By
New Age Islam Edit Desk
5 January
2021
•
Child, Early and Forced Marriages
By
Wajahat Ali Malik
•
Al-Farabi and Education
By Dr
Naazir Mahmood
•
Following the Quaid
By
Nasir Iqbal
•
Politics of Monotony
By
Arifa Noor
•
Pathways towards Development of Pakistan Halal Economy
Syeda
Nazish Zahra Bukhari And Dr. Salmi Mohd Isa
•
Journey To Freedom And Pakistan
By
Iftikhar Ahmad
• I
Wish Shaheed Bhutto Were Alive Today
By
Wajid Shamsul Hasan
•
Pardoning War Criminals
By
Brian Trautman
------
Child,
Early and Forced Marriages
By
Wajahat Ali Malik
January 03,
2021
Child
marriage and early marriage mostly refer to a marriage in which one or both
spouses are under 18 years of age. However, early marriage is sometimes used to
describe a marriage where one or both spouses are 18 or older, but are without
free and full consent. For example, the marriage of a 19-year-old who is not
physically or emotionally mature, or unable to make decisions, would be considered
an early marriage. Whereas in forced marriages, one or both spouses are unable
to give full, free and informed consent about marriage, regardless of their
age. Forced marriage can also refer to a union where one or both spouses are
unable to end or leave the marriage. Because in most countries children are not
considered able to give legal consent, all child marriages are mostly
considered forced marriages. However, sometimes two adolescents under 18 marry
each other voluntarily.
Child,
early and forced marriage is a human rights violation and not in line with
several international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights; Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW);
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration
of Marriage; Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); etc. International
laws call for a uniform age of marriage for boys and girls and emphasise on
free, full and informed consent to marriage. The CRC recommends the minimum age
of marriage to be 18 years, while CEDAW urges states to ensure free will in
choice of a spouse and marriage only with their full consent of the parties.
Similarly, UN SDG Goal 5 targets “eliminating all harmful practices, such as
child, early and forced marriage by 2030”.
Child,
early and forced marriages place children at high risk of violence and abuse,
and deprives them of fundamentals right to childhood, education, health and
opportunity. According to UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2017 report,
18% of girls in Pakistan are married before their 18th birthday and 4% before
the age of 15 while 5% of boys are married before the age of 18.
Child,
early and forced marriages in Pakistan occur mostly in rural and low-income
households, where education is least. Its highest prevalence is in Sindh (for
72% girls and 25% boys). Similarly, in K-P’s tribal areas, 99% girls are
victims. Moreover, a huge proportion of young girls is forced to marry under
the age of 18 due to socio-economic and cultural reasons. According to UK’s
Forced Marriage Unit, in 2017, at least 439 cases of child forced marriages
were reported in Pakistan, ranking it on top of four ‘focused’ countries,
followed by Bangladesh, Somalia and India.
Pakistan’s
current legislation sets discriminatory legal marriage ages for boys and girls.
The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 was the primary law adopted in Pakistan
in 1947 and is applicable in ICT, K-P, Balochistan, G-B and AJK. This law sets
the legal marriage age at 16 for girls and 18 for boys, against the
internationally accepted marriage age. Meanwhile, Sindh enacted an exemplary
legislation and sets 18 years of age for both boys and girls and strict
punishments for perpetrators, aiders and abettors of underage marriage. It also
declared solemnising underage marriages a cognizable, non-bailable and
non-compoundable offence. Whereas Punjab retained the legal marriage age at 16
years for girls and 18 for boys and introduced a clause declaring underage
marriage a bailable offence. The federal government has tried to amend The
Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 five times but has only been successful once
and still does not address child, early and forced marriages completely nor
sets the marriageable age for girls at 18 years.
Even though
legislation exists to address child, early and forced marriages in Pakistan,
its enforcement and interpretation is missing because Pakistani courts often
apply Islamic law for such cases, which interprets any girl who has undergone
puberty, irrespective of age eligible for marriage.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2278527/child-early-and-forced-marriages
-----
Al-Farabi
and Education
By Dr
Naazir Mahmood
January 4,
2021
It is an
unfortunate fact that education in Pakistan fluctuates between various extremes.
On the one side, we have proponents of education who advocate for, and stress
on, scientific and technical education. The acronym STEM – for science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics – has become a buzzword to throw
around in any discussion on education.
A majority
of state-funded conferences and seminars revolve around how important it is to
promote STEM and of course nobody can dispute that. On another extreme are the
business, marketing, and management focused institutions that have been churning
out thousands of BBAs and MBAs looking for jobs in the private sector; again,
nobody can challenge that. At yet another extreme is the emphasis on religious
education from primary to tertiary and higher education. This mainly encourages
rote learning in scriptures and traditions not only in seminaries but also in
government and private educational institutions.
There are
also left-wing and liberal critics who frown upon any reference to religion at
all. However, reading Islamic history and understanding Muslim societies is
significant for at least two reasons. One, it helps you comprehend how in
history various schools of thoughts evolved, and are still playing negative or
positive roles. Two, it also tells us that, just like in Western thought, various
developments in Eastern and Muslim societies have collectively contributed to
where the world stands today.
Though we
frequently talk about the marvelous contributions Muslims made during their
glorious period in the five centuries after the advent of Islam, our curriculum
at nearly all levels is devoid of any reference to the great minds that existed
in our midst. Too many chapters and texts from scriptures and traditions hardly
leave any room for content about the great chemists, geographers, philosophers,
musicologists, physicians, political scientists, and sociologists who graced
the world with their unmatchable contribution at their time. At most, we hear
about Ibne Sina and Ibne Khaldun, and that too without any careful
considerations.
Even books
written by Western scholars and used in our universities tend to simply ignore
contributions to the world’s intellectual heritage by Eastern thinkers and writers.
A two-volume compendium titled ‘The Great Political Theories’, edited by
Michael Curtis, covers political philosophy from Aristotle to Montesquieu in
volume one, and from Burke and Kant to modern times – without even mentioning
in passing any works by eastern or Muslim thinkers and writers. Or take ‘An
Introduction to the History of the Science of Politics’ by Frederick Pollock or
‘A History of Political Theory’ by George Sabine that is used in many Pakistani
universities as a standard textbook.
Even a new
anthology titled ‘50 Political Classics’ which compiled so-called seminal texts
on politics, and included writings from Aristotle and Plato to even Gandhi and
Martin Luther King, has just one piece of writing from Fareed Zakaria,
bypassing the likes of Al-Farabi, Almarawdi, and even Tusi and Ibne Khaldun who
wrote extensively on politics. Similarly, ‘Fifty Great Political Thinkers’ by
Ian Adams and RW Dyson published in 2004 has no Muslim name in it. Of course,
in our universities there are some exclusive courses covering topics such as
Islamic political thought and Islamic institutions, but they fail to stress the
universality of many of our thinkers.
One does
not need to have only thick tomes for our students; we may also use brief
accounts to enlighten our students at various levels. For example, ‘Politics in
Islam’ by Khuda Bakhsh summarizes in just 180 pages the politics in Islam from
the early caliphs through to Kharijites and the Sultanate. ‘Muslims: The First
Sociologists’ by Dr Basharat Ali is another book of just 140 pages containing
in brief the sociological thoughts of major Muslim thinkers. There are dozens
of Muslim thinkers and writers whose books present a treasure trove for
students of social sciences.
Of course,
many of them have religious leanings but the same applies to a majority of
European writers up until the 18th and 19th centuries. Still, St Augustine,
Thomas Aquinas, and many others – despite their explicitly Christian background
– find ample space in Western books on political and social sciences. There are
dozens of Muslim thinkers and writers whose contribution is worth studying just
in the same manner as we diligently read about the likes of Socrates, Plato,
and Aristotle. Though most of what they said or wrote has little significance
in today’s world, they help us understand the intellectual journey of
humankind.
An Urdu
book compiled by Siddique Qureshi titled ‘Aham Siyasi Mufakkirin’ (Major
Political Thinkers) introduces us to over two dozen Muslim writers on political
science. One of the best introductions to Muslim political thought is by Dr
Tara Chand who worked under the instructions of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the
first Indian minister for education. Dr Tara Chand’s at least two books have
been translated into Urdu. Dr Abu Salman translated ‘Muslim Afkar-e-Siyasat’
and M Masood Ahmed translated ‘Influence of Islam on Indian Culture’ published
by Majlis-e-Taraqqi-e-Adab Lahore. The latter focuses on Islam in India only.
But where
does one start and how deep can one go? Well, perhaps the best starting point
is Al-Farabi (870-950) one of the first Muslim polymaths and arguably the
greatest thinker and writer in the world after Aristotle. It is not without
reason that even in Europe those who read him called him the Second Teacher in
over a thousand years after Aristotle. Haroon Khan Sherwani in his book
‘Studies in Muslim Political Thought’ first published in 1948 in Hyderabad
Deccan devotes a full 30-page chapter discussing the political writings of
Al-Farabi.
But, Al-Farabi’s
contributions went much beyond his political thought. Hussein Nasr in his book
‘Science and civilization in Islam’ has a section ‘Al-Farabi and the
classification of the sciences’. Following in the footsteps of his distant
predecessor Aristotle and immediate predecessor Alkindi, Al-Farabi surpassed
both. His was the most influential classification contained in his book ‘Ihsa
al-ulum’ (Enumeration of the sciences). He in turn was surpassed by his
successors Ibne Sina and Ibne Rushd in the following centuries. Perhaps the
best aspect of that period was that all these scholars interacted with and
learned from Christian and Jewish thinkers too.
