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I am a victim of liberal fascism

Xestan

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I am a victim of liberal fascism
November 20, 2011

8936-Taliban-1321517377-148-640x480.jpg

Having a beard does not make me part of the Taliban, nor does it make me a suicide bomber or a terrorist.


It was about three years ago when the infamous tableeghi jamaat (missionary faction) rang my door bell and humbly invited me to join them in congregation.Without pondering too much on the possible implications of my actions, I decided to give it a try. They inspired me, and I started spending more and more time with them, and soon, I fully ‘converted’.

Since I come from a so-called ‘moderate’ family background, my conversion was greeted with sheer hostility. According to my uncle, I now look like a part of the Taliban, as I now sport a beard. To these ‘liberals’, my conversion was of prime importance and how I began to behave like a maulvi (cleric) was the top agenda of every family gathering, every dinner, lunch and even wedding.

Despite the fact that they didn’t have the slightest clue about my conviction, my family and friends lectured me for long uninterrupted periods of time trying to ‘convert’ me back to what they thought was normal. They quoted misinterpreted hadiths, saying that there is simplicity in religion and I shouldn’t make my life miserable.

My life was far from miserable

Had I raised my voice against their ignorance, which I did, they would have questioned my faith and said that religion preaches respect and tolerance towards to those older than one. As for my friends, sadly enough, I lost many of the ones who were bred in a similar intellectual upbringing. As I was now a maulvi they naturally assumed that I was ‘narrow minded’, ‘intolerant’ and very different from them.

People used to criticize me when I jogged around the neighbourhood with beard, which to me isn’t a big deal, but their ‘broad-mindedness’ apparently, could not tolerate it. People around me began (and continue) to make ridiculous assertions (aimed at me) such as:

“The tableeghis are hand in hand with the Taliban.”

“They will indoctrinate you and make you into one of them.”


And the one I hear most often is:

“The FBI will break into your room and kidnap you at night.”

Fortunately for me, none of the above predictions have come true yet. People have even mocked and ridiculed me by saying

“You were behind that terrorist attack, weren’t you?”

All this slander, simply because I have a beard. I couldn’t have been bothered, and hence ignored them.

I remember walking with the tableeghis on the weekly gasht, in which we humbly invite people towards Providence. I rang the doorbell and the person in the house without bothering to come out to greet us, yelled from the patio of his house in a cynical and displeased tone:

“Oh, aa gaye nay khudkhus bambaar.” (Oh the suicide bombers are here.)

People reluctant to join us went to the extent of altering their voices and telling us that ‘so and so isn’t home.’ They didn’t seem to have the slightest bit of courage to come out and say that they didn’t want to join us themselves. Now that’s what I call intolerance, but hey, aren’t we, the tableeghis, the only intolerant people around?

Accusing men, who committed the crime of growing a beard, of being intolerant is their norm, while women who choose to cover their modesty are deemed to be oppressed. Such inconsiderate and prejudiced assertions couldn’t be further from the truth. I find these ‘pseudo intellectuals’ and ‘pseudo liberals’ to be as narrow-minded and intolerant as any any fascist ideologue out there (such as Bal Thackery or Mussolini) whom they claim to despise.

The only thing on these peoples’ agenda is hatred; this is their sole dedication. They hate men with beards, however, ironically, they never seem to tire of calling themselves ‘liberal, tolerant and progressive’.

Should I, then, blame these people for being who they are, or should I respond in kind to their hate-ideology? Maybe it is their lack of adequate education that compels them to act this way. They do not seem have the slightest clue about Islam – the political Islam, the judicial Islam or the financial Islam. They, perhaps do not know that the endless contributions to the fields of science, medicine, and philosophy have been made by men who were maulvis.

As Sir Thomas Arnold said:

“Those who accuse the Muslim scholars of lack of originality and of intellectual decadence, have never read Aveross or looked into Al-Ghazali but have adopted second hand judgments.”

When people say that I am part of the Taliban just because I have a beard, when they hurl accusations at me about being a terrorist, when they treat me as their inferior, I wonder if they are aware that it is they who are ignorant and intolerant.

Let me take a stab at educating people here and let me make something adequately clear: Yes, I do have a beard, yes I pray, and yes, I am a Muslim. This does not make me a terrorist, nor does it make me part of the Taliban.

I am a victim of liberal fascism – The Express Tribune Blog
 
How many people have been killed due to "Liberal Fascism" compared to the religious fascism?

The biggest left wing murderers were the Atheist Communist Bolshevist's of the Soviet Union. Under Joseph Stalin alone more than 60,000,000 people were brutally massacred. Look up how the Bolshevist's came into power, they butchered the Russian Aristocratic class in such a gruesome manner that you would be sick to your stomach, the daughter of the Czar who had Hemophilia B was brutally tortured before she was murdered, but if only you knew.

