Religious extremism & fundamentalism & radicalism Archive
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
Faith in democracy: A review of political parties of Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: An apt analysis by NFP of the political parties in Pakistan and their attributes and religious tendencies: Islam holds an important place in the workings of society and thus politics of Pakistan, a fact even some of the most
Religious extremism: Bomb with the fuse lit – by Zafar Hilaly: Once upon a time to get on in Pakistan religion did not matter. On the other hand, a criminal record did not help. Today, by the looks of it, one can have a criminal record and still actually occupy
GAME OVER: Zaid Hamid Lost, Zia ul Haq Won. By Anas Abbas: By Anas Abbas Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid, a darling of Pakistani elite, a motivator for Pakistan army officers, an absurdity for Pakistani liberals and an idol for Pakistani conspiracy theorists, has been in the headlines of Pakistani media for
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
‘Burka’ and intellectual terrorism – by Awais Masood: In an article published in the January 2009 edition of Newsline, prominent Pakistani academic, scientist and social activist Pervez Hoodbhoy outlined the root causes of religious extremism in Pakistan and while doing so pointed out towards deliberate attempts of
For Pakistan’s Sikhs, a kidnapping – and a killing – reflect fears of nation’s minorities: In this photo made on March 19, 2010, Surjeet Singh, from Pakistan’s Sikh community, sits with family members after his release in Peshawar, Pakistan. Singh, who had been kidnapped for ransom by alleged militants, was freed after 42 days
Dilemmas of counter-terrorism — by Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi: The perspective of Islamic parties and the political right that expresses varying degrees of sympathy for the Taliban has seeped into other sections of society that either do not blame the Taliban for the violence or attempt to rationalise
Mice: Treatment of minorities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: NFP asks if minorities will ever be treated well enough to not feel like misfits. — File photo Some days ago, while waiting in my car for a traffic signal to turn green, a young kid nonchalantly stuck a
Need for an operation clean-up against the IJT militia in Punjab University: Once again, the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Their list of offences is long and exhaustive, and their thug-like hold over the Punjab University (PU) has devastated this once premier institution.
Justice Khawaja Sharif speaks once again, this time against Hindus – by Abdul Nishapuri: Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, Justice Khawaja Sharif, has spoken once again, with the hate speech and prejudice which are his usual characteristics. Justice Sharif is notorious for his unflinching support for PML-N and Taliban and for his hostility
Blasphemy in a human world — by Sikander Amani: Whether you like it or not, the notion of blasphemy, or of ‘defamation of religion’, creates a hierarchy of beliefs which is simply incompatible with the plurality of the world, and the very right to hold a belief The
Encountering fundamentalism — by Nizamuddin Nizamani: Extremist Islam is encroaching deeper into the Thar Desert and almost all district and tehsil headquarters of Sindh and Balochistan, where large numbers of seminaries, with new buildings and equipped with every kind of infrastructure, have been erected during
Dr Farhat Hashmi: Cultivating Al Qaeda in Muslim women: Biography Dr Farhat Hashmi, daughter of the (late) scholar Abdur Rehman Hashmi, is a mother of four, and comes from the Indo-pak subcontinent. She received her Ph.D. in Hadith Sciences from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Al-Huda International Welfare
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
Madrassah reforms : Does PPP want to nourish sectarianism?: Here is a well written piece about Madrassah reforms by Saiful Islam Khalid. I found this piece in a weekly newspaper from Islamabad. It was in paper print, which I have composed and edited to post it for LUBP
Societal perspectives on terrorism — by Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi: At least one generation has been socialised into a favourable disposition towards Islamic conservatism and militancy. They have a natural sympathy towards the political discourse of the militants even if they do not support their violent methods The terrorist
Glory, piety and politics – by Nadeem Paracha: With Pakistan’s two main political parties looking exhausted by being made to play a continuous game of cat and mouse with the establishment, the new generation of young Pakistanis began to look elsewhere. Many young Pakistanis, who in their
Seven Blasts in Lahore: New agenda of Punjabi Taliban and PML-N – by H.A. Khan: A Pakistani woman mourns a death of her family member in a suicide bombing in Lahore Photo: AP Wake up my people, Wake up my people, They are the extremist elements; they want to put their flag in my country.
