Huqooqul Ibad

[muse]

Towards a better Pakistan:


Government to shift Islamiat focus on Huqooqul Ibad

* New curriculum not to contain material against any sect, religious or ethnic minority

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to change the Islamiat (Islamic studies) curriculum of primary to grade-XII classes in the new education policy, emphasising issues of daily social life and Huqooqul Ibad (rights of fellow human beings).

A policy document made available to Daily Times reveals the new curriculum, which makes Islamiat compulsory from grade-I to grade-XII, would strive to teach students ethics and good behaviour in pursuance of the examples demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) during his daily dealings with Muslims and non-Muslims. The government has assured it would ensure the Islamiat textbooks and other learning materials did not contain anything repugnant to Islamic injunctions or any controversial material regarding any sect or religious/ethnic minorities. The new policy also seeks to ensure that the objectives of the Islamiat curriculum would be to make sure all Muslim children are allowed to learn, understand and apply the fundamental principles of Islam in their lives, with an aim to reform and develop society on the principles of the Quran and Sunnah.

The new Huqooqul Ibad chapters will focus on the rights and duties of parents, relatives, neighbours, teachers, friends, companions, children, women, orphans, widows, patients, handicapped, elders, travellers, guests and non-Muslims. The textbooks would also contain material on tolerance, forgiveness, patience, honesty, piety, chastity, enlightenment, service to humanity, punctuality, simplicity, love for the country and countrymen, Islamic brotherhood, truth, dignity of labour, equality, commitment to vows, ‘halal’ earnings, discipline, respect for law, national unity, mutual co-existence and purity in light of Islamic teachings.

Under the new policy, individuals wishing to pursue higher education in Islamiat would be encouraged through scholarships to both national and international Islamic institutes of repute. It states qualified teachers would be appointed to teach Islamiat and Arabic, adding training programmes in the two subjects would be provided for pre-service and in-service teachers.

The government has also claimed it would arrange for the printing of rare books on Islam and charts and materials relating to Islamic injunctions, and would distribute them amongst libraries of schools, colleges, universities, research institutions and madrassas. The new policy also has a provision for non-Muslim students to study ethics/moral education in lieu of Islamiat.

 

[EjazR]

Definitely an important and positive step. Looking forward to read up on the new education policy once its released from the ministry.

 

[fhassan]

Good move.

 

[Awesome]

Just out of curiosity what did they contain before?

 

[muse]

3 women forced to walk naked in public

* Women accuse UC nazim of plotting against them to grab their house

LAHORE: An angry mob tortured and forced three women to walk naked on Multan Road in Phoolnagar, Kasur on the accusation of prostitution, a private television channel reported on Monday.

According to the channel, a large number of people attacked a house in Jambarkalan village, torturing three women – including Shahnaz – for allegedly being involved in prostitution and running a brothel in the village.

Illegal: However, the victims said all the accusations against them were baseless and devoid of truth. The women said they had a property dispute with Union Council Nazim Ilyas Khanzada who wanted to occupy their home illegally. They accused him of planning and leading the criminal assault on their home.

The UC nazim confirmed that all three women were subjected to torture by the mob and were later forced to walk naked on the road. However, he denied plotting against the women.

Jabarkalan Police Sub-Inspector Bashir told the channel that a case under sections 371-A and 371-B had been registered against the women for running a brothel on the local residents’ complaints.

However, a local court directed senior police officials to take action against the policemen concerned for registering a case under wrong sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Police did not register a case or even question the mob that attacked the women and publicly humiliated them. daily times monitor

 

[Comet]

3 women forced to walk naked in public

* Women accuse UC nazim of plotting against them to grab their house

LAHORE: An angry mob tortured and forced three women to walk naked on Multan Road in Phoolnagar, Kasur on the accusation of prostitution, a private television channel reported on Monday.

According to the channel, a large number of people attacked a house in Jambarkalan village, torturing three women – including Shahnaz – for allegedly being involved in prostitution and running a brothel in the village.

