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PAKISTAN

Dr. Farooq Hassan
International Law Expert - Pakistan

The Women’s Protection Bill (WPB) was enacted on November 15, 2006, shortly after it was introduced before the National Assembly of Pakistan for general debate. Most surprisingly, no debate took place. The leading members of the ruling alliance, including the former president Leghari, even General Musharraf’s ministers, never showed up. The much threatened filibustering by the religious alliance of political parties — known as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) — never materialized, as they just walked out. The bill barely crossed the necessary threshold barrier by obtaining the minimum number of majority votes.

Read the whole essay here.

By: Dr. Farooq Hassan

(Synopsis of address presented at World Islamic International Awards ceremony

16th September, South hall, London, 2006)

It is my great honor to be invited here to receive the World Islamic International Award for Family from the London based World Islamic Family Coalition. As a networking coalition of Muslim NGOs our host today is involved in diverse matters including the family. This NGO is designed to provide resource services and to act as a caucus for Muslim institutions internationally. Although barely set up less than a year ago, it has begun its work with some degree of earnestness with institutions in the Islamic world. I thank the Secretary General Dr. Malik for his pioneer efforts in this regard.

But I must add that much work needs to be done by them if they have to make a mark in this field as an Islamic international NGO in Family matters. All the reputable institutions that are operating presently in the field of the family are invariably Western in origin. They are primarily organized for alleviating the misfortunes and woes faced by this basic human institution in their societies. I am not aware of a single non Western NGO in the field of the family to have embarked upon a venture such as our hosts have done with any significant impact.

By Dr Farooq Hassan

The Nation 8 March 06

The strategic implications of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten’s publication of the cartoons blaspheming holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are spreading in several directions. It has caused great anger and hurt the Muslim world. One fundamental implication is clear. The public furore has assumed an antagonistic posture towards Western political interests and those of its supporters. Even Condoleezza Rice was constrained to note publicly that this “severe” Islamic condemnation of caricatures was getting out of hand and threatening to block “the progress that the US was endeavouring to achieve” on many international fronts.

As a result, worldwide agitation and protests have evidently become a terrifying prospect for policymakers of countries such as Pakistan where democracy has been held hostage by the army. So much is the government shaken that it had to vote for a condemnatory parliamentary resolution. A countrywide protest and strike resulted in severe destruction of public property. The government agreed to participate in the national anti-blasphemy protest on 3rd March, the day President Bush came to Islamabad. The reason for the government’s dilemma is obvious. It is petrified that if it supports even by lip service the Islamists’ call, it gets doomed in the eyes of its Western benefactors including Washington. If it does what it wants to really do, it is doomed to an unceremonious ouster as it has no political base among the people. Besides, it loses credibility in Washington and elsewhere that he can turn the screw at will against fundamentalist forces.

Read the whole essay here.

DR FAROOQ HASSAN

It has been widely reported in the press that all foreign students from Islamic countries have been expelled from their religious institutions in Pakistan as well as ordered to leave the country by the end of December 2005. Apparently this order applies to everyone in such a category irrespective of whether they are in possession of a valid visa and travel documents. This measure of the Musharraf government is to purportedly advance its role in the war against terrorism. The matter has been opposed by religious oriented political parties on the grounds of a major policy “tilt” towards anti-Islamic elements in the giving of such an order by the federal authorities.

However, irrespective of policy considerations about the respective stands the two protagonists the essence of which is by now well known, what needs to be examined is the constitutional and legal vires or justification of this decision. On what legal grounds is this action of the Pakistani Federal Government sustainable, if at all? Let us briefly examine those issues which are prima facie significant in such an analysis.

Dr. Farooq Hassan [1]

Brief thematic synopsis of Address given to

The Center for Society & Secularism, the Vikas Adhyayan Kendra and to

Pius College Seminary, Mumbai 29 October 2005

Religion has been a dominant factor in determining the history of the people’s of South Asia. It still continues to be the case. Today this region has several countries representing a diversity of faiths. Out of these countries, Pakistan was created, at least in an historical context, on the solitary basis of religion. Yet, despite this fact pertaining to the doctrinaire basis of the country in 1971, it was torn asunder by the political aspirations of the people of East Pakistan. At the same time, India, the world’s largest successful democracy, has had to face up to this phenomenon numerous times - sometimes with tragic consequences. More recently, even in Bangladesh, created on solid secular foundations, there are signs of emergent nuances of Islamic extremism.

At times it is very hard to distinguish between seemingly ethnic conflicts and more deeply held religious controversies. Generally, the minorities have had to face the brunt of unpleasant implications. But this is not invariable. Both in India and Pakistan, Hindus and Muslims have respectively suffered the effects of sectarian turmoil at the hands of their own followers of the same faith. A question thus naturally arises: does religion assume a secondary role of importance if political necessities of a given time, as perceived, are considered more urgent for redressal even at its expense? This realization is based on empiricism. Effects of far reaching significance affecting the geo-strategic realities of this region have been witnessed to occur presumably on such a foundation. Or, conversely, is the real question that religion is primarily used initially as a cloak or cover for wider political aspirations of the “relevant” people? If it is indeed so, then the enormity of the dynamics of the religion factor is evident. In sum, whether or not religion per se is the initiator of change, it continues be to a major matter propelling alterations of the status quo.

