Why did Pakistani media boycott Brigadier Hussain Abbas’ funeral?
By Omar Khattab in Lahore
Last week Brigadier Hussain Abbas was killed by the Taliban in the Waziristan area. The newspapers wrote as usual about the “martyrdom” of an army officer at the hands of the “militants” and not the Taliban. But the electronic media was even more curt. The news anchors vaguely spoke about the martyrdom of Brigadier Hussain Abbas, which was very unusual given that death of a high-level officer is discussed ad nauseum in the media as a part of the ideological-nationalist myth about the role of the Army in Pakistan’s “nation building”.
Last Saturday Brigadier Hussain Abbas’ dead body was brought to his native village near Gujranwala for burial. The media as usual descended on the area interviewing people and relatives of the brigadier. Some journalists even forced his little kids to speak about their father and made them cry by asking sensitive qurestions (“Will you miss your father?”) which was an extremely heartless thing to do. But then this is common in Pakistan.
What was interesting to know that not a single channel showed the actual burial and/or the funeral prayer of the brigadier, which was unprecedented because the media always shows these two events only to prove the Islamic side of martyrdom. But Brigadier Hussain Abbas was not given this honor. And the reason is not hard to find: He was a Shia Muslim.
Since the Talibanic journalists, backed by Saudi and Al-Qaeda money and facilitated by the ISI, took over Pakistan post 9/11 (though they were in the field before 9/11, but not in command), the Shia suffering in Pakistan has been ignored. Everyone knows that the Taliban consider Shias kafir/inidel and routinely carry out acts of Shia carnage. But the media has never condemned the Taliban. This carnage is backed by the Deobandi-Wahabi fatwas that those who kill the Shias will go to paradise straightaway. Corrupted by petrodollars of the Wahabi Saudis and the drug money of the Al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Urdu media has turned complicit in the Shia persecution. Although the Saudi royal family and the Al-Qaeda are enemies, they are one when it comes to the hatred of the Shias. Both are Wahabi.
The Urdu media’s boycott of the funeral of Brigadier Hussain Abbas was not an isolated incident. In 2008-9 the Taliban captured hundreds of Pakistan army soldiers in Swat. They separated Shia soldiers from Sunni soldiers. They gave every Sunni soldiers one thousand rupees each and asked them to go home. But they lined up every Shia soldier and slaughtered him. This is why, even today the place where the beheadings of the Shias were carried out is knows as “Khooni Chawk” or Bloody Square. At that time the media completely blacked out the beheadings. It was only a few Sunni soldiers who narrated this to people and it became known, but later they were asked to shut up by their superiors.
In complicity with Saudi Wahabis and the Al Qaeda-Taliban axis of Islamofascism, the Urdu media does not want the people of Pakistan, the majority of whom want to live in peace, that the Shias have anything “Islamic” in them. The Shias are portrayed as a deviant sect of Islam which should be wiped out of existence. (This is what has been happening in Saudi Arabia for decades.) You will never read in any newspaper or find out on a TV channel that the creator of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a Shia Muslim.
Two brief reports:
Daily Times:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\02\11\story_11-2-2010_pg1_5
Dawn:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-army-copter-crash-khyber-qs-09
Salute to the brave Son of the land……Shame on all the apologists
یہ کوئی نہیں بات نہیں ہے . اس ملک میں برسوں سے یہ سب چلا آرہا ہے اور نہ جانے کب تک یہ سلسلہ جاری رہے گا . پیدا ہوتے ہی بچوں کے زہنوں میں شیعہ-سُنی تفرقات کا زہرہ گھول دیا جاتا ہے .
Well, English media is an official mouthpiece of left wing fanatics so things seem quite balanced. How come shias are being targeted? I see that fanatic Faisal abidi’s sign boards here and there when he turned all Karachi black in Moharram.
what shias are doing in Pakistan is not now underground, there is a plenty of books written by shia authors which is full of curses on Sahaba and Muhammad(SAW).
They publicaly show their hate for sahaba, so why not lover of Sahaba and Rasullullah(SAW) show their hate for them (Shia). this is one evidence of their hate for sahaba (RA).
http://www.facebook.com/pages/3-idiots-Umar-Bakar-Usman-par-lanat-/277995631821?ref=mf
so what they are doing are more likely expected to receive from others. by doing such thing they making Muslims youth more extremist and so in the present worse situation of extremism more than 50% are their contributions. so we should think both side. a large number of our young generation is joining extremest groups when they see the abusive language of shia scholars and their books. which is available in the market and the govt is not taking action against the ppl responsible.
so for harmonizing the society and eliminating prejudice behavior of common peoples govt should banned the books which have any rubbish language against Sahaba, and other beloved people, hang or punish the writers and stop their self created worship ebadat of Muharram procession (Jaluse).
love should be from both sides that all may able to live wd peace in the country.
@swain
This is not an appropriate forum for sectarian bashing.
According to Pakistan’s constitution, everyone has a right to practice their religion and belief. This includes Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and everyone else.
No person or group must be allowed to use violence to superimpose their religion or belief on other persons or groups.
Sunnis and Shias have so much in common, however, they have also quite a few things different. This is their difference which make them Sunnis and Shias. This difference must be respected, and not used as an excuse for spreading hate and violence.
Dear Swain, even if the Shias do what you say, does it warrant their carnage? If you are a Muslim, you should be ashamed of your statement. You have challenged Allah.
Its a nice article written by a Patriot.
Swain! PLEASE do not fulfill the agenda of USA to devide the Muslims and kill them. Now its an open secret that Taliban and Alqaeda are American Puppits, who kill innocent Muslims in the name of war against America. They killed a million innocent Muslims in Iraq and now they want to do same in Pakistan.
And yes Saudia is backing these Zalimaans as Saudia is biggest friend of USA, every knows.
Dear Ahsan
It is not the United States which is dividing the Muslim world. It is the Saudi Wahabis. The Americans can befriend teh Shias if it suits them. But the Saudis want to exterminate all Shias, Ahmedis, and the Brelvis. Thanks.
This is an absurd piece of text, most probably written with the ONLY aim to cause mayham. I strongly suggest everyone to please research “Management by Chaos” to understand that this is the new version of “Divide and Rule” policy of yester years.
The fact is that, be it Shia or Sunni or any other divide which exists similarly in any society of the world, there are acts/beliefs/etc which are not shared across the divide. Our concentration needs to be on the fact that we are all one under the umbrella of a common nation, which is Pakistan.
Wrongs would be there, however the wordings to highlight the wrong should not smell of “Fasad”, and the readers should crap any text which tries to feed on hate.