Posts Tagged ‘media’
Blasphemy Law and The Dilemma of the Apologists!
In Blashphemy Law - An Islamic Perspective on December 10, 2010 at 5:25 amBy Mirza Faraz Baig
A few years back there was a huge uproar in the Muslim communities around the world over the Danish cartoon 
controversy. Protests in some parts such as Pakistan turned violent and angry mobs damaged private property apart from burning effigies of the culprits. This scribe had written a piece- in fact a series of articles- back then urging people to just ignore these insults as, in my opinion back then, that’s the only suitable reply. Apart from that, the series also tried to prove from the Seerah of RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) and Sahaba (r.a.) that they always dealt with blasphemous behavior in the same way.
Well, I have to confess, I was ignorant of our history and I was foolishly wrong!
I guess now that I’ve read and heard a bit of our history (still not all of it obviously), I can tell you that there’s overwhelming evidence that the only suitable punishment against blasphemy to RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) and all the prophets of ALLAH (s.w.t.) is death, and a swift one at that! Not only there’re instances that Sahaba (r.a.) killed blasphemers but they did so with the approval, and in some cases orders, of RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.).
Ka’b ibn Ashraf, Abu Rafay, Ibn Khatal and his two slavegirls, a jewish woman in Medina and lots of others are such criminals that were slain by Sahaba (r.a.) and, as is reported in numerous Hadith, with orders or approvals of RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.). Some were set up, some ambushed, some immediately killed, some properly executed.
The fact that such an important part of Seerat un Nabi (s.a.w.) is one of the most obscure ones is a mind-boggling phenomenon. We’ve been taught in our schools and colleges and higher levels that Islam is a religion of tolerance, that RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) always fought when war was thrust upon Muslims and that RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) pardoned each and every one of his enemies – even the killers of Hadhrat Hamza (r.a.)- on the day of Fath Makka,.
It turns out that we’ve been told only partial truths!
The history that we have been studying in our course book has been contorted; the Truth has been misconstrued. The roots of the current science-centric education system that we are following in Pakistan, can be traced back to two major movements historically: a) Malthusianism[1] and b) the Ali Garh movement[2]. It was with the efforts of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan that Muslims started studying the sciences and English language and his services can’t be denied. Yet, it was also largely due to his influence that Muslims, early after, adopted the already corrupt and infected education system set by British East India Company.
The advent of this modern education in Muslims became the main cause of promotion of a more docile version of Islam. A docile, rather toothless, version of Islam that practices non-violence to the core and goes to war only when war is thrust upon it. While that’s not entirely untrue, it’s not the whole truth either. There are countless examples when the offensive was taken by Muslims and took the Kuffar by surprise. Ghazwa Badr was well and truly the first proper battle between Muslims and Kuffar but what’s not told to us is that there were as many as eight military expeditions sent or led by RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) before the battle of Badr. Each of those expeditions paid dividends and a large area in Hijaz which was earlier under allegiance with Quraish either became a Muslim ally or became neutral. Also, there’re a lot of examples of preemptive strikes out of which the famous battle of Khyber and the battle of Bani Al-Mustaliq are famous. Reading our history in this way casts a totally different light altogether to how we should go about our religious duties. But by and large, these incidents have been obscured by our education system and either inadvertently or intentionally created breeds after breeds of apologists whose life’s work is to deny such important elements of our history.
Some glaring examples can be found in response to the recent case of Aasia Maseeh, the woman convicted of blasphemy against RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.). While there are liberal fascist making raucous noises to repeal the blasphemy law altogether, there are also some apologists, senior opinion-makers in the print and electronic media, who are trying to remind us of the tolerance in our religion, that a mother of 5 children – one of which is disabled- should be pardoned, especially after she says she’s sorry. There are also such daft columnists who see Salman Taseer’s hasty visit with his family to the convicted woman in prison and conducting a press conference there as an act out of empathy. It’s beyond words how disgusted the people of Pakistan are with the efforts of the ruling class to have a convict of blasphemy pardoned, that too on the orders of Pope Benedict, while the same ruling elite is tightlipped over the abduction and illegitimate trial of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
But even if we assume that the government will go the whole nine yards to get Aasia removed to some western country, it seems appropriate at this point to see if pardoning Aasia Maseeh is within the power of the government or not.
Apologists claim that RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) pardoned everyone who ever said anything foul to him. They give the examples of the women who threw garbage on RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) daily, whom he (s.a.w.) had visited when she’d fallen ill. They also give the examples of conquest of Makka (Fath Makka) when he (s.a.w.) pardoned everyone in Makka. They also claim Aasia Maseeh said she’s sorry and has hence repented. They also say that Aasia is a non Muslim and Muslim capital punishment is not applicable to her. They say she’s a women and she’s poor so she should be pardoned. That we should pardon her to show goodwill towards west and thus pave the way to Islam’s preaching.
