Secularism Archive

Constructing a ‘Secular’ Jinnah: New Project for Pakistani Liberals -by Marvi Sirmed: Originally Published at: BAAGHI As a firm believer in cultural roots rather than oneness through religion, August gives me hope. Flags adorn the cities and marketplaces fill up with the echoes of milli naghmas (patriotic songs) sung in the
Is the youth in elite universities in Pakistan radical? – by Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa: Abstract This is a study of the socio-political attitudes amongst youth in elite universities in the three major cities in Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The primary objective was to see whether better education and access to resources made
In support of a secular state in Muslim majority countries – by Hasnain Khan: The following is a short clip of an interview of the Lebanese Shia Muslim scholar Muhammad Hassan Al-Amin. He discusses the need for a secular state, which is quite rare in the Muslim world, particularly within what one would
‘No future for secularism or radical Islam’: An interview with Javaid Ahmed Ghamidi – by Shehrbano Taseer: Related articles: LUBP Archive on Javed Ghamidi Javaid Ahmed Ghamidi does not breathe fire and brimstone. As someone who preaches tolerance and reason, he is not your typical Pakistani religious scholar. And he has had to pay a price
Not unlike Benazir Bhutto, Governor Taseer was martyred because of his belief in a secular and democratic Pakistan – by Rusty Walker: About the author: Rusty Walker is an educator, author, political commentator, ex-military, from a military family, retired college professor, former Provost (Collins College, U.S.A.), artist, musician and family man. Rusty Walker is an ardent supporter of Pakistan. The Tragic
A Rebuttal to Dr. Safdar Mehmood’s article “Did Jinnah Aspire to a Secular Pakistan” – by Naveed Ali: Naveed Ali has contributed the following rebuttal to Dr. Safdar Mehmood’s article “Did Jinnah Aspire to a Secular Pakistan” which you can read here I again strongly condemn the notion used by Dr. Mehmood that these are atheists or
Did Jinnah aspire for a secular Pakistan? – by Dr Safdar Mehmood: Photo: Dawn Related article: A Rebuttal to Dr. Safdar Mehmood’s article “Did Jinnah Aspire to a Secular Pakistan” – by Naveed Ali قائداعظم پر بہتان لگانے والے صبح بخیر…ڈاکٹر صفدر محمود گزشتہ چھ دہائیوں سے یہ بحث جاری ہے
Blasphemy, Asia Bibi and cheap religious emotionalism – by Wajahat Masood:
The conflict within – by Eqbal Ahmad: Once religion becomes a hard political currency it has to be deployed in the political arena by means fair and foul. Those aspirants in politics who lack other political capital - large land holdings , modern education, industry, family
Do we need parental guidance on blogging? An open letter to Pak Tea House and Pakistani blogging community – by Ali Raja: Related Articles: In criticism of LUBP – by Raza Habib Raja Much more than a petition: A critical view on the PTH-LUBP differences – by Qudsia Siddiqui Pak Tea House’s criticism of LUBP Adil Najam and his pseudo-liberals’ outpouring
The (misplaced) wrath of the LUBP hardliners – by Yasser Latif Hamdani: Related articles: Much more than a petition: A critical view on the PTH-LUBP differences – by Qudsia Siddiqui Do we need parental guidance on blogging? An open letter to Pak Tea House and Pakistani blogging community – by Ali
Much more than a pro-Sherry Rehman petition: A critical view on the PTH-LUBP differences – by Qudsia Siddiqui: Related articles: Pak Tea House’s criticism of LUBP Adil Najam and his pseudo-liberals’ outpouring of sympathy for Sherry Rehman – by Sarah Khan Response by PTH: The (misplaced) wrath of the LUBP hardliners – by Yasser Latif Hamdani Some
The Conservatively Hip – by Ayesha Siddiqa: Why are more youth, especially among the relatively affluent segments of society, embracing a greater religious identity and conservatism related to it? Why is it that we find an increasing number of young men and women among the upper-middle
Basic structure myth – By Yasser Latif Hamdani: Thank heavens the apex court in our country has shied away from answering the question of basic structure and binding, as it were, the dreams and aspirations of the future generations of this great state of ours to what
The Statesman Editorial: Jinnah Was right: JINNAH’S  famous address on 11 August 1947 to Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly was supposed to lay the secular foundations for a future Constitution of the country. Jinnah, after all, firmly supported equality of religions and the freedom to practise them
The “Ideology” of Pakistan and Bangladesh: anti-thetical or compatible? – by Shahid Ilyas: The following message depicts exactly – as far as historical records are concerned – the vision of Jinnah for a Pakistani state: “Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved, which
Secularism Debate: A fallacious binary – by Saqlain Imam: The word secularism seems to be the most contentious one in the Pakistani political culture. Anything that is anti-religion or non-religious is dubbed secular; it is understood as a Western concept with no direct connection with Islam; for example,
Taliban: An anathema to Pashtun Nationalism – By Ali Arqam: Antonio Gramsci, an Italian (1891-1937) Marxist thinker, has defined the term hegemony as “the predominance of one social class over others (e.g. bourgeois hegemony). This represents not only political and economic control, but also the ability of the dominant
Why is CJP Afraid of Secularism? – by The Baloch Hal: The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Justice Ifthakar Chaudhary, who was reinstated to his top position after rigorous anti-dictatorship efforts of champions of democracy and pluralism, has stunned everyone with his recent remarks against the Parliament and secularism. The
Help the secular, or face the extremists – by Daud Khattak: Fear of targeted killing by the Taliban knocking at the door of Peshawar has forced the leadership of key secular parties to stay inside, thus providing an open field to the religious and pro-Taliban elements to win the hearts
Chief Justice vs. Straw Man: According to its website, the Supreme Court is “the Court of ultimate appeal and therefore final arbiter of law and the Constitution. It exercises original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its judgments/decisions are binding on all other courts in the country”.
