in are not the horrors that should keep us screaming into the night. After all, how can you be afraid of something you expected? Salmaan Taseer expected it. He knew he could die of this cause and we knew he would be killed by it too. Nor will this be the last life lost in the clash between intellectual humanism and religious savagery. The act itself, of killing someone who tries to make a stand against bigotry and hatred, is as old as the human need for freedom from oppression.
So don’t look at the assassination with horror. Understanding what it represents in terms of sacrifice maybe, but not horror. That sense of foreboding, that sheer bowel-loosening, heart-crushing fright; that should be reserved for the reactions to the death. Scream so hard that your throat bleeds when you hear the joy in every Barelvi scholar’s voice as he praises the murderer. Bite your knuckles until teeth scrape bone when you realise the same scholars have never once raised even a whisper of sympathy for any of the children raped, women beaten and burned or minorities killed. These are the self-styled authorities of religion and this is the belief they peddle. And yet they scare me even less than the masses who huddle around them, inhaling deeply the toxic vapour of fanaticism that is on offer. These are the ones who make me so scared that when the fight or flight instinct is triggered by looking at them, inevitably flight wins out. Like zombies that feast on hope, they are rising up out of every shadow, spreading their infection with every bite. For too long, we thought we were safe from them because they were too easily recognisable. Their fanatical intent displayed with pride in their appearance. But they have shifted into more subtle creatures, more disturbing in their casual hypocrisy. Look around you now, they are everyone you see.
They create pages on Facebook celebrating the killer. They claim to love religion while refusing to develop any understanding for what it may preach. They celebrate extremism while refusing to see how it will swallow them whole, just as it will those who condemn it. They are pausing between bouts of hysterical laughter to justify the murder. They are intellectual suicide bombers who kill rational thought and humanism with each explosive idea formed in their originality-starved brains. They are Meher Bokhari, Aamir Liaquat, Irfan Siddiqui, Fareed Paracha, Ansar Abbasi. They are your co-worker, your friend, your mother. They are ignorance. They are stupidity. And worst of all, they are legion.
I remember in Islamiat class once, years ago, the teacher started listing signs of the Apocalypse. The one that he stressed was: “Religious (Islamic) knowledge will be taken away (by the death of people of religious knowledge), and religious ignorance will prevail.” He explained this as people ignoring the prohibitions of alcohol and illicit fornication. I now understand this was actually referring to people using a religion created for enlightenment and respect as a weapon that dispenses bigotry, hatred and oppression.
I won’t be frightened by Salmaan Taseer’s death because I know there won’t be time to stare in horror at everyone who died, and will die, while making a righteous stand. We will have time to reflect on our suppressed fear when Aasia Bibi is freed. When the blasphemy law, is amended so it cannot be used as a force of discrimination and abuse. Then, and only then, can we look upon horror and say we were not scared by it.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2011.
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Reader Comments (63)
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“Religious (Islamic) knowledge will be taken away (by the death of people of religious knowledge), and religious ignorance will prevail.”
The definition of a ghazi in this era of religious ignorance is a coward who terrorizes and kills unsuspecting, unarmed, helpless people. An untrustworthy snake who riddles with bullets the very person whom he pledges to protect.
This is an era of darkness deprived of enlightenment, when trust is eroded, control and blackmail are the weapons, and fear is peddled in the name of religion. There is no vision and hence no hope. Nothing short of divine intervention reverse the course of such utter decay and despondency. The matter is now beyond human hands. The fight is now between the devil and God himself.Recommend
I am really scared to see people celebrating the death. This is alarming, but NOTHING will hapen We are immuned. Asia Bibi will be die in Jail and they would make a story to end all this.Recommend
Sami.. we are speechless..Recommend
Dear Mr. Shah,
I respect your views but i would like to put forward a question.
what would have been the reaction of our President Mr. Zaradari if this Aasia Bibi would have been the murderer of Benazir bhutto…. would Salman Taseer have still gone out of the way to support her and patted her back and assure her that he will make things right for her? Would he still have gone against the findings of the Police and the decision of our courts just to prove Aasia Bibi innocent? He was bold enough to openly declare her innocent even though she had confessed more than once that she had disrespected the Holy Prophet (SAW) in front of our independent courts.Recommend
Re: “Religious (Islamic) knowledge will be taken away (by the death of people of religious knowledge), and religious ignorance will prevail.”
The definition of a ghazi in this era of religious ignorance is a coward who terrorizes and kills unsuspecting, unarmed, helpless people. An untrustworthy snake who riddles with bullets the very person whom he pledges to protect.