First of all, the amnesty on the day of the Fath Makka was for everyone, except there was a black list. A list of those who were to be slain even if they were found hanging with the curtains of Kabba, the most sacred of sacred places on earth. Ibn Khatal, as it goes, was found exactly in this situation and still was executed. There were two slavegirls of Ibn Khatal who used to sing absurdities against RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) and they were also in that list. It’s important to note that they were also women like Aasia, they were also non-muslims like her, they probably were also poor, in fact they were slaves and hence had no free will, still they were executed. Ibn Taimiyah says that it shows that blasphemy against RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) is an even greater crime than murder.
Secondly, even if we agree that RasooluLLAH (s.a.w.) pardoned some when he found it appropriate, it should stand as his prerogative and that’s it. Now we can’t pardon anyone on his behalf. Neither the government, nor the complainant.
Thirdly, even if she’s sorry for what she did doesn’t make her crime any milder. It’s similar if a murderer on the death row says he’s sorry, doesn’t absolve him of his crime. After all we’ve just seen that the crime that was perpetrated here was bigger than murder. It’s the verdict of scholars new and old, that the perpetrator of blasphemy should be killed immediately and not to be given a chance.
Lastly, we shouldn’t pardon her to just show our goodwill towards the west. Just to show how tolerant we are. That’s the most absurd excuse to do something equally absurd. If we had dealt with blasphemers in the way of Sahaba (r.a.) lately, our outlook would be a lot more different from it is today. It’s because of this tolerant behavior that any tom, harry or dick could say or write what he likes about our sacred personalities. If Salman Rushdi had been slain back then in the eighties, or Tasleema Nasreen back in the nineties, or the perpetrators of the European newspapers controversy had been killed back then, we would be a lot better off than we are today. Every time something like this happens, our response has grown weaker. And now it has come down to the point where our government is trying to dodge its public to provide safe passage to a convict of blasphemy. I seek refuge with ALLAH (s.w.t.) from the day when our public would be trying to save such a criminal from punishment.
As an afterthought, we probably should agree with the liberal fascists on one thing. That the blasphemy law should be repealed altogether. As it happens, having a law for a crime makes the punishment predictable. And when something is predictable it’s all the more defendable. If there’s no blasphemy law, then public would do justice on its own. The anticipation of punishment would be all the more painful for the perpetrators as the punishment itself.
There would be a Ghazi Ilm Deen Shaheed on every street, every city!
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[1] Malthusianism refers to the political/economic thought of Reverend and indirect employee of British East India Company Thomas Robert Malthus, whose ideas were first developed during the industrial revolution. It follows his 1798 writings, An Essay on the Principle of Population, which had a great impact on the way British East India Company managed India; it had a great impact on economic\political\education policies of Great Britain.
[2] Aligarh Movement was the movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, to educate the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent after the defeat of the rebels in the Indian rebellion of 1857.
Source : http://baigsaab.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/blasphemy-law-and-the-dilemma-of-the-apologists/
Pakistani ExPats are ashamed but not for reasons they should be!
In Clsh of Civilizations on May 14, 2010 at 6:53 amBy Mirza Faraz Baig
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”, so said the same Joseph Goebbels who’s 
linked to the famous quote “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”.
Despite West’s claim of despising the Nazis, they’ve fondly adopted the standards set by Hitler’s propaganda machine, and they’ve improved it to near perfection. Over the course of the last decade, the western media have trumpeted with untiring consistency a claim that has now taken its root in the minds of not only the general public in the west, but also the victims of that claim!
The claim? “Muslims are terrorists”… Ok not all Muslims are terrorists, but those that we call are definitely them, so say the west. This lie has been repeated with such focused concentration and in so many different formats and versions – through movies, news, novels, social media- that it is now accepted as fact. So much so that whenever a new terrorism incident takes place, Muslims, especially Pakistanis, are the first to condemn it and after finding out the accused was indeed a Muslim brother or sister, start alienating him from the global Muslim brotherhood. In essence, before the trial is even begun, the accused is convicted by his own people and actual case proceedings remain only a formality!
This behavior is most evident in the recent case of Faisal Shahzad, the Time Square bombing “suspect”. Ever since it was reported that he could be the major hand in plotting probably the biggest car bomb in recent history, internet was exploded with apologies from Pakistanis across the globe. Pakistan’s most watched channel was angry that this person has brought shame to the entire Pakistani nation and his own family. Most of the blogs and their commenters rued the fact that he threw away his carefully built “American Dream” just like that. Pakistani ex-patriots feared even more strict vigilance over them, while believing this “fanatic should be jailed for life”. All in all, their verdict is, guilty as charged!