There was
an atmosphere of overall tolerance in Muslim societies, apart from the
possibility of inviting the wrath of the rulers. Al-Farabi was one of the first
writers in the world to write on such diverse subjects as alchemy and
interpretation of dreams. In his classification, the first branch included the
science of language including grammar, poetry, pronunciation, and syntax. The
second branch included the science of logic with its sub-branches. The third
was propaedeutic (introductory or preparatory) sciences which included sciences
such as arithmetic, cosmology, and geometry which he divided into practical and
theoretical.
Interestingly,
he was also a musicologist and wrote the first major treatise on music ‘Kitab
al-Musiqa Alkabir’ (Grand Book of Music). He includes music in his third branch
of knowledge that all students must learn in their introductory courses. His
fourth branch included the sciences of nature with physics and metaphysics.
Physics had eight sub-branches and metaphysics three. The fifth and last was
the science of society, including jurisprudence and rhetoric. Luckily, Prof
Nomanul Haq has done us a favour by editing a series of studies in Islamic
philosophy published by the Oxford University Press (OUP).
If I have
been able to arouse some of your interest, go for a book titled ‘Alfarabi: the
political writings’ which contains Al-Farabi’s selected aphorisms and other
texts translated from the Arabic language by Charles Butterworth. If you have
interest and patience, I am sure you’ll enjoy it.
-----
Dr
Naazir Mahmood holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK and works in
Islamabad.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/768835-al-farabi-and-education
-----
Following
the Quaid
By
Nasir Iqbal
January 5,
2021
Over the
last seven decades, Pakistan has struggled to develop a comprehensive economic
model to solve long-term structural and economic issues. Successive governments
have created various vision documents, planning tools, and growth strategies to
transform the country into a developed nation. The current government is
working to create a new growth strategy to solve economic and social issues.
Do we need
a new vision document or growth strategy to resolve massive unemployment,
structural poverty, and deteriorating economic growth? No. Why? Because our
founding father gave us an economic vision to create a contented people. The
Quaid’s economic vision started with the goal of "creating a happy and
contented people." The Quaid emphasized that the economic transformation
required "education planning, economic planning, and social
planning."
The Quaid’s
blueprint for economic reconstruction and transformation is based on five
pillars: first, economic reconstruction depends on human capital development.
He emphasized developing human capital in diverse areas, including agriculture,
commerce, trade, and science and technology. The state should provide the best
possible training for technicians, scientists, businessmen, doctors and civil
servants to develop human resources for economic growth.
Second,
private sector-led labor-intensive industrialization is the hallmark of
transformation: The Quaid emphasized that all industrial enterprises should be
open to private enterprise. The proposed industrial and commercial policy's
main points include: i) to associate individual initiative and private
enterprise at every stage of industrialization; and ii) to build the banking
and financial mechanism, bankers should repair and restore this vital sector.
Third, the
role of the public sector should be as a facilitator and enabler. The Quaid
wanted the public sector to play a more active role in providing a network of
social and public utility services and relief and amenities.
Fourth,
free trade and price stability are the keys to enhance welfare: The monetary
policy should encourage maximum production and free trade flow. The state
should stabilize prices at a level that would be fair to the producer and
consumer. Lastly, linkages between academia and industry are essential for
economic and social uplift.
The success
of the 70-year-old economic model can be judged by looking at economic
transfers in the East Asian countries (East Asian Tigers). These countries
invested in human capital and allowed the private sector to develop a
technologically driven industrial base. The economic growth of East Asian
Tigers was built on investment in schooling and training.
These countries
streamline the role of government as a facilitator and enabler. The governments
in East Asia used targeted interventions to facilitate private investment and
promote competitiveness for economic development. Lastly, these countries
ensure well-established linkages between academia (think tanks) and industry to
innovate and enhance competitiveness.
In a
nutshell, the Quaid stood for structural change in the economy. A balanced and
mixed economy with a pragmatic blend of the agricultural and industrial
sectors, resulting in a more equitable distribution of wealth, is essential for
sustainable development. The Quaid’s economic model is based on full employment
opportunities for one and all, for contented labour, for a fair deal to the
farmer, and human resource development at all levels. The proposed economic
model ensures economic equity and social justice.
As a way
forward, Pakistan needs an action-oriented growth strategy to transform these
principles into actionable policy items. No need to invest time and energy to
create a new vision for Pakistan. It's time to implement the Quaid’s Economic
Vision.
The current
strategies for poverty alleviation through social protection, economic
stabilization driven by foreign aid, and consumption-oriented growth are not
sustainable. Pakistan needs to implement the Quaid’s economic model to
alleviate poverty, ensure full employment, and achieve sustained growth. This
model will help achieve the goal of ‘creating a happy and contented people’.
-----
Nasir
Iqbal is associate professor at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics
(PIDE).