Dr. Farooq Hassan

BA (Juris),MA,M. LiTT (OXON);
DCL (Columbia),DIA(Harvard);
Sen.Adv.Sup.Ct. (Pakistan),
Barrister at Law (UK),Attorney at Law(US).

According to women’s rights’ NGOs at least 800 rapes and gang-rapes were recorded in 2004 by the Police in Pakistan. This figure is believed to be merely a fraction of the number of such cases actually taking place. Several recent shockingly alarming incidents of gang rape cases have, however, sadly brought into sharp focus this terrible aspect of the current societal prejudices in this country. In some notorious incidents, there is clear surrounding evidence establishing government’s complicity in these grave and horrendous misfortunes to befall Pakistani women in distress.

There exists, in addition the unbelievable reality, now internationally noted by the media, evidence that from the very top of the governmental edifice there is a dedicated campaign to “hide” the truth from reaching concerned women NGOs and the Western Governments. It is even more painful to realize that factually, in three of the most notorious contemporary cases of this nature, there is governments’ institutional involvement. The victims of the rapes were done this horrendous mischief allegedly by (1) an army officer, (2) at the behest of a tribal jury and (3) in the latest one by serving Police officers of some significance. The three victims of this brutality were Dr. Sazia Kahlid, Mukatharan Mai and one Sonia Naz. At the moment of concluding this analysis yet another gang rape case has come to light pertaining to one Sairah, a 12 year old Christian girl in Islamabad, the nation’s capitol.

Synopsis of Address presented at the Center for Society & Secularism
Professor Dr. FAROOQ HASSAN [1]

Mumbai, India, 2005

It is a privilege to address this distinguished gathering of scholars of Islam, multi-religious culture and historiography. Ideas of such intellectual leadership of both theoreticians and activists of these fields would hopefully advance our understanding of the difficult and highly delicate subject of Islam and extremism. In this analysis the doctrinal aspects of Islam’s theology as found in the basic sources and perspectives of the faith will be briefly examined. It would then be seen whether its fundamental norms are per se in character “extremist”?

The difficulties to which I refer should be properly comprehended. There is no a priori norm in Islamic theology making it “extremist” in its doctrines or approaches with respect to its core beliefs. No inherent predilection exits in the Muslim Faith as such to justify such derogatoriness in especially the Western critiques and commentaries. Such critical descriptions of Islam and Muslims aim to clearly denigrate their religious beliefs and personal characteristics. This matter of Islamic defamations has reached such a proportion that it is being put to routine ridicule by those who politically or publicly matter. It is most regrettable that Islam is being equated with a phenomenon of fear by most non-Muslim societies especially those in the Western world. Consequently every negative implication is now freely being ascribed to Muslims by many Western societies.

The root cause of this defamation is said to be “extremism” through which Muslim groups have acted purportedly with great tenacity of aggression against their targets. According to the proponents of this perspective, it is this horrendous phenomenon that has resulted in wide spread acts of terrorism against many, but, mostly, Western targets. According to the adherents of this view the “avenging” by several Muslim groups through such criminal acts is on the foundation of religious interpretation of their holy scriptures.

Given the widespread anti-Islamism unleashed particularly after 9/11, we now have an intricate conflict at hand in which often for various sets of people, Muslims are looked upon as the “enemy”. From barbaric, fanatic, violent and militant to being inhuman, every negative characteristic is now freely being ascribed to Muslims by those whose own status in the field of civilized conduct has been generally considered to be a role model for others to emulate. 

This attitude, inter alia, is defiling the sanctity of the Islamic faith which inherently supports temperance and is based on justice and equality for all mankind. It was indeed such a message of equal treatment for all that initially led, and continues to provide, new entrants into Islam. In this context, two perspectives asserted by anti-Islamic defamatory rhetoric dealing with the both causation and consequences deserve mention.

By: Jean Camp

I am a Reform Democrat. I want to reform the party all the way back to the last century. Decades ago, Democrats defined what we stood for:

freedom of speech
even to disagree with the government

freedom from want
a nation of charity without homelessness and hunger

freedom of worship
no state interference in internal religious debates

freedom from fear
functioning police, military and emergency services

I am blogging this now because it is safe to disagree. For a while disagreement was unpatriotic. Disagreeing was harming young men and women already in harm’s way in Central Asia. I was a bad American. Now I can write this. I know that some people will flame this. I know that common courtesy is now decried as politically correct. But I can speak, and you can declare you desire to silence me. And both are better than any alternative.

Susan Estrada
President, FirstMile.US
http://www.firstmile.us

Big Broadband Bill of Rights

Preamble

During the last 20 years, the main tenets of Internet development included building and sustaining an open, interoperable, scalable network of networks that robustly supports a variety of applications and devices. As we look forward to a ubiquitous big broadband environment, these basic philosophies still hold true.

To understand how big broadband should evolve, it is essential to understand the three distinct portions of a big broadband connection.

The first is the pipe — essentially the path, street or highway connecting you to the rest of the broadband network. These can be wireless or wired or a combination of the two.

The second portion is the applications - this is what you can do over the broadband pipe. These are sometimes software-based, but may be built-in to certain devices.

And, finally, there are devices and computers that you need to attach to your pipe that provide specific functions to help you more readily access applications.

These articles will best ensure the benefits of big broadband for all members of the American public.