However, one felt there’s something missing from this whole story, the other side of course! Even though Faisal Shahzad can now boast a wikipedia page , that’s probably not for reasons he’d have liked himself. That page is full of stories mentioning different facets of the case- some claiming he dumped his documents in the home he had abandoned quite a while ago- but they didn’t, even for a single line, give a piece of what Faisal Shahzad says. It’s totally one sided. And to put it mildly, that stinks! But somehow this fact is missed by all involved. There has been absolutely no access to him by our government or by other Pakistani coummunity members, at least not publicly available.
The report that his documents were found from his “abandoned” house is so ridiculous that it shouldn’t have made it to the press in the first place. What would a person, allegedly looking to bomb his way into FBI’s most wanted list, be doing in his old house is beyond logic and beats a level headed reader. Other claims are that he had gone to his birthplace Peshawar on his recent visit ; started wearing all blacks and remaining serious while stealthily walking across his backyard, that’s neighbor’s reports, he was seen posing on Times Square was also a claim. That his documents had cards from someone wishing him well were also pertinent for some reports. Huffington post even attempted to sneak into his Facebook profile only to put the blame on another Faisal Shahzad. Such is the state of electronic media and citizen blogs. Whatever happened in Pakistan is another matter.
When I asked a few Ex-Patriots, their opinion was that it’s an open and shut case – he plotted a crime, failed, got arrested, gave up his rights and admitted! I was amazed, appalled really to see how much faith they have in “their” media and government is saying, otherwise any Pakistani knows how people can be made to confess under duress. Besides, in most laws, confessions under custody weigh nothing unless they’re given in front of legal authority. If an accused declines to testify on his confession it may be called a mistrial.
I invite you to put yourself in Faisal’s shoes. You’re an average Pakistani living in the US trying to consolidate your career there. You’re very apprehensive of any indication of extremism from any of your acquaintances. You try to live by the sidelines. You’re boarding a flight to Pakistan; suddenly you get arrested, finding you’re on TV across the world. Authorities give you two choices, confess the crimes handed to you and face some years in Guantanamo Bay Prison or get ready for trial find yourself guilty as charged and still go to Gitmo facing life sentence. You’ve heard of water boarding, you’ve heard of electric shocks, you’ve heard of stories of blood hounds in Abu ghuraib jail. You’re an innocuous, in fact scared, person. You’re left with no choice but to admit the crimes which you didn’t hear before that day. Under duress, any scared person would do what he did.
For most people my theory would seem laughable but Dr Shirin Mazari also smells a rat in this whole story. I don’t 
trust American justice system and for good reason. It’s discriminatory! It has been discriminating on grounds of race, religion and color. This is not a matter of today, it’s been happening since the first day an Italian set foot on this soil. America bombs more Pakistani civilians daily in drone attacks then it has lost soldiers in Afghanistan. Pakistani blood, Muslim blood is so cheap that even thousand Muslims don’t equate an American life. Is that justice? My apologies to US lovers but any country who had laws legalizing lynching only 50 years ago and has killed more people than Hitler and Halaku combined has to do a lot more than just lip service to gain Muslim’s confidence.
Lastly, Pakistanis living in America shouldn’t be ashamed of Faisal. They should be ashamed of themselves. Their brothers and sisters, fellow compatriots are facing one-sided trials in front of their own eyes. Faisal Shahzad and Dr Afia are only two of hundreds detained in Gitmo without proper trials. Still, Pakistanis in general are happy to live their lives with the convenience of their families, fearing any voice against these cases might land them into trouble. What’s shameful is this behavior, not getting framed by corrupt authorities. It’s their pathetic submission to this unjust system that has led the Americans to believe that all Pakistanis would give up their rights if paid enough. They’re feeling shame alright, but one feels it’s for all the wrong reasons!
The Negative Impact of StarPlus
In Clsh of Civilizations, Urdu Columns on January 4, 2010 at 12:58 pm
ادب سے اس نعش کو اتارو
In Hijab on July 13, 2009 at 3:56 am
Understand Pakistan (Part II) – Insights of Pakistani Consumers
In Understand Pakistan Series on June 28, 2009 at 7:12 pmThis is the second episode of our efforts to provide the basic knowledge about Pakistani consumers daily habits & practices. Hope you will not only read it but also introduce this facts to others in your debates & discussios.