This is an era of darkness deprived of enlightenment, when trust is eroded, control and blackmail are the weapons, and fear is peddled in the name of religion. There is no vision and hence no hope. Nothing short of divine intervention reverse the course of such utter decay and despondency. The matter is now beyond human hands. The fight is now between the devil and God himself.Recommend
It is hard to label this feeling. This is a combination of fear, hopelessness and sadness. This is the feeling I had while reading the column. Very hard to remain positive and focused. I am in Canada and looking at the Pakistani state of things as an objective observer and try to deduct any meaning out of these events.
How people can go this low? How simply they willingly refuse to see the light because they love darkness? Are they humans or turned into zombies, already? Any story written on the state of mind of any ordinary (still sane) Pakistani will be a master piece of tragedy.Recommend
You can bite your knuckles or poke your eyes with tooth pick all day long or till the cows come home; however, it won’t do you any good you are just an armchair capitaan. You Sir represent the elite of Pakistan who sit snug in thier family rooms and pontificate till blue in the face. But that is the extent of your fury. Hope you feel better!Recommend
Bold,moving and targeted piece, shah ji- with all my respect and agreement to your thoughts, lets keep on going.
Aaj bazaar mein paa bajolan chalo
chashm e num, jaan e shorida kafi naheeen
tohmat e ishq-e-poshida kaafi nahin.
Aaj Bazaar mein Paa bajolaan chalo (Faiz)Recommend
Excellent piece.Recommend
Awesome!!!Recommend
Situation for Pakistan is hopeless at best. Mullah brigade can scare everyone and kill anyone in the ‘land of the most filthy pure’. What I am afraid of that mullahs are inching closer towards grabbing power through back door using religion. Once mullahs grab power then the whole world is going to worry and raid Pakistan to send us back to stone age i.e. no electricity, running water, roads etc. Mullahs should be careful; they can scare Pakistani masses but will run wearing burrkas when bombs start raining down from the sky.
I salute the writer for very objective analysis of the situation in my former homeland.Recommend
Dude this is a reckless piece. I love the article, but it puts you in unnecessarily in harms way. Self censorship is needed in this land of the insane.Recommend
@Mawali:
The very fact that this article has been written is a positive step forward. No effort in this direction should go unlauded. Discussion leads to action after all and it is wrong to criticize this commendable article as armchair pontification. A thing to bear in mind is that all revolutions or change start first with ideas. Philosophers, writers, thinkers have proved to be the architects of nations and agents of change throughout history. Who knows what idea may spur our apathetic nation and desentisized populace to action? Do not belittle any effort.Recommend
There is nothing shocking or scary here. Would you have been in shock if they had murdered Salman Rushdie? What about the cartoonists? No, you would have seen a silent condoning because you have already absorbed the shock when they have called for the murder. You have already normalized that ‘it is written in scripture’, it is God’s way. So why be scared or get shocked when it has happened already? It makes no difference to these murderers if the culprit is a Pakistani or a Hindu. Pakistanis are simply not capable of raising to the dialog, you hear the silence in the Middle East over it? What does the seat of Sunni Islam say about these murder calls in Al Azhar? Any word? No.Recommend
An extremist zombie apocalypse.Recommend
@ Mawali
you sir are a massive hypocrite…. .. remember the power of the pen is stronger than the power of the sword.. But i doubt you will understand..Recommend
Aptly expressed.Recommend
@Mawali He is writing a column criticizing the blasphemy law with his name and picture right there. Which means he is allowing himself to be targetted by extremists for his belief in what is right. what have you done?Recommend
@Saeed
I’m sorry mate but firstly, how on earth did Benazir come into this? Had Aasia Bibi killed Benazir she would have been a terrorist and a murderer and the Blasphemy Law would be the least of anybody’s concerns.
@Mawali
Dude that just doesn’t help anybody. Speaking out against evil and injustice and calling it like it is is the least anybody can do and frankly Sami here is doing his job. He’s a writer in a newspaper and it’s his JOB to comment on happenings in society and the world. He’s not an armchair expert because he’s HERE and he’s saying what he thinks, with his name and face above it, to the world. What you’re doing is just being unhelpful.Recommend
media is using its powers in wrong wayz there should be check and balance on it after all ALLAH knows well about salman taseer we as a human being cannot say any thing about prophet pbuh and ALLAH its religious matterRecommend
Saeed
The answer to your question is simple. There is a sharp qualitative difference between murdering the governor of sind and slandering a man who has been dead for over a thousand years. The former is worthy of a legal trial. The latter is at best the occasion for a an exchange of words between two people. Hope the simplicity of my explanation is able to penetrate your convoluted psyche.
Also I’m not completely in agreement with this article. The author is painting all those who are gathering religious followers around as evil mavens who preach hate 24/7. While I personally am an atheist (though born and raised Muslim, until I came to my senses), I would suspect that given the dynamics of the situation, most mullahs just go along with what the next mullah is doing, because they are cowardly, and as sheepish and idiotic as most of their own followers. A lot of them are not actively promoting hatred and it isn’t a total conspiracy…they are just refusing to pick one side and are playing both, much like our politicians.
And yes, Mawali, the elite of Pakistan sit at home and suck their thumbs, and idiots like you run around setting fires in the streets because you really can’t think of anything better to do to express your sad and frustrated egos. But let’s not forget, the elites are also creating the jobs and running most of the industries and businesses that are creating the wealth that you, yes, even you, are sucking on the tits of, even as you stumble into your job (if you have one) around noon or 1pm every day. If you kill all of us, you plebs who are left are going to be sitting around with your thumbs up your asses and even if you won’t be getting bombed by foreign powers for decades, you’ll be ostracized for a very long time, maybe decades, before the apparatus is in working order again, or the rest of you kill each other, whichever comes first. Face it, the people on your side have much less credibility than the people on our side do in Washington–and we don’t have a lot. Till then, sleep well and try and stay warm during this sad new cold war within our borders.Recommend
Mystic, you are disgusting and very arrogantRecommend
@Saeed: Am not sure if i get what you are trying to put forth.
Am not a muslim but I respect all faiths even though am, for all practical purposes, an atheist. Am wondering if someone here can tell me the difference between the Holy Koran and the Shariah.
Does true Islam really advocate a death sentence for those blasphemous? Does it apply to only muslims or even non-musims? A christian or a person of any other faith has no business asking muslims to adhere to their (non-muslim) beliefs so why should muslims expect the opposite? I was under the impression that as the youngest religion Islam is far more tolerant, egalitarian and pure (in the sense that we human beings have had less time to pollute it – hot heads and idiots exist in all religions).Recommend
Abdur Rehman, your religion also teaches you not to judge people.Recommend
Some comments are really scary.Pakistan never ceases to surprise.What will happen if you kill people who do not agree to your views. I Guess the world will be one big silent graveyard with no views.DisgustingRecommend
To all the wondrous people who have the audacity to argue in favour of Taseer’s murder, well HATS OFF!! THAT is precisely the sort of people we need; who understand the importance of celebrating murder and those who can inspire a comparison between an assassination and an alleged act of verbal slander without realizing how utterly dumb they really are!
O wise ones! The future of Islam just met its darkest hour!Recommend
When the structure of the state crumbles creating a vacuum something has to fill this void.
The politicians and the army having failed, opportunists in religious garb and those riding on their coat tails are making their move to fill this void.
Undoubtedly a frightening picture.Recommend
qadree have done good.because any one how refused the shan rasool ana against it behave him like that.love you mumtaz qadreeRecommend
If a religion and its prophet need “protection” by human laws and guns, God help both of them!Recommend
Why can’t people have the basic common sense to realize that Taseer did not indulge in ‘blasphemy’ at any point. He was supporting someone ACCUSED of it.
So that vile psychotic freak who killed him wasn’t ‘defending’ or ‘avenging’ anything. He was just killing, because he felt like it. He needs to be hanged. Because that’s no less than he deserves.
Oh, and by the way, MURDER is a much bigger offence and sin than any other. Amazing how some people miss that in their crazed zeal.
As for people (and I use the word loosely) like muhammad rizwan, I’ve attempted to extract some sort of coherence from your post and what I’ve found is vile. You ‘love’ that criminal for what he did? Don’t be surprised when a brigade of mullahs storms your door down eventually and decides to decaptitate you because, according to them, you’ve violated some rule of religion. I guess the rest of us should celebrate then, too? After all, it’s all in the service of Islam, isn’t it?Recommend
An excellent piece Sir, couldn’t agree more.Recommend
First of all I must say it’s beautifully written…
And I agree with the above comment that murdering a human being is the biggest sin. Although the silencing of liberal voices by extremists is nothing new, it is shocking to see how many educated, net-savvy people support the killing of Salman Taseer. The author has rightly said that in the past, it was easy to recognise extremist elements from their mere appearance, but today one just can’t tell. They are everywhere…one of us…educated and well-bred, you would think they are above such things but such is the lure of religious fundamentalism that everyone is vulnerable. I wonder if we’ll ever witness peace and harmony in this world…Recommend
@Abdur Rahman, you are almost there, just dig more into Qu’ran and find why you should not gloat over another human being’s senseless murder and why you should uphold the sanctity of justice by condemning the crime of any time. Read it, it’s there in the Qu’ran, just look deep.Recommend
@saeed
you speak with a point of view of a man whos been wronged more then a few times however you have logic in your words in more then one occasion.
@Abdur Rehman
hats of to saying the obvious even though its our latest trend to raise any dead sinner into a saint you paint it in black and white and il agree with you on that one however he will be missed not due to some love that we shared for him but because of the necessity of his existence and the impact of his death. adding to what saeed already said he was after all a business tycoon and an economically influential person and im sure anyone with half a brain can appreciate how volatile our economy is and what good can we do once were down to fighting for basic necessities. his death is is not just the death of his own but a message that even the powerful (even though curropt) can be hurt by the extreamists and anyone who says otherwise will be killed just like that for the plague of fanaticism has spread like a zombie apocalypse (ahh the irony)
@article overall really good balanced view overall
@muhammad rizwan
i really doubt if you even bothered to read at all … cause your responding more like a 12 year old kid who is as narrow minded as a wood plank
@Fatima
sure his style of talking might seem arrogant but hey news flash hes telling the crude truth and instead of focusing on the messengers accent listen how about we listen to whats it saying be try to avoid as many casualties in this impending war ?
the lines have been drawn because thats how the ignorant think draw lines fight em to death and in the end they win …Recommend
Sami sahab, very few people left in Pakistan of your kind. Why you are inviting your end by writing such a article. No war can be own by dying. You have the gut man. take careRecommend
correction i meant to agree with mystic not saeed sry read wrong name :pRecommend
Here is a example. If you pass two people saying bad things about the third person and you happen to be standing close you will automatically form a opinion. And the next time you happen to have meet this third person you may have an attitude towards him. West has ridiculed Jesus – Hazrat Essa “peace be upon him” just because have opened up his personality for free discussions. Please checks the sites below for reference.
http://synthesis.net/2008/03/24/tis-the-season-my-top-10-favorite-jesus-jokes-happy-easter-monday/
http://www.chacha.com/question/what-are-three-offensive-jesus-jokes
Repealing the law will set a precedence and we wont be able to control what will go after that.
I am for the Blasphemy Law under severe check and balances. And made sure that innocents are protected. And there should not be a death penalty.Recommend
@Richa, the educated liberal would have been silent if they had murdered Rushdie or the cartoonist. That’s the whole point! They were silent when the local clergy was offering money to murder, they were silent when they blew up Ahmadi mosque with people in there. The educated liberal of Pakistan is a myth, they are as misguided as any extremist.Recommend
@u48998: Whay an extremist mind you have. Rushdie and Taseer are totally different poeple. Taseer has never been blasphemous. You are so deeply religious in your faith that the reality seems artificial to you. CAN’T YOU SEE WE ARE DYING USELESSLY. If Islam values its ideology more than a human life then I think there lies a big problem which you cannot see. You are a very good example of religious brigotry. Who see his/her religion the best.Recommend
Rushdie and cartoonists were at least not murderers. Please value human life. How easy it is for us to absorb the idea of human killing. Ironically, we are fighting in the name who happened to be the most merciful. Have we read wrong all about Prophet or these extremist have got a better scripture of Islam to follow.Recommend
@ Himanshu Mehta
Unfortunately what we are seeing is not at all Islam — let alone the wrong Islam. True Islam is very tolerant. There were two Islams right after the death of Prophet Muhammad. One was of Yazidi or Abu Sufyani Islam and one of the Hussaini Islam. I am making my own terminoligies to make my point clear. Unfortunately Yazidi Islam is what we are seeing now.
Try to get the knowledge of Hussaini Islam and you will be astonished to see how much dust was put on the sun to hinder the light.Recommend
Salam(it means islam is the religion of peace).So try not to destroy the peace of muslim land.Leave it wich one is on the right way(salman or mumtaz).Law makers make situations.V wil know later.Love pkRecommend
@Mubarak
Very correct analysis. I believe that these mullah are working for their lords. Governments who want to bomb Pakistan have send these mullahs to prepare the ground for them.