Kamal Mehsud, the most famous singer of Waziristan: did the ISPR cheat him? — by Farhat Taj: Kamal Mehsud’s story is just one of the hundreds of stories of horror in Waziristan. The other stories are much more brutal and sinister in terms of the intelligence agencies’ collusion with the Taliban Kamal Mehsud was the most
Some legal aspects of PML-N’s alliance with Sipah-e-Sahaba – by Babar Sattar: Hobnobbing with terror Legal eye What are the irresistible compulsions of power politics that forced the PML-N to jump into bed with the proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and its head Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi to win the provincial assembly seat in
A tale of two Pakistani girls which remains hidden in other more important news: Here are two news items (which remain hidden in the more important headlines) from today’s newspapers. These news items once again reveal the typically hypocritical, class- and religion-centric and misogynistic nature of Pakistani society. The first story is about
Conspiracy against Jamaat-e-Islami – by Mohammed Hanif: جماعت اسلامی کے خلاف سازش محمد حنیف | 2010-03-07 اس صدی میں ہونے والی باقی ساری سازشیں ایک طرف لیکن سب سے بڑی سازش پاکستان کی نظریاتی سرحدوں کی محافظ، اس قوم کی بیٹیوں کی عصمت کی رکھوالی اور
A secular state is a moral state — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: The modern secular-democratic state must ensure that all individuals as well as majorities and minorities enjoy freedom of religion and conscience and the political right to choose their government In the last few weeks the Daily Times has carried
How Saudi Arabia has corrupted Yemen to spread Wahabism: Religious schools under scrutiny in Yemen Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010 TARIM: Malaysian student Mohamed Fatri Ben Kazrah flew half way round the world to fulfill his dream of studying Islam and Arabic at a Yemeni religious school. Ben Kazrah
Peshawar: The tale of an orphan city – by Ismail Khan: The scars of wars went deeper and left an impression not only on the social and cultural fibre but also devastated Peshawar’s infrastructure. — Photo by AP “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the
Objectives Resolution and Secularism – by Wajahat Masood: Contributed by: Aamir Mughal First Constituent Assembly of Pakistan: M.A. Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan, Nurul Amin, Allama shabbir Ahmed Usmani, Maulana Akram and Dr I H Qureshi My friend Wajahat Masood has tried to dig the ‘Islamic roots’ of
Wahhabization of Gitmo prisoners: Ex-Gitmo detainee now a Taliban commander * US officials say 20% of released prisoners go back to Taliban LASHKAR GAH: A man who was freed from the Guantanamo Bay after he claimed he only wanted to go home and
Wahhabism and women: Saudi woman jailed for being without male guardian RIYADH: A Saudi woman is to be lashed 300 times and jailed for 18 months for filing complaints against court officials and appearing in court without a male guardian, a human
PML-N the Taliban midwife: Sir, the militants have multiplied —Sher Ali Khan The recent admission by Rana Sanaullah about his association with the banned militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) illuminates that Pakistan is a country where a nexus between politicians and militants is
Mian sahib’s political voyage Part1- by Aliarqam Durrani: میاں صاحب کا سیاسی سفر۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔علی ارقم درانی پچھلی رات میاں صاحب کے لاہور میں ایک انخابی جلسے میں تقریر کے بعد جب ان کی تقریر کے مندرجات ٹی وی چینلز کی اسکرین پر پٹیوں کی صورت چل رہے تھے۔اسی
A ‘friendly’ Afghanistan? — by Shahid Ilyas: The risk of failure and backfiring are much higher in trying to install a friendly government in a foreign country than in attempts to develop friendly relations with an incumbent government. The failure of Pakistan’s Afghan policy is a
Taliban kill Jaspal Singh and the mullahs keep mum — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: Photo Source: BBC Urdu A time to humanise Islam There is a screaming silence from the custodians of Islam — the ulema — on the execution of Jaspal Singh, probably because he was not a Muslim. The Muslim masses
Strategy to demonize civilian government? – by Anas Abbas: One of the main aims of Pakistan Army and its pro Taliban media sympathizers is to launch campaigns against the civilian government structure in order to justify its controversial interference. The strategy employed here to achieve this objective by
Q&A with an ordinary Pakistani – by Nadeem Khan: It has been an honor to have today a simple and honest, I bet, Pakistani with us. Let’s hear him and try to understand the conditions, situations, turmoil, achievements, developments of this unique great nation, now very popular in
The rightward march of Pakistan under the leadership of PML-N – by Nadeem Paracha: The active emergence of a revamped PML-N supplemented by an alarmist new electronic media can be detected as a more vocal arrival of the New Right in Pakistan. The rightward march By Nadeem F. Paracha Saturday, 27 Feb, 2010
JAP lashes out at PML-N leadership over terror links: Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan (JAP) has lashed out the PML-N leadership over their allegedly links with the banned terrorist outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba,which was involved in the killings of thousands of inncoent Shia’s in Pakistan and having the links with outalwed Al-Qaeeda
Reassessing the lawyers’ movement — by Ayesha Ijaz Khan: The judiciary must pick its battles carefully and avoid the type of crescendo that would altogether remove its focus from its primary function of delivering justice. It must be mindful that unless people begin to feel the results of
Today we wear our religion on our sleeves and shout it from the housetops. – by Ayaz Amir: The misery on our faces Times may be hard but why add to the sum of national misery? Some of our afflictions, like the economic downturn and the war raging along the Afghan frontier, may be beyond anyone’s control.
Tehzibi Nargasiat – by Mobarak Haider: Mobarak Haider Title: Tehzibi Nargasiat (Cultural Narcissism) Category: Psychology Publisher: Sanjh Publication Year of Publication: 2009 Price: Rs150 Here are some comments and reviews on an excellent, non-fiction book by Mobarak Haider. Ever wondered why a certain kind of