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/769166-following-the-quaid
------
Politics
of Monotony
By
Arifa Noor
05 Jan 2021
THE
opposition has decided to keep opposing the government — just as it was in the
first phase. The jalsas will not stop, here, there and everywhere, to keep
politics simmering, and no more for the moment. The other decisions — which may
indicate a boiling point — are yet to be specified or a date pinned, be it the resignations
or the long march. And, in the meantime, the political process and parliament
are not to be abandoned, be it in the shape of by-elections or the Senate.
Despite assertions about the decision not having been made, no one really
believes it has not been made.
Despite the
hype by the PDM itself about resignations coming soon, its recent
brainstorming, which ended without any major announcement, surprised few. And
not just because of the PPP.
Indeed, the
PPP may have the most to lose (its government in Sindh), but even without a
government to squander, it is not easy for a political party to resign en masse
from their assembly seats, provincial and national. No one who has put in the
energy and the expense of winning a seat wants to vacate it halfway through —
perhaps even before some of them have paid off the debts incurred for the
campaign. What will make them more reluctant is the opposition’s complete lack
of clarity on what is to follow — if the government calls a by-election, will
the PDM participate or not? And then imagine the plight of those who fear
returning to ask the same people for their vote within months of having
resigned.
But these
are all hypothetical situations. What is perhaps a more considerable factor is
the ever-present fear that an election (which may follow a resignation) will
allow a newcomer to fill the constituency and become a permanent presence; just
ask Javed Hashmi how he feels about Amir Dogar. When Hashmi, in his moment of
glory, resigned from the PTI and the National Assembly in 2014, Amir Dogar
faced him with the help of PTI. A year earlier, Dogar had lost to Hashmi in the
2013 general election, but in 2014 he won, and then again in 2018. It’s a
moment straight out of Luck by Chance, for those who follow Bollywood.
And the
PML-N knows this, whatever it may say in public. If it forced the issue, it
would have risked losing or being abandoned by some of its members, as was
Imran Khan when he forced his party people to hand in their resignations back
in 2014.
Hence, it’s
safe to say the PML-N is fortunate it has the PPP to ‘blame’ for delaying a bad
decision. The party can avoid being accused of a U-turn by saying it sacrificed
its plans for the unity of the PDM and let the PPP take the flak.
The Noon
needs the PPP, for this and more. The PML-N’s campaign for vote ko izzat do, or
free and fair elections — call it what you will — has a slight flaw. If
elections are to be rid of ‘manipulation’ as the party sees it (ie the
interference of the selectors), the only tabdeeli possible will be in Punjab
(and Karachi, but no one there is complaining as such). Be it Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa or Sindh, the governments will not change, or Balochistan for that
matter. But the PPP’s inclusion (more than the JUI-F’s) gives the PDM a
national character and makes it a more broad-based movement than just a battle
for the control of Punjab. The PML-N needs the PPP, regardless of its level of
trust for the latter.
This is not
to say the PPP doesn’t need the PDM or the PML-N any less.
Staying in
the PDM allows the PPP to claim a national level relevance it lacks otherwise.
As well as allowing it to avoid being tarnished by the ‘establishment’s’ brush.
After the role it played in the Senate elections, as well as the massive
victory it secured in Sindh (bigger than what it got months after Benazir
Bhutto was assassinated), it is worth asking why the PPP is not viewed as being
as close to the establishment as is the PTI. If the corruption cases against
the PPP are one reason, its complaints of a rigged election are the other. The
PPP is able to play its ‘traditional’ role of being anti-establishment because
of the PDM. And, for this, it will stick to the PDM closely; if it can use the
opportunity to ease some pressure, accountability wise, all the better.
In addition,
the PDM has allowed Bilawal to play a leading role, as it has Maryam Nawaz
Sharif. Both of them are now addressing rallies beside the Maulana instead of
their fathers — it’s adding to their political heft.
For all
this and more, the PDM will continue even though it may not be able to keep
making waves if countrywide jalsas are all they have to offer. Monotony is not
helpful to their movement. Bhawalpur on Sunday evening is a case in point.
Compared to the interest in the Lahore jalsa, the gathering in South Punjab got
far less attention, and it wasn’t just because BBZ didn’t make it; some
channels didn’t even bother to show Maulana Fazl’s speech. Everyone had guessed
rightly that there was little chance of some newsworthy content.
However,
none of this is meant to suggest the government has won the battle. Instead,
this is the time for the government to seize the moment and deliver some blows
of its own to the opposition, not by locking them up or ridiculing them but by
reaching out and offering either the entire opposition or a part of it a
‘face-saving’ solution before a turn of events provides new momentum to the
PDM. The PTI would do well to remember that, post-2008, there was a time when
the restoration of judges seemed next to impossible. But then the winds changed
and the PPP was left with no choice. The good times don’t last forever.
