Category Archives: Politics

” Pakistan For All ” By Bina Shah

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Karachi, Pakistan — Pakistan’s flag, a white star and crescent on a green background taken from the flag of the Muslim League, also has a broad white stripe on the left to represent its minority faiths, which include Christians, Hindus, Zoroastrians and others. But for many, a growing trend of violent attacks by religious militants against these groups has made that white stripe begin to feel like a tightrope — or a noose.

The most egregious of these attacks (not that any of them are less than egregious) took place in September, when two suicide bombers detonated their jackets at the gates of the All Saints Church in Peshawar, killing at least 80 worshipers, most of them women and children, as they streamed out the doors after Mass.

After the attack, a young lawyer from Karachi, Mohammad Jibran Nasir, called on citizens in his city to form a human chain around St. Patrick’s Cathedral there during Mass the following Sunday. A Sunni mullah, a Shiite imam and a Catholic priest prayed together during that event, and it was replicated at St. Anthony’s Church in Lahore and Our Lady of Fatima Church in Islamabad. Clerics from different faiths and sects sat together in the pews and made heartfelt speeches about religious tolerance while a small but passionate group of citizens held up placards that read, “One Nation, One Blood.”

In another smart move, the interfaith campaign, called “Pakistan for All,” is being enacted on social media. There it has attracted the attention of moderate and progressive Pakistanis, educated and tech-savvy, who detest seeing their country plunge into violence motivated by Pakistan’s right wing, and are desperate to wrest back their country from the forces of religious intolerance.

But Mr. Nasir recognizes that the work ahead for his burgeoning movement is immense. “We have a long way to go,” he said. “The human shields around the churches are just a symbolic gesture to get people’s attention.” What’s needed after people have been awakened, he says, is a public discourse that will produce policy recommendations to Pakistan’s Parliament for legal reform and heightened punishment for terrorism committed in the name of religion.

According to Akbar S. Ahmed, a professor of Islamic studies at American University in Washington, D.C., Jinnah practiced the interfaith harmony that he preached. Not only was his wife, Ruttie Jinnah, a woman from the Zoroastrian community, but he also spent Christmas Eve of 1947 attending Mass with the Christian community in its church in Karachi. In the tense months surrounding India’s partition, he declared his willingness to take on the role of protector general of the Hindu community. During his lifetime, those highly visible acts and statements assured the minorities of their protection from friends in high places.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/opinion/shah-reviving-an-interfaith-legacy.html?ref=opinion

The Reluctant Giant: Why Germany Shuns Its Global Role

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An Essay by Ullrich Fichtner

German industry is admired the world over. But Germans themselves collectively...

Today, 68 years after the end of the war and 24 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, we Germans are respected, admired and sometimes even loved. The fact that we generally don’t know what to do with all this admiration, because we collectively still seem to assume that we are not likeable and therefore must be unpopular, is a problem that very quickly becomes political. It’s obvious that Germans’ perception of themselves and the way we are perceived by others differ dramatically.

Even if some would not consider a travel guide to be the most credible basis for political reflections, it’s easy to find other sources of praise for Germany and the Germans. The BBC conducts an annual poll to name the “most popular country in the world.” Germany came in a clear first in the latest poll, and it wasn’t the first time. Some 59 percent of 26,000 respondents in 25 countries said that the Germans exert a “positive influence” in the world (and not surprisingly, the only country in which the view of Germany is overwhelmingly negative at the moment is Greece).

In the “Nation Brands Index” prepared by the American market research company GfK, which surveys more than 20,000 people in 20 countries about the image of various nations, Germany is currently in second place, behind the United States. This index is not some idle exercise, but is used as a decision-making tool by corporate strategists and other investors. GfK asks questions in six categories, including the quality of the administration and the condition of the export economy, and Germany is at the top of each category. But when Germans do acknowledge their current standing in the world, they always seem to be somewhat coy or even amused.

The rest of the world doesn’t understand this (anymore). The rest of the world is waiting for Germany. But instead of feeling pleased about Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s historic statement that he fears Germany’s power less than its inactivity, we cringe anxiously over such sentiments. When US President Barack Obama calls Germany a leading global power, we hope that he doesn’t really mean it. And when politicians in Israel say that Germany should wield its power more actively, we don’t interpret it as a mandate to become more committed, but are puzzled instead.

We Germans? Exercise power? Take action? Lead?