Under the Soviet Union there was no personal freedom, no religion allowed, everyone was an atheist, and if you weren't an atheist then atheism was forced down your throat otherwise you were kidnapped and no one ever heard from you again, everyone was given a role in society by the State so no one could choose to live the way they wanted, in other words you could be the smartest person in your town but if the government decides that you will be a janitor then that is your job until the day you die, and if the government deems that your a threat to them then you will be kidnapped by the secret police and your body will be disposed of in another corner of the country.
 
How many people have been killed due to "Liberal Fascism" compared to the religious fascism?
Does not justify the behavior,does it ? If you keep playing with fire,eventually you will get hurt. We let religious facism go til it got to the point where either you are with them or wrong,you wana go down the same route with liberal facism as well ?
 
How many people have been killed due to "Liberal Fascism" compared to the religious fascism?
You don't stand a chance........ Attack on Iraq, Libya & Afghanistan to implement Democracy, has killed far greater number of people than were ever killed by religious fanatics. You can be a hypocrite and deny it all, under an umbrella of petty excuses, but, that would only be your deluded subjective judgement.
 
How many people have been killed due to "Liberal Fascism" compared to the religious fascism?
That does not make the treatment people like him receive from others any less deplorable.

His point is valid, yours is a typical canard meant to stifle introspection and proper discourse over the issues people like him raise.

Heck, your comment might as well have come out of someone on Fox News.
 
Liberal fascism: A term coined (in pakistan)to show moral equivalence of murderous right with extremely liberal view.
I have seen similar liberal fascism when people dare to say a rape can never be woman's fault. Surely we cant tilt one way and call it is never rapist's fault, but tilting other side is equally abhorrent. (Just showing the false equivalence there, I dont believe it).

People behaving differently due to your beard/hijab has nothing to do with liberalism. People are just reacting due to the news media shows.
People always judge you by your external appearance, try to drive a big bike with some tatoos on your body.
 
The biggest left wing murderers were the Atheist Communist Bolshevist's of the Soviet Union.

To consider the Communist Bolshevists liberal would be ridiculous. You deliberately avoid calling them liberals, which leads me to believe you know this to be case.

...everyone was an atheist, and if you weren't an atheist then atheism was forced down your throat otherwise you were kidnapped and no one ever heard from you again... if the government deems that your a threat to them then you will be kidnapped by the secret police and your body will be disposed of in another corner of the country.

Substitute 'a muslim' for 'an atheist', 'islam' for 'athiesm', and it sounds eerily familiar doesn't it?

EDIT: I don't want to give the wrong impression; I don't consider a body count to be an effective argument against any ideology.
 
Liberal fascism: A term coined (in pakistan)to show moral equivalence of murderous right with extremely liberal view.

Incorrect - it is a term coined to highlight the intolerance, prejudice and derogatory commentary by a extremist left wing fringe that proclaims to be 'liberal'.

I have seen similar liberal fascism when people dare to say a rape can never be woman's fault. Surely we cant tilt one way and call it is never rapist's fault, but tilting other side is equally abhorrent. (Just showing the false equivalence there, I dont believe it).
Strawman - a liberal fascist's position would be along the lines of denigrating a particular segment of society for adhering to certain religions beliefs that have nothing to do with societal equality or justice - such as 'changing 'Khuda Hafiz to Allah Hafiz' or arguing that 'Pakistan should reject US aid and stop accepting US diktat' etc.

Before the term 'liberal fascist', it was these extremist fringe liberals that resorted to derogatory language in describing a section of Pakistanis that wished to see a more independent and assertive foreign policy by Pakistan as the 'Ghairat Brigade' etc.
People behaving differently due to your beard/hijab has nothing to do with liberalism. People are just reacting due to the news media shows.
Replace 'bear/hijab' with 'the black color of your skin' and try and justify it. Judging people by their appearances and treating them in a derogatory manner, whether because of their skin color or facial hair/clothing, is discriminatory, intolerance and prejudice.
People always judge you by your external appearance, try to drive a big bike with some tatoos on your body.
Does not make it right ....

While one may have an instinctive reaction, depending upon the environment, to another's appearance, for whatever reason, what makes us 'civilized' is the ability to get beyond that 'instinctive reaction' (bred by upbringing, media, society or whatever) and treat the other with respect and civility.
 
People should not judge anyone who grows a beard and wears Hijab. People in western countries and India look down on people who grow beard and wear Hijab. This should not happen in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Pakistan was created so that Muslims could freely practice their Religion the way they wanted.
 
This article has really opened my eyes. Up till this moment, I hadn't realized the distress I cause people who disagree with my liberal views. I promise:

I will stop burning down those madrassahs that refuse to educate women.
I will no longer force girls to marry the man of their choice.
I will never again threaten to kill those who refuse to read Playboy.