-----
Arifa Noor
is a journalist.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1599809/politics-of-monotony
------
Pathways
towards Development of Pakistan Halal Economy
Syeda
Nazish Zahra Bukhari and Dr. Salmi Mohd Isa
January 5,
2021
All around
the world, Muslims have emerged as a significant consumer market for global
brands. Every day, we witness Islamic branding elements’ inculcation in various
product offerings of top brands such as sports hijab for female athletes or
shampoos for hijab covered hair. The rapid growth of Islamic brands has been
mainly attributed to the growing size and purchasing power of the global Muslim
consumers, increasing adherence to Islamic ethical values in consumption
behavior by global Muslims, and an increasing number of national strategies
dedicated to halal products and service development by both Muslim and
Non-Muslim countries. The global halal economy is predicted to generate approx.
US$2.3 trillion by the year 2024, at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of
3.1%. The global halal food industry is the fastest-growing halal industry and
is predicted to generate approx. US$1.38 trillion annually by 2024 at a 5-year
CAGR of 3.5%.Other sectors such as Islamic finance, Muslim friendly travel,
modest fashion, halal pharmaceuticals, halal cosmetics, and Islamic themed
media and recreation are also progressing rapidly.
The Islamic
Republic of Pakistan is a county withapprox. 96% Muslim population, which accounts
for approx. 11% of the global Muslim population. The country was created on
Islam’s ideology and principles and has been blessed with numerous resources
for various industrial developments. Despite the vast potential for halal
economic growth, Pakistan is still in the infancy stages of development. Within
the global halal meat export potential of approx. US$ 3 billion; Pakistan has
been able to secure only 0.25% share. This is negligible compared to the halal
meat production potential of Pakistan due to various obstacles in developing
the country’s halal industries. Compared to Pakistan, Malaysia currently leads
the overall Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) rankings for the eighth
consecutive year.
Malaysia is
considered the world leader in terms of the development of halal standards and
halal certification systems. The Malaysian government is strongly focused on
the development of Islamic branding. In 1974, the Malaysian government started
developing Islamic branding of industries by issuing Halal certification to
halal products and services from the Islamic Affairs Division in the Prime
Minister’s office. Halal Malaysia Logo was developed by the Malaysian
government in 1994 and updated in 2003. It became the first country to have a
formal systematic ‘Halal Assurance System’. The government has developed
various halal standards for several industries such as food and beverages,
cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, etc. Malaysia is one of the few
countries in the world in which the government regulates the halal
certification for all industries. Issuance of the halal certification is the
responsibility of JAKIM in Malaysia.The United Nations has cited Malaysia as
the world’s best example in benchmarking halal food standards. The evolution of
Malaysia’s halal industries is attributed to the country’s government’s support
in developing the halal certification process for products and services and
proactive organizational strategies by other stakeholders. The banking industry
in Malaysia has launched initiatives to help the country’s halal food, small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) grow and expand their presence across various
global halal food industries. Muslim consumers in Malaysia depict a high level
of knowledge regarding various Islamic branding issues and play a significant
role in generating the demand for halal product and service development.
Pakistan
can learn from Malaysia’s Islamic branding journey and capture the share of the
lucrative and growing Muslim consumer market. Muslim consumers’ religious
sensitivities and knowledge are increasing globally, and Pakistan needs to
develop a centralized, reliable, high quality and transparent halal
certification system for halal industrial development. The key to tapping the
global halal market is developing a standardized and mandatory halal assurance
system for all industries. Halal exports can be the solution to Pakistan’s
economic woes, but this cannot be attained unless stakeholder awareness and
knowledge are established. Muslim consumers in Pakistan have low levels of
awareness regarding halal standards and pay little or no attention to halal
certification logos on the brands they consume. Learning from halal industry
leaders can lead Pakistan towards the path of halal economic development.
-----
Syeda
Nazish Zahra Bukhari and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Salmi Mohd Isa are associated with
GSB, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia. Syeda Nazish Zahra
Bukhari is also associated with IBIT, University of the Punjab, Lahore.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/709871/pathways-towards-development-of-pakistan-halal-economy/
-----
Journey
To Freedom And Pakistan
By
Iftikhar Ahmad
January 5,
2021
In the
middle of the Night, in dimly hazy Light, I was gently pushed around, on a very
fast flight, thinking loud about national plight, storm is over, seems it is
going to be completely over, process of reform political, will guide a search
bright, separating wrong from right, this agenda needs to be followed, with
individual and groups’ insight, backed by political and societal will, of
course with the states’ backing, and states’ full might.
Love begets
love. It takes two to tango, positive attitude and credibility go a long way to
bridge the trust gap, making a way forward possible. Hope for peace and
security can mature to desired ends, if world leaders act fairly and
responsibly, without prejudice and discrimination. Let there be a fresh resolve
to end politics of hate. Happy New Year folks. We need your support to be
certain, to make our globe a better place, with happy homes and abodes. We
certainly need substance and value of the rule of law. We need to think new,
and think loud. We need to think of policy determinants and make appropriate
choices for equity, justice and balance in society and economy.
Freedom and
independence is the greatest gift our leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah struggled for
to get us and make us a nation with distinction. We need to adhere to his
motto, “Unity, Faith and Discipline”
Long live
Quaid-e-Azam’ Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and the creator of
the “Two-Nations Theory”. Let us resolve to serve Pakistan, Love Pakistan, and
understand the significance of independence and Pakistan as a separate nation.
In today’s political and geographical context and anti-Muslims policies of
Indian leadership we have no difficulty in understanding Jinnah’s wisdom and
foresight for a separate home-land for Muslims in the sub-continent. Muhammad
Ali Jinnah was a supporter of Hindu-Muslims unity. When he realized that plan
world not work Jinnah parted ways with all India congress, a Hindu dominated
political party.
A new
chapter opened; Jinnah became the champion of rights of the Muslims in the
sub-continent. Struggle for Pakistan started. Lahore resolution was a stepping
stone. Jinnah’s constitutional struggle made him the great leader (The
Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah) Pakistan came into existence on 14th August,
1947. Some people speak of the price we had to pay in terms of mass
exodus/migrations, displacements, loss of property and jobs, the riots and
killing of people. Considering the hate politics and anti-Muslims policy of
Indian leaders one feels grateful that we have our independence and respectable
living in Pakistan. Thanks to our destiny and leaders who make it possible.
India illegally
occupied Kashmir has suffered from Indian Brutality. It has been a spell of terrorism, brutality,
tyranny and 511 days of Lockdown. Kashmiris have been deprived of fundamental
human rights and the right to self-determination granted under the united
nations resolutions. Two nuclear armed nations, Pakistan and India are on the
brink of extreme tensions which could lead to war any moment. India violates
ceasefire and kills innocent civilians across the line of control everyday
almost. This has been going on for years now. Extremists and terrorist groups
in India are always busy punishing minorities, specially, Muslims. R.S.S and
BJP planned to pull down Babri Masjid for a plan to construct “Ram Mandar” in
that space and site. Inequalities and discrimination and killing Muslims
continues under the very nose of Prime Minister Modi and Hindu extremists.
Hindu fundamentalism is visible and in action. Authors like William Dalrymple
should take note of Indian terrorism and extremism as much as he talks of “anarchy”
related to relentless rise of the East India company.
If the
impeachment of warren Hastings was made possible by the house of commons in the
presence of the then queen of England. there should be ways and means to put an
end to high crimes of fundamentalist. Hindu leaders and their gangs in India,
killing people from minorities specially, Muslims. People of the stature of
Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox should be available to take notice of
injustice and treachery against the faith of nations.
Gifted
writers have the skill to influence the pace and characteristics of political
and social events. I hope and wish Shashi Tharoor, the author of bestseller “An
Era of darkness-the British Empire in India” could interpret history to make it
readable and persuasive more so that it has positive impact on current events
and public relationships to pave the way to friendship rather than hate and
fear. An environment for peace and security is needed.
Partition
of the sub-continent could have been peaceful and smooth if there was a plan to
do so. But it is said the horrors of partition were the direct result of the
deliberate British policy of divide and rule, that fermented religious
antagonisms to facilitate continued imperial rule? It makes no sense at all. Religious
antagonism that exists in Modi’s India today had never ever existed. Same can
be said of communal hatred blazing hotly. world leaders must think of it for
the sake of peace and security of the region. Kashmir is burning, Joe Biden is
expected to play his role judiciously in the name of humanity for the sake of
peace and security of the region. Our Journey for peace and security of the
region must continue.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/709868/journey-to-freedom-and-pakistan/
-----
I Wish
Shaheed Bhutto Were Alive Today
By
Wajid Shamsul Hasan
January 5,
2021
Had Shaheed
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto been alive today, poor people of Pakistan would not have
been so pathetically treated by Imran Khan government for want of co-vid vaccine, utter lack of
proper medicare, running from pillar to post for sustainable oxygen ventilators
and pep. It is indeed, an irony that the world scientists are speeding up to
outrun each other in producing a viable curative vaccine. It is a matter of pride for the breed of
global scientists for having produced vaccines faster than what is known as
speed of safe practices.
World has
noted with great deal of satisfaction
that three world pharmaceutical manufacturers have crossed the goal of
attainable success while others have been in the race competing hard. The three
that have emerged ahead of others in the Free World are- the Pfizer, the
Moderna and the Oxford Astra-Zeneca. They seem to be like the major political
parties in the West, their mission is identical in purpose, distinguishable
from each other only in the detail. As per the common man, scientists have
noted major differences such as the temperature required by the vaccine to be
stored safely without adversely effecting vaccines efficacy.