A ‘Europeanized’ Germany

The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), Germany’s government-run aid organization operating in 130 countries, made a concerted effort in 2012 to question decision-makers around the world about their views on Germany. Instead of quickly flipping through a list of questions, the GIZ conducted real, in-depth conversations with participants, and essentially arrived at two conclusions: Germany’s reputation in the world is sky-high, yet Germany is considered anything from spineless to completely incapable when it comes to investing this “soft” capital in an effective way for the benefit of everyone.

The positive image we enjoy worldwide is fed by a large number of widely dispersed sources, but it’s obvious that Germany’s accounting for its Nazi past, its clear acknowledgement of historic culpability and its development of a model democracy in the West laid the foundation for the Germans to be given a new chance in the 20th century.

But it is also clear that Germany’s reputation has received its biggest boost since the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification. Since then, the Germans have managed to demonstrate repeatedly that they are capable of producing economic miracles, which is precisely what reunification and the development of the former East Germany are. At the same time, Germany was able to dispel widely held fears of the return of a gloating major power in the middle of Europe. To everyone’s relief, especially that of our European neighbors, Germany has kept its feet on the ground, only waving its black, red and gold flag during football matches.

Perhaps the European financial crisis — and the key role Germany is playing in the effort to overcome it — has rekindled unease among our neighbors at the moment. But even if there is disagreement over the right way out of the crisis, and even if the German government has often proved to be too intransigent, no European in his right mind fears that Germany is pursuing some sort of secret plan to dominate the continent once again. Instead, Germany has “Europeanized” itself, both intentionally and credibly. But now it’s time to share Germany’s rich experiences along the winding paths of the 20th century with the rest of the world. Click link for full article.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-shies-from-taking-active-global-role-a-919261.html

Malala & Her Critics

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( Shared By Zafar Khizer )

This article by Nayyar Afaq describes the sad side of Pakistan where everything is judged by the prism of religion and facts are fabricated to prove conspiracy theories: a recipe  for self-annihilation.

On October 11, 2013 NYT published an article “  Pakistani Girl, a Global Heroine After an Attack, Has Critics at Home” and writes;

‘That cynicism was echoed this week across Pakistan, where conspiracy-minded citizens loudly branded Ms. Yousafzai a C.I.A. agent, part of a nebulous Western plot to humiliate their country and pressure their government.”

Below is the article by Nayyar Afaq;

A few days ago, a fierce verbal battle took place between the guests on a talk show called “On The Front” hosted by Kamran Shahid. The bone of contention was the book called ‘I am Malala’ authored by the 16-year-old herself. The guest speakers included, Orya Maqbool, Ansar Abbasi, Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy and Zafar Hilaly.

With regards to the topic at hand, the conversation began with Orya Maqbool and Ansar Abbasi giving their view on the book. Highly sensationalised words were used by the two, and common ground was reached with Malala being framed as offensive towards Islam.

Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy interjected stating that he had also read the book but did not find anything against Islam in her book as claimed by the other guests. He suspected either they had not read the book attentively or were deliberately trying to malign her.

The past animosity between Dr Hoodbhoy and Ansar Abbasi fueled a debate that turned into an ugly verbal brawl on national television, with insensitive comments being exchanged by both parties. Meanwhile, Orya yelled out, rather loudly I might add, appealing to the audience to open the book in question and confirm from page 30 that Malala had written these words,

“He (Salman Rushdie) has [sic] all the right under freedom of expression, but my father said that we should write a book against him.”

Visibly astonished, Dr Hoodbhoy asked, in a calm tone, if Orya Maqbool had the book in front of him from where he had read that particular excerpt. He further asserted that there was no statement in her that was in support of Rushdie.

At that, Orya insisted that these were, in fact, the exact words taken from her book and continued to incite religious sentiments through his sermon against Malala.

During the program, Malala was also accused of favouring Ahmadis in her book. Dr Hoodbhoy, once again, denied the allegation leveled against Malala stating that this was a lie and not written anywhere in the book.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/19373/calling-dr-pervez-hoodbhoy-jahil-can-only-happen-in-pakistan/

NYT article link

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/world/asia/pakistanis-cant-decide-is-malala-yousafzai-a-heroine-or-western-stooge.html

 

 

Secret memos reveal explicit nature of U.S., Pakistan agreement on drones

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 By Greg Miller

 Despite repeatedly denouncing the CIA’s drone campaign, top officials in Pakistan’s
government have for years secretly endorsed the program and routinely received
classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts, according to top-secret CIA
documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos obtained by The Washington Post.

 To view the entire article, go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/top-pakistani-leaders-secretly-backed-cia-drone-campaign-secret-documents-show/2013/10/23/15e6b0d8-3beb-11e3-b6a9-da62c264f40e_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend