Billboards featuring Women Reappear in Peshawar!

[Quwa]

As a rule of thumb...consider yourself as a Pakistani middle class person with a degree in engineering or medicine, living in a middle-class area and wanting to move to the West. I have some memories of being a child of such a family, and I can remember consistent contact with the most socially conservative and liberal members of society. Your English might be dodgy, you may watch a fair bit of Pakistani dramas and like some Pakistani songs...but you live in a very ideologically diverse society where things like interpersonal sensetivity are your prime assets.

If NWFP was destined to be liberal, it will happen on its own without forced issues down people's throats - vice versa with conservatism. Our goal should be integrate the poor and weak into the greater Pakistani society, no need for Bollywood'ism. Immediate focus must be on social health, education and law & order.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Blain:

You are not being repetitive - your last post explained your position quite well, and I agree with it. Interestingly an editorial in the Dawn also concurs with your argument:

To counter political and militant Islam an attempt is made to preach and promote ‘liberal Islam’ which includes most modern values and traditions. Some Muslim states support this version of Islam to counter a militant and political Islam which is a threat to their authority. Sometimes western countries encourage ulema to propagate and preach liberal Islam in order to eliminate the threat of religious fundamentalism.

In both cases the attempt has failed because liberal Islam cannot develop and be popular in isolation. It requires political stability, economic prosperity and social justice. As nearly all Muslim countries are under the grip of dictators along with social inequality and economic exploitation, liberal Islam cannot have any appeal for common people.

Mark Sien:

One could argue that the fact that two secular and liberal parties won an overwhelming majority of the seats is proof enough that the NWFP "wants change". And this election result is not an anomaly - barring the last election, whose results have variously been attributed to Musharraf requiring an "Islamic bulwark to keep the West in line" and sentiment against NATO for invading Afghanistan, the Mullah's have not been able to gain the sympathy of the electorate.

The argument is not for introducing "Bollywoodism" (unless you consider women on billboards, magazines and TV, Bollywoodism), but of merely allowing the participation of women, within certain levels of decency, in such spheres (and forgive me this time for being repetitive).

 

[mujahideen]

In many of the posts above I have been reading about moderate Islam, Extremists Islam and many other types of Islams. I would just like to remind people that their is only one version of Islam. One and final version which cant be changed, ever.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

In many of the posts above I have been reading about moderate Islam, Extremists Islam and many other types of Islams. I would just like to remind people that their is only one version of Islam. One and final version which cant be changed, ever.

This is being discussed elsewhere, so I'll ask you to please respond on that thread, but you cannot make that argument without also clarifying what you consider your "one version of Islam" to proclaim.

One Islam with many interpretations - fine, I agree with that. But then state it that way, else those not taking a nuanced view of what you said will be laughing their heads of thinking about moderate/liberal Muslims and the Taliban.

 

[Quwa]

Agnostic;

People did not vote MMA/religious parties out solely because they wanted to see Nadia Khan on a giant board...but mostly because of issues such as violence, crime, weak goverment, crime and unkept promises to promote education & health. These are the issues that the people are more concerned with, and we do not need agitate the remnant opposition by posting up boards when the people are still in a fragile situation. Simply put....if the ANP cannot meet the above mentioned issues, another party will be elected in the next elections...this trend will continue UNTIL core issues are guaranteed.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Agnostic;

People did not vote MMA/religious parties out solely because they wanted to see Nadia Khan on a giant board...but mostly because of issues such as violence, crime, weak goverment, crime and unkept promises to promote education & health. These are the issues that the people are more concerned with, and we do not need agitate the remnant opposition by posting up boards when the people are still in a fragile situation. Simply put....if the ANP cannot meet the above mentioned issues, another party will be elected in the next elections...this trend will continue UNTIL core issues are guaranteed.

No question the ANP and PPP did not get voted in merely because the people wanted to see billboards with women on them. And I agree with your analysis of the parties getting booted out for not resolving issues, but there is equally no reason to assume that the people of the NWFP are not ready for a moderation of society either.

Remember that the obscurantist restrictions the MMA imposed did not exist before their getting elected, and people were more or less fine with "women on billboards", music, dance etc. So why should the new government not, at the very least, reduce restrictions that are themselves the anomaly rather than the rule?

Of course not at all at the expense of bringing about tangible change in the lives of the residents of the NWFP. I think both can go hand in hand.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

I don't think billboards with women are material in why some people voted the way they did.

In fact, I think too much is made about all this to indicate they are indicators of ''emancipation'' and "enlightenment".

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I don't think billboards with women are material in why some people voted the way they did.

In fact, I think too much is made about all this to indicate they are indicators of ''emancipation'' and "enlightenment".

No argument with whats stated above, and I don't think that issue is about "Billboards heralding emancipation and enlightenment" - the point is that there is nothing "un-Islamic" about female images on billboards, nor were female images on billboards a deviation from the norm in the NWFP until the MMA govt.

The striking down of obscurantist regulations and laws is to be welcomed.

 

[Mustapha]

No argument with whats stated above, and I don't think that issue is about "Billboards heralding emancipation and enlightenment" - the point is that there is nothing "un-Islamic" about female images on billboards, nor were female images on billboards a deviation from the norm in the NWFP until the MMA govt.

The striking down of obscurantist regulations and laws is to be welcomed.

Salaams,

Well as long it is nothing obscene, disturbing, inappropriate, and atleast decent then OKAY.

Obviously, most people will know if it is the crossing line if morality, decorum, and etc... is compromised...

Allah Hafiz