The Paradox Cult Well said. It is indeed tragic that fear of death which is what draws us towards mythological and supernatural explanations for our presence on Earth, has been twisted into a kinky cult. It amazes me how misogyny has become the meaning of Islam in Pakistan. It is incredible how many Hijras dominate our public spaces. How garbage litters everywhere yet people would rather go to a mosque to pray than to clean their shit. How can people make the Lal Masjid lunatics out to be heroes? The very meaning of being good has been twisted to mean Burqa, verses from Quran, Sticks, and bombs. Can violence and anger ever be a good thing for society? If so, than for whom? Certainly not the idiots who enjoy the technology and the gifts of knowledge that the West developed but secretly curse them. When/If, these cult types come to power, their first victims will be the current social elite--the Haves who secretly glory in their rebellion and take a vicarious joy in killing the army people, then these people will be more cruel than the people they replace, more arrogant, more dogmatic than the unfair system that they remove. Hasn't anybody of these enlightened ones ever reflected on 'Animal Farm'? Doesn't anybody reflect on Iran?

For society to move forward, only non-violent movements work.

Who Celebrates the Resident Indian? Excellent analysis. Well said, well said.

Hail to the RI: The Resident Indian

Rushdie and the British Establishment Moeed,

Though I appreciate your analysis and the work that went into its background. I'd like to differ with you about why Rushdie was awarded.
1. He should have been awarded a long time ago, considering other British writers of equal repute. He probably wasn't for fear of the reaction in Muslim worlds. The reason why literature is great is because it provokes people to think. In that case Satanic Verses provoked many people to think. The Islamic world's violent response to Rushdie, the Fatwa etc., in my humble opinion shows exactly what is wrong with it--sad that for a body of ideas that were so eclectic and advanced for the times has sunk to violence as a recourse for literally any problem.
2. The problem that the West has with Islam is the VIOLENCE. Nothing else is worthy of embarrassment.
3. If Muslims had behaved with dignity to the offense of the Satanic Verses, it would have proved Rushdie wrong.
4. Don't you think that the Jihad crowd, if they had stood in Hyde Park talking about exactly what is wrong with modernity, instead of bombing innocent people in subways, would have been heard?
5. It is a mark of Western liberty that the most outrageous ideas are published and discussed and a mark of the intellectual sloth and emotional cowardice in the 'Islamic' countries that nobody is free to speak their mind. But always must toady some figure in authority.
6. Don't you think that it is strange how a lot of the Fiqh that guides Islamic social behaviour today was written by a bunch of people who themselves had killed to get the power? and isn't it strange that the political state is always aligned with religion in each and every Muslim state? to ensure that the State never gives power to the people and remains imperial, submissive to a few people.

Unless Muslims/Islamic countries replace violence with cogent dialogue, it will continue to lose power.

A Footnote in History Great writing, great satire. Keep writing.

The Dancing Girl of Mohenjodaro Great read. Hope to read more of your writing at Chowk.

I too wish that the dancing girl would dance back and relieve us from the mysogynists. I'd move right back to Baluchistan. What a beautiful thought...

S

From One Chowkwala to Another Thanks, this was a great piece and brought back many memories.

60 Years of American DogHood #52

Such questions are only answered by history. It is certain that some Pakistanis are benefiting from the economic and infrastrucure improvements. It is clear that the arts and culture are undergoing a revival not seen since 1947. It is also clear that some people in Pakistan are resisting the change and the confrontation is becoming violent. But who is confronting whom is unclear and it is also unclear if there is a purpose to the revival of religion. We can hazard a few guesstimates based on facts:
1. In the last few years bomb blasts have increased.
2. In the last few years Madrassah's and religious sentiment has increased

It can be drawn from this that attempts to modernize Pakistan with the help of America while America invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan has offended many people in Pakistan, especially those whom the state abandoned after 9/11. It is obvious that Musharraf's persuasive tactics and modernization of Madrassah tactics have failed because a/there are enough sympathizers to fundamentalist causes to make the job very hard and b/ he has been high handed with liberal elements such as corrupt political parties c/ he has vacillated when push came to shove wrt to religion. d/he has given too much favor to the army

One thing without shadow of doubt can be said; his handling of foreign policy and negotiations with foreign states has been excellent.

This Is For The Men Who\'ll Roll Their Eyes Re: # 124

Have you tried writing to Feedback. I am sorry it has nothing to do with me.

This Is For The Men Who\'ll Roll Their Eyes Re: # 116

Expanding would probably need a column length article--but here goes: Women have taken on more responsibility than ever before in history to prove their ability and capability, however they earn less than men for comparable work. I think that says it all-the problem was never the lack of women's ability, the problem was always about negotiating respect and freedom of choice. Almost all ideologues prescribed male superiority over women. From the times of the Greeks to Islam, women did the worst work because God wanted it that way. That ingrained attitude is still there--men are either he-men, who want a simple domination and thus look for a dumb babe or sops who want the woman to keep them and their children.

Putting on trousers did change a few things; now women got to do a lot more work for a little more money than before. Fashion over the years has become more and more about creating a feminine version of a man rather than anything else. Femininity is reserved for socializing, and masculinity for work. Rather than changing work culture, feminism over the last several decades has changed women. Attempts to emancipate women have sought to change them--to tell them how to say no, how to stand up for themselves and how to walk out of marriages, how to get jobs etc. There have been 0 attempts to educate men directly. Feminism has had a similar focus on women just like religion did. The comparable narratives are : O ye pious women, cover yourself, stay home, while 'prophets' sleep with wives and slaves--strikes one that god speaks from male tongue. And Feminism, 'Emancipated women sleep with who they want, they wear less clothes and they have pride enough to tell men to go to hell if they hurt them' also serves men who now get sex for a dinner, rather than a piece of paper. Neither succeeded in making men less exploitative.

More and more, men expect women to shoulder the economic burden of rearing a family as well as provide the majority of child care. The way it is different from a tribal culture where women brought dowry is that women can earn the income using their skills and abilities rather than bring the money from their family resources.

This wasn't what the equal rights for women movement was about. It was about mental and physical autonomy for women, not a vastly more complex negotiation for a marriage, home and responsibility for child care.

This Is For The Men Who\'ll Roll Their Eyes 1. The corporation is an evolution of tribalism and has strong similarities--therefore I don't see it as all that different. Corporations as an advanced mode of tribalism are more developed, with a different purpose (profit vs. ideology) and has a larger elite than tribes of old. Whereas in tribalism a very small fraction of people got to make rules for the majority, the corporation has allowed a larger number of people to be co-opted in its agendas. Whether that makes it more bearable, kinder, more humane than tribal customs and mores is a choice that can't be tested or exercised. Comparisons can only be made indirectly i.e., from other people's accounts of what it was like to be an ordinary slave in a tribe.
2. Because of this, many leftist thinkers are criticized to be unreal romantics who want to go back to a time that never existed.
3. About my earlier comment that led to this; if man's ultimate purpose is to procreate and create hardy children, then all that is done by traditional society to make sex a reward to be earned is done so that people keep making family a purpose of life is fine. It meets the purpose.
4. The concern that many women have is that they want to be appreciated and respected in a system that has a secret agenda--to get women to do the work that men don't want to. On the part of men it is necessary to construct narratives that condition women to settle for less in return for social status and material wealth while rearing children. Dawa-e-dill has posted several items that validate this statement--if you can get past the publicity stunt for Islam. Most religions have conveniently obliged this desire of men to control women's choices. Now I don't want to get into a tangential debate over whether God is a man or not, but suffice to say that it is startlingly consistent across religions how the negotiation has gone. Monotheism=male god=family=oppression of women.
5. Feminism alas, could not renegotiate the terms in women's favor. Alas, women have lost as much as gained by proving that a women is every bit as good as a man. Feminity unfortunately was the most immediate catastrophe. Equality isn't really the point. The point is who gets to do what work and how do they decide? For every verse in the Quran that women are inferior to men, there is a verse supporting the rights of women. However the pre-assigned role as homemaker is extremely limiting and I am sure that no God/intelligent design would prescribe second degree and rigid roles for women which are in complete contrast to nature. In nature, the female is definitely the strategic sex who makes the key decisions.

News just in Hilarious and very true.

And, why in heavan's name must everything be rationalized, justified and apologized for as somehow better than anyone else but terrible, but wait that is someone else's fault.

The \'poor\' Neighbour Re: # 274
'As for women being out in the open... true that Pakistani women don't drive scooters... but often enough I stop at a light and every other driver in every other car is a woman..'
Where? Where is this relative freedom? In the poshest areas of Pakistan. In Karachi it used to be so from 1990s to 2004. Now not so. In fact women are in Niqab, Burkha and they do not drive. Saw one or two women in the Defense Clifton posh areas who were driving. Most were in Burkas. Chadars and NiqAabs through out Karachi.

This Is For The Men Who\'ll Roll Their Eyes Dear Sidra

Well said. Men are as manipulated by gender stereotyping as are women, I'd like to say the following:
1. As long as people believe in ancient books that prescribe different rules for women literally, women's bodies will not belong solely to them.
2. After watching quite a few of my male friends marry women who they and their families thought would be submissive, less intelligent and more giving but had to watch their consequent suffering afterwards--I have become pretty cynical. I think desi men are brought up with very odd ideas about women and marriage which are exposed only after they marry and realise that that the independent and intelligent woman that they were afraid of would have actually suited them better. At that time they say what the heck, its not as though I wanted to do something really special in my life anyway.

3. If the purpose of life is to procreate and raise children, then women should indeed act like idiots without minds and men like bidders in a market for slaves.

Boots, Beards, Burqas and Bombs Great analysis. Can't Ejaz-ul-Haq be sacked or after this complete fiasco imprisoned? What is the use of a dictator if he can't get rid of these idiots?

Independence Thinker Thanks for the reviews. The tragedy is that his message of spirituality and non-violence is losing relevance in modern South Asia which likes to politicize religion. Quite likely these books will be used to validate the claim that Gandhi's political ideas were flawed.

India\'s Yin and Yang 60 years After Independence I thought Chowk was an outpost for critical thinking, off beat ideas, not a publicity board?