Illegal: However, the victims said all the accusations against them were baseless and devoid of truth. The women said they had a property dispute with Union Council Nazim Ilyas Khanzada who wanted to occupy their home illegally. They accused him of planning and leading the criminal assault on their home.

The UC nazim confirmed that all three women were subjected to torture by the mob and were later forced to walk naked on the road. However, he denied plotting against the women.

Jabarkalan Police Sub-Inspector Bashir told the channel that a case under sections 371-A and 371-B had been registered against the women for running a brothel on the local residents’ complaints.

However, a local court directed senior police officials to take action against the policemen concerned for registering a case under wrong sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Police did not register a case or even question the mob that attacked the women and publicly humiliated them. daily times monitor

Ok.... I have a question for the people who forced these women to walk naked.

What on earth are you? If they are prostitutes then what the f**k are you? At least they do it in private BUT YOU MADE IT PUBLIC. A$$ h*les

 

[muse]

Huqooq? Not for Pakistani women - oh wait, that's not as sexy as palestinians - oh well, too bad.


Girl’s ears, nose slashed



Tuesday, September 29, 2009
By our correspondent

KASUR: Rivals chopped off ears and nose of a young girl when her father refused to marry off her to a youth while the mother of the girl died from grief, The News learnt here on Monday.

Complainant Bashir Ahmad, a worker at Haji Gul Faroz’s kiln in Zafar Kay village, told the police that Gul Faroz’s son Sher Muhammad wanted to marry his daughter Fazeelat, but he refused to entertain his demand. Fazeelat’s family was receiving threat from Sher Muhammad and his brother Amanat Ali. On Monday, Sher Muhammad, Amanat Ali and others allegedly entered Fazeelat’s house and slashed her ears and nose in front of her mother, who died from grief after the incident.

Police have registered a case and arrested Sher Muhammad and Amanat Ali. Talking to The News, some local people said Haji Gul Faroz had developed relations with Fazeelat and gave her family a house and wanted to marry Fazeelat next week. Gul Faroz’s wife and other relatives were upset over this and, eventually, they chopped off her nose and ears.

 

[muse]

A society gone warped


In a completely shameful and appalling incident, three women in Phoolnagar village, Lahore were subjected to torture and made to walk naked in public. A report stated that the women were accused of prostitution and therefore their house was attacked and they were ‘punished’ for allegedly being involved in prostitution and running a brothel – ‘allegedly’ being the key word.

What sort of a society are we in which we allow women to go through this humiliation day after day? Leave honour killings and domestic abuse aside for a minute – this isn’t about that. This is about assuming one can take the law in their own hands and punishing women according to what suits their taste best.

According to the report, Union Council Nazim Ilyas Khanzada confirmed that this incident took place and police registered a case against the women for allegedly running a brothel. Registration and arrests are understood and accepted but what about the men who tortured them and made them walk naked? Nothing against them? Do we salute their righteousness for locating these women and making a public spectacle out of them? Pity that these are the steps we take to teach ‘others a lesson’.

How can we talk about bringing justice to women when such a mindset and warped way of thinking still exists in our country? Just because we have taken the colossal task of fighting the war on terror, do we ignore these incidents? Do we book an accused every few months, give a column or two to the victims and then forget about it? If we are capable of claiming victory against militancy, how are we not capable of wiping out such demons from society? Aren’t the two linked anyway – Pakistan’s big fight against terror should also include such perpetrators as what bigger form of terrorisation can there compared to that of attacking women and parading them naked on the street. Who are the bigger terrorists – those that flogged a girl in public or those who humiliated these women in public?

Shyema Sajjad is a Desk Editor for Dawn.com

 

[muse]

If you find yourself angry that the world percieves Pakistan as a backward hellhole, populated by lunes who confuse their prudish prejudices as religiosity, you might be interested in such editorials - on the other hand if you cannot reconcile the Pakistan you know with the Pakistan you read in these pages, you might want to reconsider:


Women — the victims

Dawn Editorial


Wednesday, 30 Sep, 2009 | 07:58 AM PST |





As violence against women in Pakistan continues to grow, every new incident is eerily reminiscent of an earlier event that was equally if not more shocking. Two reports from Punjab on Monday are a blot on society’s collective conscience. One pertained to the public humiliation of three women in Phoolnagar village by a mob that held them guilty of prostitution. The other detailed the horrendous case in Zafarkay where a young girl’s nose and ears were chopped off because she had turned down an offer of marriage. What is most appalling is that such incidents take place with unfailing regularity, notwithstanding the laws upholding women’s rights and attempts by advocacy groups to raise the status of women.

Statistics from one human rights organisation show that violence against women has registered an increase of 237 per cent over the period 2000–08, with 8,445 cases being reported in 2008. These figures are undoubtedly the tip of the iceberg. Murder, rape, torture and kidnapping top the list of crimes.

With the media in Pakistan enjoying an unprecedented degree of freedom and with communication facilitated by modern technology such as the Internet and text-messaging such gender crimes should no longer be brushed under the carpet. But the pertinent question is: even if they are not, then what?

If misogynists are in a position to inflict their perversity on women, without the state doing anything about it because it lacks the will to act or provide protection to its female citizens, criminals will remain safe in the knowledge that they will not be punished. Under such circumstances, there will be no let-up in violence against women.

There is a need for a two-pronged strategy. First, it is important that pressure must be brought to bear on the law-enforcement agencies to improve their performance and not allow the victimisation of women. Existing laws, even those that are not women-specific, should be stringent enough for the state to prosecute those who have committed an act of violence, irrespective of the victim’s gender.

What is even more important is the political will to enforce such laws. Secondly, there is an urgent need for efforts to change centuries-old perceptions. It is disturbing that one man should be able to incite a mob of 200 to publicly degrade women in a despicable way. It is time the media and civil society put in serious efforts to educate people about their individual responsibility to enforce human rights and stand up for the victims.


DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Women ? the victims

 

[humblehobbes]

What would you expect from a region where the Prime minister of the Kingdom invited a foreign despotate to invade the country(Afghan/Persian)!! South Asian Community is the only region in the world, where in spite of presence of abundant natural resources, a healthy burgeoning middle class, and plentiful coffers, region continues to set an example to the world on how not a country should be run. Its not a malaise that affects Pakistan alone.

 

[muse]

Can't disagree with that - Sonic boom has a thread about our attitudes, and how we ever got to be so screwed up, I just cannot fathom -- You are so right about the great wealth of South Asia, it's human capital, we really do have some of the brightest, most hard working, God loving people in the world, but how did we ever end up like this? I really can't get my head around the issue.

South Asia has seen the development of world religions but we are a completely immoral and unethical peoples, I mean all of us - I really think we should not forget Mosharraf Zaidi's words:

Not only does Pakistan lack the basic capabilities that modern nation states must posses. It lacks them because it doesn't know why it should possess them. Pakistan's bureaucracy and parliament are crawling with LSE, Cambridge and Harvard graduates. This is not country that lacks generic capacity. It is a country that lacks a specific and overarching will. What use are the world's best classrooms, and most revered texts in the absence of a moral compulsion to use them?

How could such things happen in societies such as ours - maybe what we think of ourselves is nothing but lies we tell ourselves, after all with such things going on in our societies, are we really God loving? what person loves God and treats His creation like this?? What person who loves God would think so low of themselves to find this behaviour acceptable. You can be sure the politicians will make noises, the CJP will persue his political vendetta and we will go on till the next outrage that will go unpunished, the next speech about not allowing anyone ot abuse Xyor Z law -


Anyway, this is us.

 

[TruthSeeker]

In some ways I am reminded of the politics within a company that I worked for for many years. This company enjoyed a monopoly for its products because of very strong patent protection. In this situation, the managers engaged in all kinds of unproductive internecine games of ambition and personal corruption, because they were protected from real competition. It was not until the patent protection waned that they had to face the real enemies, our marketplace competitors.

