By dragging Islam into a matter such as pronouncing 'Middlesex', information minister has done no service to Islam
LAHORE: Pakistani nationals, especially the ones living abroad, and even those living in the country, are left with no option but to ask each other if we should hide our faces out of shame or laugh out loud at the comments of Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on one of the most reputable areas in the UK. All the Muslims living in Middlesex probably cease to be Muslims, while all mosques there need to be shifted because after simply pronouncing the word, ‘Middlesex’, according to our learned information minister, one has to perform ablution. This recent revelation by him should definitely be termed as the joke of the century. In fact, let’s halt all intellectual discussions by students at various universities and have them discuss the ‘morality’ — not linguistics — of the title, “Middlesex.” By dragging Islam into such a matter and creating such a controversy over it, the information minister has done no service to the greatest religion in the world. His statement will result in more raised fingers at our great religion.
I am sure many of our national leaders, while living in the UK, must have visited Middlesex many times and offered their daily prayers in one of the mosques there. Was that without ablution? Of course not. Wherever Imran Khan’s sons live or study has nothing to do with the Panama leaks, the corruption and the politics of Pakistan. It is the worst kind of political tactic to drag the families of politicians into controversies needlessly.
We are all aware of the historical fact that when someone brought love letters of Jawaharlal Nehru before the Quaid-e-Azam and suggested these be made public, the great Quaid displayed resentment and strictly forbade dragging the personal lives of opponents into politics. However, this minister of ours has no shame in joking about a place where the sons of his opponent supposedly reside and taking a jab at the man. On top of that, he is dragging religion into the mix by saying that one has to perform ablution after pronouncing the word Middlesex. There is every possibility that our elite, including the ruling class of the country, holds expensive properties in Middlesex or in the Virgin Islands. Perhaps, the Ministry of Information should request the British government to change the names of such areas; otherwise, the Pakistani owners of the properties abroad will have to perform ablution all the time.
Aamir Aqil
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2016.
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