Manufacturers
have ensured its cost to be accessible to the reach the pockets of the most
poor. According to experts Oxford’s vaccine can be stored at fridge
temperature, Moderna requires storage at -20o C; Pfizer at an Arctic -78o C.
The comparative cost of the doses is debatable. According to a report estimated
cost is $39 for two doses for the Pfizer vaccine, $50 for two doses of Moderna,
and a low $3 a dose for the Oxford. The Oxford loaves-and-fishes miracle might
be made possible through Covax, a global initiative that hopes to distribute about
2bn doses to 92 low- and middle-income countries at a maximum cost of $3 a
dose. On the other hand, what was once an iron curtain, Putin’s Russia has
developed its own Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik-V) vaccine. As against oft repeated
promises of providing vaccine to its poor people free of cost, Russian
President Vladimir Putin has ordered a massive ‘voluntary’ free vaccination
programme against COVID-19. It is another thing that the Russians are finding
it hard to have volunteers for its massive vaccination programme. It faces much
similar opposition from its clergy as we in Pakistan have been facing in the
execution of polio immunisation programme.
As compared
to others our Chinese friends have been pursuing a parallel programme. China
has been concentrating on two state-sponsored vaccines – Sinovac and Sinopharm.
Although they have not been tested to the nth degree, these Chinese vaccines,
like Covid-19 itself, have been exported already to other countries, hopefully
with less lethal consequences. In Pakistan Imran Khan’s approach is much more
quixotic. On the other hand PDM being a larger mulla created platform is busy
what is at best be described as bullshitting distractions. While the PTI
government under IK is busy bemoaning financial bankruptcy having no money for
its dilapidated medicare – with greater emphasis on Covid-19 prevention rather
than its cure. Having established his own ShaukatKhanum Memorial Cancer
Hospital IK seems to have accomplished his life longambition, while leaving rest of healthcare to
privatised social distancing, leaving it to the masses to self-restraint while
allowing free for all in larger social gatherings such as weddings etc.
For a
country with a population of over 220 million with poverty ruling from cradle
to grave, whatever funds are allocated to meet the co-vid19 consequences from
its empty treasury, PTI government’s measly allocations towards the procurement
of a co-vid19 vaccine, ‘initially to cover the most vulnerable 5% of the
population’ [i.e. frontline health workers and people above the age of 65
years]. Experts are busy debating to
decide from which source the vaccine supplies will be procured – western or
eastern, when or at what price. $150 million doesn’t buy much these days—most
probably we will send loads of PTI teams with big beggars bowls to beg for
donations.
PTI
government feels that there would be no harm to seek Saudi bailouts and Chinese
donations—after all Muslims in Pakistan from time immemorial when Bedous only
knew camel to be the sole mode of transport in their barren country. Although
our health authorities are expected to ensure what quantity of vaccine we would
be needing and how much would be available with manufacturers, our ability to
pay especially for the government with big holes in its pockets. According to
rough guess work two vials of the
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will cost Rs1,000 in Pakistan. The Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine’s vials will cost Rs6,000. The Moderna vaccine will cost Rs12,000.’
Charity may begin at home. It is not elastic. It does not extend to
pharmaceutical companies.
In the
midst of co-vid19 pandemic one is reminded of Pakistan’s great leader martyred
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Jan 5 birthday) on his coming birthday anniversary.
Besides many of his achievements including his pursuit of nuclear bomb, one
cannot forget his brave attempt at introducing Generic Medicine scheme 1972
opening flood gates of reducing prices of multinational products.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the masses appreciated Generic Scheme as a
major healthcare reform, it became a sordid victim of the conspiracy by the
international pharmaceutical conglomerate and greedy Pakistani bureaucracy.
Generic scheme’s impact was immensely great, it led to drastic reduction in
prices. Much like Bhutto paid the price with his life for acquiring nuclear
glow for Pakistan, the powerful western pharmaceutical lobby and their local
licensees, abetted by the country’s medical profession—contributed huge funding
to the Zia-backed PNA movement. We hope and pray that some socially-conscious
corporate entity will obtain a licence to manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine
locally learning a lesson from our next door neighbour India which has become a
major manufacturer of all vaccines.
------
Wajid
Shamsul Hasan is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK and a veteran
journalist.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/709890/i-wish-shaheed-bhutto-were-alive-today/
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Pardoning
War Criminals
By
Brian Trautman
January 5,
2021
The US-led
war on Iraq, which formally began in March 2003 but essentially started more
than a decade earlier with frequent aerial bombing and oppressive economic
sanctions, was greenlit by the US Congress under false pretenses. It was sold
to the American people by political leaders and corporate media via a mass
disinformation campaign. The war was a regime change war and a war for oil,
rooted in racism, revenge, imperialism and capitalism. It violated
international law on multiple levels, including as a war of aggression.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were killed and maimed. Over 4,500 ‘coalition
forces’, most of whom were Americans, lost their lives. Tens of thousands more
were wounded, many permanently. Nearly two decades on, occupying soldiers and
Iraqi civilians are still dying. Some refer to the ongoing violence as
blowback; yet, it is anything but unintended. It is the very nature of a
military occupation to win by attrition, no matter the cost in lives or money.