Sincerely,
former liberal fascist
[/Sarcasm]

In all seriousness, I don't like it when individuals are insulted or slandered without reason, but when there is no other safe outlet for expressing frustration with an oppressive ideology, ridicule is an appropriate response. Liberals in Pakistan have good reason to be scared of the religious right, and they can't all risk their lives by openly confronting proselytizers. Superficial humour provides a defense mechanism in case a confrontation turns violent ("I was only joking about your beard!"). People won't come out of their house to have a reasoned debate with tableeghis, but the writer shouldn't take it personally, because there is nothing else for a dissident to do. "I am a victim of liberal fascism" is a letter that can be published anywhere in Pakistan in any language, and it will be accepted without a hint of violence. On the other hand, if a liberal Pakistani wants to chastise a member of the Tableeghi Jamaat, without the protection of the Internet, what can he safely do other than make fun of his beard?
 
This article has really opened my eyes. Up till this moment, I hadn't realized the distress I cause people who disagree with my liberal views. I promise:

I will stop burning down those madrassahs that refuse to educate women.
The vast majority of 'conservatives/nationalists' do not advocate 'allowing women to remain uneducated' - not a valid distinction between 'liberals and conservatives'.

I will no longer force girls to marry the man of their choice.
Again, not all conservatives force girls to marry the man they choose - and where forced marriages do occur, cultural and societal pressures are perhaps more to blame than religious pressures.

I will never again threaten to kill those who refuse to read Playboy.
Neither would many conservatives.

See, this is precisely the problem - the arguments you made are strawmen, and seek to denigrate all those who might not define themselves as 'liberal', as religious, regressive extremists, and that is patently unfair and downright wrong.

In all seriousness, I don't like it when individuals are insulted or slandered without reason, but when there is no other safe outlet for expressing frustration with an oppressive ideology, ridicule is an appropriate response. Liberals in Pakistan have good reason to be scared of the religious right, and they can't all risk their lives by openly confronting proselytizers. Superficial humour provides a defense mechanism in case a confrontation turns violent ("I was only joking about your beard!"). People won't come out of their house to have a reasoned debate with tableeghis, but the writer shouldn't take it personally, because there is nothing else for a dissident to do. "I am a victim of liberal fascism" is a letter that can be published anywhere in Pakistan in any language, and it will be accepted without a hint of violence. On the other hand, if a liberal Pakistani wants to chastise a member of the Tableeghi Jamaat, without the protection of the Internet, what can he safely do other than make fun of his beard?
The threat of violence against 'social liberals' does indeed exist, but that threat exists primarily because of failed governance and failed institutions. Our politicians, elected to protect us, themselves pander to perceived populist sentiment by declaring 'I will murder any blasphemer myself' (Rehman Malik) so how can an average 'liberal individual' expect 'protection from the State'?

But the blame here falls on government, its institutions and the fringe of extremists willing to resort to violence - the blame does not fall on the vast majority of 'non-liberals' who would not resort to violence in any case.
 
The first part of my comment was not meant to denigrate all those who are not liberal, it was meant to highlight the massive differences between the tactics employed by those on the far right and those on the far left. Certainly the vast majority of conservatives do not think this way, I don't think my statement even implied that. The writer in the article isn't actually talking about mainstream liberals, he is talking about 'liberal fascists', so in my response I choose to talk about 'right wing fascists' rather than mainstream conservatives. I hope that clears this up.

For the second part, I agree with you that the blame lies on certain national institutions that perpetuate extremists ideologies, and on a fringe on the right, but that fringe is much more powerful and oppressive than anything the left could dream up. Liberals, fascist or otherwise, simply cannot distinguish between the fringe and the mainstream, because the influence of the fringe permeates throughout our society; your quote from Rehman Malik is a perfect example of this.

If the mainstream liberals quit hiding and come out into the open to express their views, can they rely on much more powerful mainstream conservatives to protect them from violence? Would an average conservative stand up and defend the right to speech of an exposed liberal he actually disagrees with? Certainly not in today's Pakistan. When the majority stands aside and does nothing to protect the rights of the minority, they are not blameless. Every oppressive regime in history, or by extension every regime that has allowed oppression to take place, has come to power due to the apathy of the majority of its citizens. Rehman Malik isn't a part of the "fringe", he is a part of the mainstream. Conservatives should not be blamed for the violence of the fringe, but they should certainly be blamed for the disinterest of government in the rights of its citizens.
 
People should not judge anyone who grows a beard and wears Hijab. People in western countries and India look down on people who grow beard and wear Hijab. This should not happen in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Pakistan was created so that Muslims could freely practice their Religion the way they wanted.


Where in India do you see a dress code law? how can India look down on 150 million people



2006-9-20-india.jpg



See this 3 bearded Indian muslim men its not a issue or a big deal as you make out when even Hindu holy men adopt the same bearded look.
 

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