Waiting for Enlightenment

Anything that leads to the (self) destruction of the mafia called Pakistan Army should be welcomed, even if it is an uprising by religious-minded junior officers.

Re: # 9
The ISI is an Army institution manned by Army officers who report to the Army Chief. The ISI and the Army are the same thing. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had no control over either.

Pakistani Muslims will not rise against Islam any time soon, but if the pipeline of hate from Saudi Arabia, operated by the Army/ISI is destroyed, there is at least some hope that they might revert to the more tolerant Sufi version of the pre-Zia days.

Re: # 8

``I understand your sentiment, but the destruction of the Pakistan Army Mafia will automatically and inevitably lead to the elimination of the Saudi version of Islam from Pakistan.``


How??? how can muslims rise against islam??? its not musharaf who is goading them to follow wahabism, infact these wahabi organizations were MUCH MUCH active during the times of benazir and nawaz sharif. the element within the isi that was responsible for the creation of the taliban is the element that hoodbhoy is warning against, how in the world will their take over ensure that wahabism is eliminated from pakistan??

this enlightened moderation is much better than the islamization route that all political parties are forced to take by their kin in the clergy. atleast he has the balls to uncover the head of pakistani newscasters :P its a huge improvement over zia`s ban on surkhi....

Re: # 2

I understand your sentiment, but the destruction of the Pakistan Army Mafia will automatically and inevitably lead to the elimination of the Saudi version of Islam from Pakistan.

What good is Musharraf`s love of wine when Wahabbi-inspired crazies continue to terrorize South Asia (and the rest of the world), elections are rigged in favour of the semi-literate MMA, mediaeval institutions like the Federal Shariat Court and the Islamic Ideology Council continue to drag Pakistan even further back into the Dark Ages and the inhuman and barbaric Hadood Laws remain on the statue books.

In Musharraf`s Pakistan the rich and powerful drink wine in their air-conditioned lounges and then emerge to preach the virtues of Islam. If a poor man partakes of locally brewed liquor, he is charged under the Hadood Laws and whipped.

this was an eyeopener.... islam does pose a grave danger....

jamesmaxwell: i would have a wine sipping musharaf than a quran reading molwi. you are welcoming people who would make sure that the subcontinent becomes a nuclear wasteland...... be careful in what u wish for, it might come true....

Parvez

Thank you dear Hoodbhoy for ringing the alarm. We are all seeing the pendulum the way it is moving back but keep our heads buried in the sands of our moderation and enlightenment like an ostrich, as neither we know what to do nor have the courage to stand up to this onslaught of Talibanism except writing some good articles denouncing it. In fact General Musharraf`s `Enlightened Moderation` is providing only a camouflage to the Taliban who are thriving under cover of anti-Americanism. You cannot imagine the depths to which this `Hijabizm` among women is affecting and even disrupting our social life when in joint families house-wives begin to observe purdah even from their brothers-in-law. And Mullah-gardi is adopting new tactics to brow beat people to come to their mosques. Off and on they visit houses of the people accompanied by a size able group of their followers and pressurize them to come to their particular mosques.

The good doctor is too kind.

In general, the inherent insidiousness of religion and in particular the backwardness of ``practiced`` Islam cannot be overlooked and remotely overcome. There is no enlightened moderation possible in these circumstances. Until there is something to replace ``Islam`` and its myths, we are all doomed.

The thinking few need to manufacture a positive substitute to feed the masses - else, Pakistan will become Afghanistan in a decade. Musharraf and the PM are clearly not the thinking few. However well intentioned they may be, the challenge confronting them is a mass of people that are constantly fed on a steady diet of Islamic rhetoric from mosques and madrasahs. Eliminate them first.

Two decades ago the fully veiled student was a rarity on Pakistani university and college campuses. Now she outnumbers her sisters who still dare show their faces.


Manto...WWJD? What would Jinnah do?

If unscrupulous elements are getting loose, then it shows nothing but the impotence of the society and the nation.

Dear Dr. Nice list. What is new? It is obvious that the so called civil society has failed. The question is why? Do some sociological analysis for finding the root causes. Then we can have a discussion.

Parvez hoodobhoy is an infidel. He does not know any thing about Islam. In Quran it is clearly mentioned that an infidel has no right to say anything about Islam. He should be tried in sharia court.

All these critics of islam don`t know Islam is religion of peace. It teaches universal brotherhoodl. It lays the foundations of lawful, just nation.

Once Prophet ( SAW-PBUH-POM (Pride of Madina) -KS (KInd soul) ) was walking thru the streets of Mecca. Followers of Prophet ( SAW-PBUH-PO-KS) came out of their houses to greet him.

One of the followers named Zakar-ba-dast cames and kissed the hand of Prophet (SAW-PBUH-KS-PO) and asked him ``O Prophet of peace, O messagnger of Allah, O Whatever Whatever, If a war booty beauty, does not wash herself before being raped first time, is it Halaal or not.``

Prophet (SAW-PBUH-KS-PO) scrached his seal of Prophet hood and then he scrached pride of his loins and said ``Listen you beduine turd, For how l;ong I have to answer these stupid questions. For how long I have to waste my time on these stupid quiestion instead of fondling my wives and concubines. Man cover the face and fire the base.``

Islam is relegion of peace who first time gave equal status to women. There is not much diffrence between kafir woman or muslim woman.

looks like the ulcer in hoodhboy`s pait is about to get bigger - much bigger in fact:

Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Program, Washington Post Reports
2006-07-24 03:53 (New York)

By Vivek Shankar
July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan is expanding its nuclear
program, building a reactor that could generate enough plutonium
for as many as 50 bombs a year, the Washington Post reported,
citing an Institute of Science and International Security study.
The new plant is next to Pakistan`s only plutonium
production reactor at the Khushab nuclear site, the newspaper
said, citing satellite photos provided by Digital Globe.
The expansion would add to the region`s arms race, the Post
said, adding that Pakistan is believed to have 30 to 50 uranium
warheads, which are typically heavier and more difficult to
mount on missiles than plutonium ones.
An unidentified senior Pakistani official told the
newspaper that the country is indeed expanding its nuclear
program. Pakistan, like neighboring India, has never signed the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Post said.

(Washington Post 7-24)

For the Washington Post`s Web site, see {WPST }.

Islamization chain reaction started by Zia is getting out of control now... And rise in extremism worldwide is fuelling it even further...

I remember Geo`s Zalzala broadcast last time when I visited Pakistan. Geo people pretend to be a liberal channel but the whole time they were playing stuff like: ``Ay allah, teray musulman mushkil main hain, rehm farma``. and in other channels, they were talking of ``Azab e Ilahi``. There were religious songs on sale in earth quake hit areas in which the message was that as muslims have left Sunnah, that`s why they are warned by Allah`s wrath... Nobody mentioned that earth quakes are natural disasters and we are not only muslims but bvefore that we were human beings. Those cuban doctors who were here to help us because they thought us to be humans...I didn`t see anyone saying on any private TV channel (except some PPP senator on Aaj TV) that there should be an end to ``Azaab`` and ``Teray Musulman Banday`` theories.
Then it is Mrs. Musharraf who goes to English department at Punjab university and ask them to take the classic english poetry out from syllabus as it was `vulgar`` and inappropriate for muslims.
And then it is HEC who funds several million rupees to extract scientific knowledge from Quran and hence Quranization of Science.

Problem with this Zia initiated chain reaction is that , one islamist is allowed to spread his islamism to a dozen more and it is considered a social service. While anyone in opposition is not allowed to even exporess his own secularism in front of others, preaching the secularism is impossible.

Prof. Hoodbhoy,

This is EPW-quality, flawless article. Would Pakistan(is) take this kind of outlook?

Best wishes,

VRV.

Re: # 15

Majumdar saheb,

I grew up reading the magazine and I find it very readable weekly on economic and political matters. They even carry out some theoretical issues on economics. Some people may have commie leanings but the magazine is a real class. EPW is not an official mouth-piece of commies. I think it was Peoples` Democracy or something like that.

regards,

VRV.

VRV sahib,

EPW???- As in Economic & Political Weekly- the commie ragmag

Regards