Source : http://www.gallup.com.pk/index.php
More Than Half of All Pakistanis Are Cricket Fans; 
More than half of all Pakistanis (55%) take interest in sports, just as many like cricket in particular.
Honesty is Perceived as the Top Most Quality in a Leader
Honesty is the most important characteristic for a good leader as majority of the Pakistanis (59%) ranked it number one out of eight options.
It was followed by 18% who think piety and 10% who think a good education are the most important qualities.
66% Believe Human Rights Are Observed in Pakistan Two thirds of Pakistanis (66%) believe human rights are observed in Pakistan to a great or some extent, but only six in ten believe there is equality before the law.When the respondents were read out a list of human rights it was seen that majority believe that all of those are followed in Pakistan: Right to Freedom of Religion (90%), Right to Freedom of Expression (78%), Right to Marriage with consent of the intending spouses (78%), Right to Freedom from Torture (64%), Right to Just and Favorable Remuneration (65%), |
Two Thirds of All Pakistanis Serve Cold Beverages to their Guests During Summers  More than two thirds (78%) of all Pakistanis prefer to serve cold beverages, such as syrups or carbonated soft drinks, to their guests in summers.Only 19% of the respondents claimed to serve tea. The remaining 3% either serve some other kind of beverage or do not serve any drinks. |
Perspective on Respect for Women in Our Society in Accordance to Islam More than half of all Pakistanis (59%) claim that women are not given their due share of respect as taught in Islam,40% believe that the women in the society are given high level of respect or the right level of respect as prescribed in the Holy Book, or perhaps even more than that. |
56% Pakistanis Prefer Private Schools; However 70% Send Their Children to Government Schools Majority of Pakistanis (74%) have one or more school-going children in their households.Although more than half of the respondents (59%) claim to prefer private schools, a higher percentage of people (70%) have enrolled their children in public/government schools.One of the main reasons for this is affordability; nearly half of all Pakistanis (49%), across all income groups, believe schools charge exorbitant amount of fees… |
Majority of All Pakistanis Prefer Doctors and Teachers as Neighbours  More than two out of three Pakistanis (78%) would like to have doctors or teachers as their neighbours; these two professions have traditionally enjoyed a high level of respect in our society.On the other hand, very few people are amicable towards having jewellers, tailors and barbers as neighbours; only 7% would like to have them in their neighbourhood, showing a lower level of social status and prejudices or stereotypes about these professions. Heat Intensity Is Perceived to Have Increased Over the Past Few Years More than half of all Pakistanis believe that the heat intensity in their areas has increased over the past few years, According to 25% of the respondents the heat intensity has remained the same while 17% think it has decreased. Support for Pak-India Combined Media Productions Declines Although in the past few years Pakistan and India have produced numerous dramas and films together but support for such combined media production has fallen since 2007. Twenty six percent (26%) support the idea of Pakistani artists working in India down from 51% support in 2007. Similarly, 27% favor the idea of Indian artists working in Pakistan down from 55% in 2007. A possible reason for this change in attitude is increasing security tension between the two neighboring countries. |
Majority (74%) Finds Common Ground; Only 23% Believe Islam and Democracy are at Odds More than two thirds (74%) of all Pakistanis believe that democracy is an important tenet of Islam or at least are compatible in some situations.Twenty three percent (23%), however, argue that Islam and democracy have nothing in common with each other.
Public is Unanimous on Islamabad Being the Cleanest City Almost equal percentage of respondents claimed to like Lahore (33%) and Islamabad (33%), while Karachi is liked by 18% of the respondents. Islamabad is the cleanest city according to the majority (65%). |
 Political Parties Need to Tend to Their Image; 60% Perceive Them as Highly Corrupt60% Pakistanis think the level of corruption in political parties is high or very high, followed by Parliament (57%) and Private/Business Sector (41%).It is interesting to note that Religious Organizations are perceived to have little or no corruption by 58%, followed by the Pakistan Army (41%) and Media (32%). It must be noted that we are dealing with perceptions which may or may not match reality.
Those seen as cleanest might have the most compromised behavior and vice versa. Our data only deals with ‘as Pakistanis perceive them to be’. |
Majority of Pakistanis Like Moderate Amount of Spices in Their Food; 23% Prefer Strongly Spiced Majority of all Pakistanis (50%) like to have normal amount of spices in their food as compared to 23% of the respondents who claimed to like very spicy food.Twenty six percent (26%) prefer to have less spicy or bland food. Interestingly a higher percentage of respondents from Sindh (31%) and ruralites (24%) showed a preference for hot and spicy food. |
 Majority (85%) Believe Smoking is Injurious to HealthAn overwhelming majority of all Pakistanis (85%) believe smoking to be detrimental for health,75% believe it is equally precarious for men and women and majority supports a complete ban smoking in all public areas.