Media and mullahs are on a mission. This is nothing to do with religion or the love of Prophet. This is the worst exploitation of religion since the age of Banu Ummaya.Recommend
please, let’s not call these people ‘religious’, ‘scholars’ or ‘islamic’Recommend
Death of the governor is a tragic state of affairs.
However, please note that the woman he was supporting was sentenced by a court of Punjab and Pakistan which was not a mullah court. And it was not an act of bravery mister governor showed.
Every other day, thousands of Pakistanis die in bomb blasts. How many of them received attention of the good late governor.Recommend
What Mr Qadri committed has nothing to do with Islam. Quran doesn’t suggest any such measure, then why do some of the muslims are glorifying the act? The answer to all the conflicts is in sharia, but unfortunately we don’t know the true meaning of Islam. My countrymen and muslim brothers, please study Islam, and you will find answers to all current illnesses. May Allah grant us wisdom to embrace the right no matter what price we have to pay.Recommend
@Sonia, here we go, so now I am the springboard? Bounce on me all you want, but when you don’t condemn the potential murder of Rushdie, than you won’t condemn the murder of Asia Bibi either. Just get the facts straight. Taseer was murdered because he was supporting Asia Bibi. Where are the liberals condemning the potential murder of this Christian? How far is she from Rushdie/Cartoonists and how far Taseer was from Rushdie/Cartoonists? Think clearly and you will see a triangle forming. Besides, heard any conspiracy theories yet, no CIA/RAW/Mosad involved in the background with this Qadri guy? They wouldn’t garland the enemy, would they?Recommend
I agree with :
Jumma Gul Khan
Jan 6, 2011 – 2:53AM
Dude this is a reckless piece. I love the article, but it puts you in unnecessarily in harms way. Self censorship is needed in this land of the insane.
the only lesson from this terrible tragedy is “leave pakistan if you believe in free speech or moderation. ……… and……… don’t join a group of ‘bible bashers’ (for want of better terminology) when you do find a new home in the west!!!!!!!Recommend
@u48998: I am against the murder of Asia Bibi. Open your eyes and see the stuff written aganst Asia Bibi’s punishment. I am liberal AND I HATE KILLING. Cartoonist and Ruishdie are alive and enjoying their career. What is the fault of this poor woman? Only that she is born in your country of ‘islamic republic’. Sickness.Recommend
@u48998: Human like is precious. Please value living people and understand the agony and plight of poverty and illiteracy. You Islam will never finish, however, people will be victimized in the name of Islam. Please open your eye and mind. I beg you hate killing and stop being fundamentalist.Recommend
@Abdul Rehman: I wish you could just understand the meaning of your name only. I think it means the one who loves human beings. You are the total opposite of your name.Recommend
@Abdul Rehman
Your name means servant of the Most Benficient . The attribute of Allah (SWT), Rehman, mean the one who gives without asking. For example, air is given by Ar-Rahman for living things to breathe without asking. Similarly the gift of life is given by Allah, the Ar-Rehman without asking.
Are you sure you are Abdul Rahman ??Recommend
Playing God and opposing blasphemy — hypocrites trying to fool Allah ..Recommend
@Mystic
OMG! you out blasphemed Asia Bibi and Rushdie! Cheers!Recommend
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am not a muslim and am writing from across the border. Any religion does not preach violence is my understanding. The people who are indulging in violence in the name of religion are basically doing no good to their own religion. We are all humans and humanity should be our basic trait but alas that is not to be. Any human does not have any right to kill another human being. There is no other animal species known in this world who is out to destroy their own existence. We are worse than animals when we rejoice the killing of another human beings.Recommend
@Humanity: You put it better than me. Such an irony. All these names have lost their meanings in this mess. I wish we could just understand the spirit of these names only.Recommend
We are not sure about this Bibi, whether she committed blasphemy or not. It is for our courts to decide, not us. But then why did Salman Taseer say what he did. Why did he call this a black law? It is not a black law and I condemn anyone who calls this law a black law. Salman Taseer may have been a liberal but it does not allow anyone to call the law of ALLAH as black. As far as your contention that we as a nation have become more and more bigoted, there can be no two opinions about it. We have turned into extremists but to call love of Prophet as extremism is not proper.Recommend
Sami, bravo on writing one from the heart, so agree with your thoughts.
What shocks me is how cool as a cucumber that killer is after taking a life.