It seems that Pakistan needs some real outside, unifying "enemy" or a shared peaceful mission (like economic growth), if that is possible. It needs a mobilizing national crisis which it then successfully confronts and masters. Looking at China, South Korea and India, one can see that it doesn't take very much "success" for it to become infectious and re-inforcing. Pakistan needs some achievement that gives all Pakistanis pride of nation. If I were "King" of Pakistan, I would mount a national mission on education with concrete yearly goals. I.e. something like schools in every town with a place and teacher for every child by 2015. And then mobilize the nation to achieve it!

 

[muse]

Here we go as we predicted earlier (see my post above), talk but no change, even when foreigner have to tell us to protect citizens of Pakistan, shameless, bey Ghairat politicians and mullahs:

Blasphemy laws won’t be misused, Pope assured

* Vatican expresses concern over plight of minorities in Pakistan
* Pope urges Pakistan to protect its Christians

ROME: Pope Benedict urged Pakistan on Thursday to guarantee protection of minority Christians, and President Asif Ali Zardari assured him that all stakeholders and political forces would be consulted to check and stop the misuse of blasphemy laws.

Zardari met the Pope at his residence south of Rome at the end of a four-day trip to Italy aimed mainly at promoting trade.

A Vatican statement said Zardari’s talks with the Pope and Vatican officials centred on minority Christians in Pakistan following violence against their communities two months ago.

“Emphasis was given to the need to overcome all forms of discrimination based on religious affiliation, with the aim of promoting respect for the rights of all citizens,” it said.

Seven people – including four women and a child – were killed in violence that broke out in Gojra in August. The Christians’ homes were burnt after unsubstantiated accusations that some of them had desecrated the holy Quran. Some 40 houses were burned down in the violence, which was condemned at the time by the Vatican, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the World Council of Churches.

The Vatican statement said the talks also focused on “elements that have favoured such incidents”, an apparent reference to groups that have exploited Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which allows the death penalty for blaspheming Islam.

Pakistani government officials said at the time that the violence was the work of groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The Vatican said the talks with Zardari examined “the situation in Pakistan, with particular reference to terrorism and the commitment to create a society more tolerant and harmonious in all its aspects”.

The president said the government was committed to promoting interfaith harmony and tolerance, and that was why it had pioneered a resolution in the UN calling for interfaith harmony.

Federal Minister for Minorities Shehbaz Bhatti – who also attended the meeting – said that Pope Benedict also praised the steps taken by the government for the protection of minorities’ rights and promotion of interfaith harmony.

He said the pope had been told that the government also had plans to set up a federal interfaith complex, in addition to interfaith harmony committees in all districts of the country, which would have representation from members of all minorities.

Non-Muslims make up less than 5 percent of Pakistan’s 175 million people. agencies

 

[blain2]

Our nation cannot progress if we do not get a grip on these crimes against women. On a different note, why is it that people have stopped doing anything about such acts of public shame inflicted upon women? There have been cases in Lahore where women have been beaten up by men and the public just stood and watched the affair. Where is the chivalry? The current state reminds me of the Prophetic saying that if one sees a wrong being done, then he/she must try to stop it by taking action, if not strong enough or possible to take physical action, then by speaking out and if not capable of even doing that then at least condemning in one's heart the incident. The last one is the weakest form of protestation...but at least in our case, it seems this is the only thing we are capable of doing. Sad state of affairs..

 

[qsaark]

The current state reminds me of the Prophetic saying that if one sees a wrong being done, then he/she must try to stop it by taking action, if not strong enough or possible to take physical action, then by speaking out and if not capable of even doing that then at least condemning in one's heart the incident. The last one is the weakest form of protestation...

Which reminds me Blain, that once I started a thread "Amr bil Maroof & Nahi Anil Munkar" which was promptly closed on the grounds of "religious proselytizing". http://www.defence.pk/forums/members-club/34069-amr-bil-maroof-nahi-anil-munkar.html

Hum Aah Bhi Bharte HaiN Tou Ho jatey HaiN Badnaaam
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Rahey naam Allah ka.