But despite widespread public disapproval, no significant decline has been found in the incidence of smoking tobacco in the country. |
52% Believe Decrease in Rainfall is Caused by Global Climate Change; 45% See it as Divine Penance
More than half of all Pakistanis (53%) believe that overall Pakistan received less rainfall in the past one year. While the majority of people (52%) believe it is a product of global climate change, a significant percentage (45%) thinks it is due to the God’s wrath (45%). Although most respondents (57%) did not expect scarcity of rainfall to affect their income, almost half of rural respondents (47%) were worried that their income will be affected.
 Nearly Two Thirds of All Pakistanis Purchase Grocery From General Stores; More Urbanites Go to Utility StoresMajority of all Pakistanis go to general stores to purchase grocery items such as rice (64%), Pulses (69%), Sugar (66%), Wheat (68%), Soaps/Detergents (73%), and Cooking oil (68%).A higher percentage of urbanites buy groceries from utility stores and wholesale shops, as compared to ruralites who mostly purchase these items from general stores. |
Majority Use Only Fans to Cool Their House; Air-Conditioning is a Luxury Which Most Can’t Afford Majority of all Pakistanis (45%) can only afford to use fans to cool their house in the summers. Air coolers are used by 23% followed by additional fans (14%), and air-conditioners (8%).The remaining claimed to sprinkle water or do not do anything to cool down their house. To stay away from the scorching heat, respondents stay at home (33%), cover their heads (27%), eat cold things (26%) or use some other method to fight the heat. The remaining does not do anything. |
 More Than Two Thirds Claim that Inflation Has Increased in The Past Three MonthsMore than two thirds of all Pakistanis (78%) believe that prices have increased in the past three months while according to equal percentage of respondents (11%) there has been a decrease or no difference in the inflationary trend. To over come this increase in inflation, people reduce their expenses (55%), get their income increased (22%), or buy cheaper products (20%). Sixty nine percent (69%) blame the government for such an increase in inflation. |
 Views On Women’s Legal Share According to ShariahThe views are divided on whether women in Pakistan get their Islamic right of share in property.While 56% believe they do, 44% believe women do not get their proper in family property |
 Majority Use Refrigerators to Cool Drinking WaterNearly half of all Pakistanis (52%) use refrigerators to keep the water cold during summers. Some other methods which the respondents have claimed to use are: Water coolers (28%), Mud Utensils (11%), and Electric Coolers (4%). The remaining respondents use some other means of cooling water (3%) or do not drink cold water (1%). It may be noted that not all those using refrigerated water own a refrigerator. Some use the facility with a neighbor or a relative. |
Watching TV is a Favorite Pastime
Majority of all Pakistanis (63%) have a lot of or at least a little free time and 36% of the respondents claimed to have no free time. Amongst various activities, watching television was preferred by 40%, followed by meeting friends (24%), doing some other activity (15%), resting or sleeping (13%), and going for outings (3%).
 Insufficient Income is Perceived to be the Main Reason for Pakistanis to MigrateInsufficient income (61%) is the major reason for people to look for jobs outside Pakistan and settle there.Less salary packages (19%), insecure future (15%), and lack of law and order (5%) are some of the other cited reasons for people to migrate in search of better jobs abroad. |
Indian Cricket team is being humiliated not by any other but by the Indian Media itself
In Miscellaneous on June 24, 2009 at 7:50 amWhen ever two teams enter into a ground. One will be the winner & the other will be the looser. Passion is good but any game should be treated as opportunity for fun & enjoyment; it should not be the matter of life & death.
I take Indian media as immature & unethical because they sensitize the issues unnecessarily . The fact is that Indian Media always created idols & set unrealistic high expectations but in case of any failure they start abusing & cursing. We have seen the Indian media hype on many occasions e.g. before world cup they commercially presented Indian cricketers as “super man” but in case of any failure the situation was otherwise & even we observed homes of cricketers were stoned by crowd who are psychologically motivated by the Indian media.
We as a Pakistani understand that Indian team is good fighting cricket side. 
Yes due to old traditional rivalry with India we are happy that India was out from the tournament at an early stage but we do understand that Indian team is one of the good cricket team of the world & they have very talented top class players of the world. No one lost their match by their own will; it’s the part of the game.
We believe that Indian media is exaggerating the situation in below video ( no 01). Another video is a very good example of commercial promotion & usage of Indian Cricketers for the sake of sale of their products, which fire back most of the time to none other than the cricketers themselves.