Life it seems has no value for us any more, case in point, the day in day out reporting of thieves, etc being killed by angry mobs. Our people have lost their focus and what REALLY scares me is that any one is ready to mete out justice, to the length of taking a life even, which is the biggest blasphemy of all. The Qur’an states that the biggest sin is to take a life …. so who is the true blasphemer?!Recommend
@Ameer Hamza, “law of ALLAH” is a lie. This is no law of Allah, it is not even mentioned in the Qu’ran. Don’t fool yourself, be informed.Recommend
I admit to being scared. I am scared of speaking my mind for the fear that it will elicit shouts of anti islam and edicts of wajib-ul-qatl. I am scared of talking reason to this insane mob. I fear that reason and arguments will be considered as anti pakistan and anti islam propaganda and a brain washed bigot might just find it tempting to go for his gun and shoot me whilst I put my points across (similar in nature to Taseer) and vanish within the supporting lot of millions of other hypocrites that call this country home. I am gob smacked witnessing the daily events unfolding within Pakistan and the reaction of the silent non-existent majority. The silence is in fact deafening and speaks of the anarchy that we are heading towards. I fear for the safety of world at large as these brain washed bigots wont stop at killing and maiming all within this citadel but will ensure there crimes against innocent people reach to every corner of the globe. I fear for many Faisal Shehzad’s in the making and how this will affect the muslims globally. This country is heading towards anarchy and failure. I am tired of reasoning with loud, indoctrinated, brain washed and intellectually retarded self victimised lot of hypocrites that justify every murder, suicide bombing, destruction of public property in the name of islam and jihad.
I have lost hope.
HarisRecommend
Normally don’t respond to these but Ameer Hamza’s comments have put me in a bit of a mood, so this is largely addressed to him and anyone else who reads this without having taken the time to understand the details of what is happening.
@Ameer Hamza: It’s not Allah’s law. Explain what that is please? The Quran doesn’t state any punishment for blasphemy and the few Hadith cases used as vague justifications are actually more focused on not questioning the authority of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by people during his lifetime. But that is still irrelevant to the point at hand. Truth be told, if someone wants to twist the words of the Quran and Hadith to justify their intolerance then they probably will.
The second issue that comes up is, can you condemn a non-Muslim for blasphemy? A Christian, whether you like it or not, does not believe in any the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Is then their entire existence blasphemous? Is everyone other than a Muslim committing blasphemy just by existing?
There is also, of course, the sheer audacity involved in presuming you can decide who is and is not a Muslim (as have many of the Mullah-league). Such a judgment is God’s to make and one of the definitions of blasphemy is “the crime of assuming to oneself the rights or qualities of God”. So haven’t those who called Salman Taseer and Sherry Rehman non-Muslim then committed blasphemy themselves.
Unfortunately these discussions are inherently academic because the law already is in place and its enforcement has already resulted in many innocents being victimized. I say “innocents” because I refuse to believe anyone would rationally dare to insult Islam or it’s Prophet in Pakistan. It just beggars belief.
The real issue here is what do the critics of the Blasphemy Law, in its current incarnation, want? Maybe some of them, in an ideal world, would like it gone altogether since they see the lack of sense in it. But no one is currently saying this. Everyone knows that such a change is not possible without serious, open discussion by the religious and legal authorities. Something unlikely to ever occur in Pakistan. Even Salman Taseer wasn’t asking for this. Sherry Rehman still isn’t. What everyone is asking for is that the law be amended. That it be written in a way that it protects against the possibility of misuse and puts the burden of proof on the accuser, nor the accused. That is what Salman Taseer meant when he called it a “black law”. That it is a law which is open to misuse and abusing the rights of citizens of Pakistan. Should he have been more careful in his phrasing? Probably. But then it was his opinion and shouldn’t there have been debate with him over his use of the phrase as opposed to just shooting him dead?
No one is calling “love of prophet” extremism. What they are saying is enshrining the oppression of minorities and suppression of free and fair justice through a systematic campaign of violence and fear-mongering is extreme.
I hope that clears things up for you. Sorry for droning on like this but I would much rather there be a concerted effort to clear up misunderstanding, instead of the usual mud-slinging that goes on in these comments pages.Recommend
@ Sami Shah:
Kudos mate for articulating it so succinctly. We need more of your types to be generous with their time by propagating the message of kindness, compassion, empathy and above all commonsense and all through the voice of reason.
I dont believe that those that have already made up their mind off the back of a sermon/ edict of an illiterate maulvi will find reasonable arguments as convincing enough but then there are quite a lot of those that are still searching for sanity and a modicum of balance. Those are the ones that will benefit with the comments like yours.
God bless
HarisRecommend
Great article. And so totally, totally agree with Mystic. Kudos!Recommend