Mech
BANNED
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2011
- Messages
- 3,161
- Reaction score
- -5
- Country
- Location
Pakistan transformed into a brutalised society
Shahid Husain
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Murders of political leaders are nothing new in Pakistan. Even the Founder of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, died under mysterious circumstances. The first prime minister of the country, Liaquat Ali Khan, and twice elected prime minister Benazir Bhutto were gunned down in the Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, while it has been speculated that Prime Minister Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy and Chief of the Army Staff General Asif Nawaz, a liberal general, were poisoned. The culprits were never apprehended.
Against this backdrop, the brutal murder of Punjab governor and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Salmaan Taseer by one of his own official guards on January 4 last year was symptomatic of the brutalisation of Pakistani society.
Taseer was a liberal democrat and son of Prof DM Taseer, one of the founding members of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) and a scholar par excellence.
Taseer was gunned down just because he had the courage to visit Asia Bibi in prison along with his family. He had not uttered a word against Islam. Taseer, unlike many of us, had the courage to oppose religious extremism and fanaticism that has nothing to do with the teachings of Islam.
Pakistan was perceived by Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a secular, democratic welfare state, but ironically even when Jinnah was alive his speeches were censored by the Radio Pakistan on the instructions of bigots and it has been documented by eminent journalist Zamir Niazi in his valuable book, Press in Chains.
Pakistan had been a tolerant society till the 1960s where Hindus, Christians, Parsis and other minorities lived peacefully and Majalis of Allama Rasheed Turabi at the Nishtar Park, Karachi, drew large crowds from the majority Sunni sect. However, Pakistani society underwent a U-turn after military ruler General Ziaul Haq staged a coup in July 1977, overthrowing a democratically elected government, and thereafter decided to fight a proxy war in Afghanistan.
Sectarianism and ethnicity was promoted by the despotic general and the heroin and Kalashnikov culture replaced the culture of love, harmony and hospitality that earlier prevailed in Pakistan. Right-wing parties such as the Jamaat-e-Islami collaborated with the military general and Jihadi forces were promoted at the behest of the US government. It has been documented by the American scholars that the Afghan war against then Soviet Union was funded by drug money. No wonder ex-president Farooq Leghari said on the floor of the assembly that narco-money had penetrated so deep into Pakistan that it could overthrow any government.
Though General Ziaul Haq perished in an plane crash in August 1988, his legacy lingers and a tolerant, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society has been brutalised so much so that neither the poor nor the elite feel safe. It was against this backdrop that Taseer was gunned down on January 4, 2011, and right-wing extremists raised a hue and cry in favour of the culprit, painting him a hero.
Sadly enough even the liberal forces that happen to be the silent majority turned a blind eye to the brutal murder of Taseer. One could hardly deny that the vast majority of silent spectators or liberals in Pakistan have been held hostage by a miniscule group of Mullahs because they have been better organised and armed to the teeth since Zias era.
SOURCE :Pakistan transformed into a brutalised society
Shahid Husain
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Murders of political leaders are nothing new in Pakistan. Even the Founder of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, died under mysterious circumstances. The first prime minister of the country, Liaquat Ali Khan, and twice elected prime minister Benazir Bhutto were gunned down in the Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, while it has been speculated that Prime Minister Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy and Chief of the Army Staff General Asif Nawaz, a liberal general, were poisoned. The culprits were never apprehended.
Against this backdrop, the brutal murder of Punjab governor and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Salmaan Taseer by one of his own official guards on January 4 last year was symptomatic of the brutalisation of Pakistani society.
Taseer was a liberal democrat and son of Prof DM Taseer, one of the founding members of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) and a scholar par excellence.
Taseer was gunned down just because he had the courage to visit Asia Bibi in prison along with his family. He had not uttered a word against Islam. Taseer, unlike many of us, had the courage to oppose religious extremism and fanaticism that has nothing to do with the teachings of Islam.
Pakistan was perceived by Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a secular, democratic welfare state, but ironically even when Jinnah was alive his speeches were censored by the Radio Pakistan on the instructions of bigots and it has been documented by eminent journalist Zamir Niazi in his valuable book, Press in Chains.
Pakistan had been a tolerant society till the 1960s where Hindus, Christians, Parsis and other minorities lived peacefully and Majalis of Allama Rasheed Turabi at the Nishtar Park, Karachi, drew large crowds from the majority Sunni sect. However, Pakistani society underwent a U-turn after military ruler General Ziaul Haq staged a coup in July 1977, overthrowing a democratically elected government, and thereafter decided to fight a proxy war in Afghanistan.
Sectarianism and ethnicity was promoted by the despotic general and the heroin and Kalashnikov culture replaced the culture of love, harmony and hospitality that earlier prevailed in Pakistan. Right-wing parties such as the Jamaat-e-Islami collaborated with the military general and Jihadi forces were promoted at the behest of the US government. It has been documented by the American scholars that the Afghan war against then Soviet Union was funded by drug money. No wonder ex-president Farooq Leghari said on the floor of the assembly that narco-money had penetrated so deep into Pakistan that it could overthrow any government.
Though General Ziaul Haq perished in an plane crash in August 1988, his legacy lingers and a tolerant, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society has been brutalised so much so that neither the poor nor the elite feel safe. It was against this backdrop that Taseer was gunned down on January 4, 2011, and right-wing extremists raised a hue and cry in favour of the culprit, painting him a hero.
Sadly enough even the liberal forces that happen to be the silent majority turned a blind eye to the brutal murder of Taseer. One could hardly deny that the vast majority of silent spectators or liberals in Pakistan have been held hostage by a miniscule group of Mullahs because they have been better organised and armed to the teeth since Zias era.
SOURCE :Pakistan transformed into a brutalised society