Saving a drowing country needs an ideological shift – by Nasima Zehra Awan: Cross-posted from the Pak Tea House “You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques……..Religion is not the business of the State”. Thus spoke Jinnah, whilst addressing the Constituent Assembly on August
Why Muslims reject modernity- by Khaled Ahmed: Today, nothing negates modernity more than jihad. It undermines the nation-state, and destroys the state that organises it. The scattering of the Pakistani state is owed to it. It is often said that Muslims in the 21st century have
MQM: Ethnicity and Politics of Violence- by Raza Habib Raja: At the onset I would like to acknowledge that I have very mixed feelings about MQM. At one hand, I like its relatively secular approach and its demonstrated commitment to denounce hardliners when everyone else was actually going for
Is LUBP an anti-religion blog? – by Sarah Khan: Lately it has been suggested by a few commentators on this blog, forum and elsewhere that the LUBP is a blog critical of Islam (or religion, in general), and has a la-deen (wrong translation of secular) orientation. Nothing could
Syria’s niqab ban is part of a clash within Islam itself: with thanks : Guardian Far from the heated debates of Europe, Syria has banned the niqab in classrooms, adding another layer to this complex story. Quietly, away from the fanfare that accompanied the French vote on banning the niqab in public, and
Liberal voters, narrow minded leaders – by Farhan Q: لبرل ووٹرز ،تنگ نظر قیادت پنجاب اور لاہور میں بریلوی مکتبہ فکر رکھنے والوں کی اکثریت ہے ،پر وہاں کے لوگوں نے کبھی مذہبی جماعت کو ووٹ نہیں دیے ،مطلب یہ کہ لوگ سیاست اور مذہب کو الگ رکھنا
Apnay lahu ki aag mein jalnay ka waqt hay – by Ahsan Abbas Shah: Blame game always affects our unity as a nation.  5 July 1977 reminds us that how one dictator can divert our national priorities from secularism to terrorism.  Here is an urdu article addressing the blame game:
The nexus between state and religion and the embrace of insanity – by Sherry Rehman: The nexus between state identity and religion is always a dangerous link. When citizens are massacred and abused on the status of their religious identity, then the slide into bestiality is no longer a heartbeat away. It is firmly
Pakistan was made in the name of Quaid’s Islam or Mullah’s Islam? – by Khalid Wasti: ” پاکستان اسلام کے نام پر بنا تھا” قائد اعظم کا اسلام یا مُلا کا اسلام ؟ مذہب کے نام پر سیاست اور مذہب کو سیاسی اغراض و مقاصد کے لیئے استعمال کرنے والا ٹولہ وقتا فوقتا اس بات
Why Pakistan is not a nation and how could it become one – by Pervez Hoodbhoy: Illustrations by Saira Wasim Source: Himal South Asian, June 2010 Pakistan has been a state since 1947, but is still not a nation. More precisely, Pakistan is the name of a land and a people inside a certain geographical
Are you ashamed of being secular? – by Ahmad Nadeem Gehla: LUBP Exclusive on BB’s birthday Social media is playing a vital role as a medium of communication which promotes critical thinking, sharing of new ideas and tolerance for dissenting opinions. Critical thinking includes identification of prejudice, propaganda, deception, distortion
Neo-Islam in Pakistan: we need to confront it with full force – by Dr Muhammad Awais Khalil: Thanks to General Zia for the forced islamization of Pakistan, pouring bags full of US dollars and Saudi riyals and mushroom growth of madrassas of a particular ideology [wahabism and deobandism] which has created a generation who has a
Is the Koran a constitution? – by Dr. Abbas Zaidi: One of our dearest friends, writer and intellectual Dr. Abbas Zaidi has on the LUBP  team’s request, exclusively written this well argued piece for our readers. I on behalf of LUBP am grateful to him for sharing his efforts with us, and
On Isamization of Pakistan cricket team – by Farhan Qaiser: Former coach of Pakistan cricket team, Intikhab Alam, confessed to having heard that a group of “six to seven” players had gone to former captain Inzamamul Haq’s house before the UAE tour last November where they “took oath on
Hypocrisy, self-centred delusion, or a simple case of Islamism now losing its bearings? – by Nadeem Paracha: Lost bearings? A few weeks ago a young lady wrote a moving blog for dawn.com called ‘Confessions of a hijabi,’ she predictably rambled on about how painful it has been for her to hold on to her hijab in
Ministry of Religious Affairs of Pakistan: A hard look at the supernatural – by Nadeem Khan: Today, I was amazed to see that the whole website of our Ministry of Religious affairs of Pakistan is as clean, as may be my heart, void of any religious belief (in the insightful eyes of a moulvis). I
Pashtun nationalism — by Dr Manzur Ejaz: Most of the time, secular Pashtun nationalists have highlighted their economic deprivation. But if the Pashtuns’ share in the army, the bureaucracy and the economy in Pakistan is higher than the proportion of their population, such an argument becomes
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to transform from the Zia generation to the Jinnah generation – by Gulmina Bilal Ahmad: The Zia generation can best be described as the confused generation. They have seen public flogging, but were told that it is best to forgive. They have experienced newspapers being censored but were told that it is best to
Do we need secularism? — by Dr Khalil Ahmad: For Libertarians, religious freedom is an inseparable part of this natural personal freedom that the Constitution of 1973 so purposefully protects. Protecting religious freedom as a fundamental right is not only morally, spiritually, and intellectually of greater merit but