Nizam-e-Adl is the hot topic of the day and reading the comments of some of our media experts left me utterly confused. The deal in my opinion is signed to have peace but the amount of fear it has generated is unbelievable.
Dr Farrukh Saleem writes “Would the ‘Switzerland of Pakistan’ now be like Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia’s per capita book readership is one of the lowest on the face of the planet. Saudi Arabia is yet to produce a Nobel prize winner (Israel has produced eight). Saudi Arabia has no more than 5,000 scientists (200 per million) while the US has 1.5 million (4,000 per million). Saudi Arabia hasn’t invented anything of consequence for the human civilisation in its 77 years of existence. Saudi Arabia officially practises a comprehensive gender-based apartheid system whereby 14 million Saudi women have different legal rights than Saudi men, an “unequal access to property and jobs, and restrictions on freedom of movement… (Saudi women were not allowed to vote in the municipal elections of 2005).” Would the ‘Switzerland of Pakistan’ now be like the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (as Afghanistan was from 1996 to 2001)? No political parties, no politics, no elections — and absolutely dictatorial. No TV, no chess, no kites. For women — restricted employment, no education, no sports, no nail-polish. For everyone else — no videos, no music, no dancing, no clapping during sports events — and a beard “extending farther than a fist clamped at the base of the chin.” No paintings, no photographs, no stuffed animals — and no dolls.”
I first remember Ghazi Salahuddin as a co-host of Kasuti along with Ubaid Ullah Beg which was a very interesting pakistani quiz show. I really admired both of them with great respect. Now I make it a point to read his thoughts every sunday but he is equally hopeless. Here is what he writes “ What is imminent seems instantly recognisable, except to those who are in power. International response to Nizam-e-Adl is quite instructive. Many Pakistanis, with their distrust of American intentions, may tend to ignore the comment made by the White House that the accord to put part of the country under Islamic law was against human rights and democracy. However, the Human Rights Watch, an independent group based in New York, was more candid in its observations. It said that Nizam-e-Adl would take Swat back to “dark ages”.Meanwhile, more and more think tanks and area experts are losing hope in Pakistan. The latest report, published in newspapers on Saturday, said that a growing number of US officials and experts now believe that it may be impossible to prevent Pakistan from disintegrating. Even if this is too pessimistic a stance, what are our rulers doing to deal with the challenges that are posed by the rise of the Taliban, religious extremism, social disintegration and a national sense of anxiety about our future?”
I find Shandana Minhas interesting as she has something unique in most of her articals. I read her on Chowk before she started writing for The news. She gives somewhat accurate description of taliban “The Taliban do not distinguish between good Taliban and bad Taliban, and neither should we. While their foot soldiers might start out as the brainwashed sons of poverty, deprivation, illiteracy, sold on a vision of paradise through the creation of hell on earth, and their ideological leadership tech savvy and highly intelligent, they are all dedicated and focused on one particular goal. That goal is to destroy Pakistan as we know it, and build in its place a medieval dystopia.The Taliban are not seeking to create this dystopia – dubbed Absurdistan by one commentator and Jihadistan by another- for the betterment of humankind. They are not seeking to redraw borders for the oppressed to be able to practice their religion without fear of persecution or indignity, or under the imposition of somebody else’s agenda. That already happened. It was called partition. ”
She ends the artical well “Here is why President Zardari or Prime Minister Gilani or Saudi proxy Nawaz Sharif are happiest when looking at the Taliban through their peripheral vision. It is a point made ceaselessly by Dr Pervez Hoodhboy and others. The Taliban’s philosophy, abhorrent as it is to some of us, clearly resonates with others who are no more sociopathic or psychopathic than we are. Their vision is seductive because it hints at a society that will bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots (unless you’re a woman, in which case it’s more like had nothing then, have nothing now). Our leaders cannot or rather will not engage fully with this desi Frankenstein because to do so would require them, and the other privileged among us, to engage with issues that are anathema to our existence, for example income redistribution and dispute settlement that does not favor the powerful . Enter speedy justice and land reform, Taliban style. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.”