Imperial
forces who committed some of the worst atrocities in the name of the so-called
‘War on Terror’ continue to escape accountability and justice for their crimes.
Last year alone, Donald Trump granted clemency to war criminals from the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars. They included Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, convicted of posing
with the body of a teenage Islamic State captive whom he had killed with a
hunting knife; Army Lieutenant Clint Lorance, convicted of ordering his
soldiers to open fire on three unarmed Afghan civilians, killing two; Army
Major Mathew Golsteyn, charged with executing a suspected Taliban bombmaker;
and, Army Lieutenant Michael Behenna, convicted by a military court for
murdering an Iraqi prisoner.
If these
outrageous acts of clemency were not revolting enough, on December 22 Trump
further cemented his legacy as a malignant narcissist and amoral gangster, one
who possesses a deep disdain for the Constitution and international law, by
pardoning four convicted US war criminals responsible for massacring unarmed
Iraqi civilians. In September 2007, under the pretext of providing security for
US diplomats, four former guards (Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten
and Paul Slough) from the private security contractor Blackwater used machine
guns and grenade launchers to slaughter 17 innocent people, including two
children, in Nisour Square, a Baghdad traffic circle. The unprovoked rampage
also wounded at least 20. The indiscriminate attack on Iraqi men, women and
children was so barbaric and cold-blooded that it was compared by some to the
‘My Lai massacre’, the murder, rape and torture of hundreds of Vietnam
civilians, mostly women and children, by a platoon of US troops in March 1968.
Founded by
the right-wing Christian fundamentalist Erik Prince, a former US Navy SEAL
officer and the brother of Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Secretary, Blackwater
USA (now Academi) is a mercenary force funded with US taxpayer dollars that
operated with sheer ruthlessness and extreme impunity in Iraq and elsewhere.
The 2007 book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army,
written by investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, provides a hard-hitting and
detailed history and analysis of the notorious company.
The
youngest victim of the Nisour Square massacre, a nine-year-old boy named Ali
Kinani, was shot in the head while traveling through the Square with his
father, Mohammed, and a few other family members. In a piece written for The
Nation magazine in 2010 titled Blackwater’s Youngest Victim, Scahill tells the
story of Ali, his family and the massacre. A short documentary by the same name
contains an in-depth interview with Ali’s father. Paul Dickinson, an attorney
who represented Ali’s family and five other families in a civil lawsuit against
Blackwater and Erik Prince, recently penned an op-ed for The Intercept titled I
Sued Blackwater for the Massacre of Iraqi Civilians. Trump Just Pardoned Those
Convicted Killers. In the article, Dickinson states, “These men will now be
free, despite their crimes, and they will not serve the time in prison they
deserved. My clients assuredly feel ignored, mistreated, and used. Their belief
in our legal system was misplaced. The result is not just that we see an
injustice in the United States, but that the world must surely see cracks in
the pillars of justice upon which our system is based. That may be the
overriding damage caused by these pardons…” Dickinson was also recently
interviewed on Democracy Now! to respond to the pardons.
In what
became the FBI’s most intensive and expensive criminal investigations since
9/11, material, testimonial and forensic evidence was gathered and used in the
prosecution and conviction of the accused Blackwater guards. In the opinion
article, How I know the Blackwater defendants didn’t deserve a pardon from
Trump, Thomas O’Connor, an FBI special agent who helped investigate the
massacre, recounts the detailed investigation that took place and the
substantial credible evidence that was collected. O’Connor writes, “I know that
these men were undeserving of pardons because I was a member of The FBI
Evidence Response Team that traveled to Iraq and investigated the site of these
killings…The system worked and justice was brought to the deceased, the injured
victims and their families. The families of those killed and wounded at Nisour
Square will now watch those responsible for this tragedy go free thanks to a
pardon by the President of the United States.”
International
outrage over the pardons was swift and straightforward. The lip service that
the US government pays to valuing and protecting human rights, domestically and
internationally, is contradicted time and again by their policies. A statement
released by the UN Human Rights Office shortly after the pardons read in part:
“We are deeply concerned by the recent US presidential pardons… Pardoning them
contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such
crimes in the future. …”
Excerpted:
‘Military Veterans to Legal Experts Condemn Trump’s Pardoning of Blackwater
War Criminals’
Counterpunch.org
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/769165-pardoning-war-criminals
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URL: https://newageislam.com/pakistan-press/pakistan-press-forced-marriages,-al/d/123980
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