tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post3439414115744367239..comments2024-03-27T15:36:44.737-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: Fighting Agents of IntoleranceRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-6978668155001470232012-03-03T08:56:35.775-08:002012-03-03T08:56:35.775-08:00Here's a DNA report describing Gujarat Muslims...Here's a <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_muslims-are-gujarats-new-outcastes-survey_1657290" rel="nofollow">DNA report</a> describing Gujarat Muslims as "outcastes":<br /><br /><i>The 2002 communal riots not only drove Muslims into new ghettos all over the state, they also reduced them to the status of second-class citizens who do not seem to exist for the government. This is the finding of a city-based NGO, Janvikas, which conducted a survey on the status of the minority community in the state after the riots.<br /><br />The survey has revealed that Muslims are the new outcastes who, more often than not, are denied basic facilities which are available to people of other communities. Not only that. It appears that this neglect of the community is officially sanctioned for the riot victims find no mention in government records as people who need help.<br /><br />The neglect of the minority community is evident even in efforts to resettle them as little has been done to provide them access to government schemes, health facilities and loans.<br /><br />About 16,000 Muslims displaced by the riots are still living in relief colonies that are denied even the most basic amenities.<br /><br />The riots displaced more than 2 lakh people across the state.<br /><br />These people remained displaced for almost two years after 2002. However, NGOs and Muslim relief organisations settled a total of 16087 people in 83 different relief colonies.“These are the people who cannot or dare not return to their original place of residence and have been living in shelters for the last 10 years,” said Vijay Parmar, CEO of Janvikas.<br /><br />The 83 relief colonies that were built after the riots are almost all located in Muslim majority areas. Fifteen of them are situated in Ahmedabad and the support they receive from the state government is negligible.<br /><br />"The government did next to nothing for creating awareness about social security schemes meant for Internally Displaced People (IDP)," said Khatunben, a resident of Citizen Nagar, a relief colony in Ahmedabad.<br /><br />The houses in which the displaced people have been living since 2002 have not been formally transferred to their names.<br /><br />There has also been a sharp decline in the earnings of almost every displaced individual. The survey has revealed that the average annual income of displaced Muslims in Ahmedabad has come down by 31% as compared to their income before the riots.</i><br /><br />http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_muslims-are-gujarats-new-outcastes-survey_1657290Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-14102155078232344662011-10-27T09:03:10.237-07:002011-10-27T09:03:10.237-07:00Here's an article by Mehreen Farooq and Waleed...Here's an article by Mehreen Farooq and Waleed Ziad in <a href="http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/21/pakistans_most_powerful_weapon" rel="nofollow">Foreign Policy Mag</a> detailing campaign against radicalization in Pakistan: <br /><br /><i>In a pristine, remote valley in Kashmir, far from the theaters of war, some families are abandoning their religious and cultural traditions in favor of extremist ideologies. The trend began after the 2005 earthquake, when several Islamist organizations - notably Jamaat ud-Dawa (JuD) - came to the forefront, providing food, shelter and health supplies to devastated communities. A village elder lamented, "Many of us were impressed by their sophisticated ambulance services, and families willingly joined in their relief efforts." Most of these families had no idea that JuD was in fact a front for the banned militant organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba.<br /><br />Pakistanis, particularly in such remote areas, require tools to recognize extremist ideologies and terrorist organizations so that they can create counter-movements within their own communities. We travelled throughout Northern Punjab and the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to learn how certain grassroots organizations have designed effective awareness campaigns within a religious paradigm that are palatable even to the at-risk population.<br /><br />We began with the leaders of Pakistan's moderate religious networks. Since 9/11, dozens of religious scholars have issued public statements and fatwas against terrorism. Dr. Raghib Naeemi -- son of Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi who was killed in 2009 after he publically denounced terrorist activities as un-Islamic -- appears regularly on TV to promote peace and social cohesion. <br />---------<br />150 miles south, in a village near Bhera, a father learned that his son was being brainwashed by a fundamentalist community member to believe that he would enter paradise if he became a suicide bomber. The father, supported by the Dar ul-Uloom community, rescued the children by publically exposing the radical mullah. He challenged the mullah: "After sending my child to paradise, why don't you send your own son to join him so that mine won't be lonely?" <br /><br />Even some segments of the population that had been involved in militancy are now condemning extremism. Irfan, a former "toll collector" for a militant outfit along the Pakistan-Afghanistan Durand Line explained, "After the Taliban bombed the shrine of the Rahman Baba, the great Pashtun poet-saint, I realized that militants are destroying our country." Now as a taxi driver, Irfan makes it a point to lambast the Taliban in conversations with all of his passengers.</i><br /><br />http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/21/pakistans_most_powerful_weaponRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-40365255878794089912011-02-10T22:22:16.627-08:002011-02-10T22:22:16.627-08:00Here are excerpts from a piece by Beena Sarwar on ...Here are excerpts from a piece by <a href="http://beenasarwar.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/personal-political-manufacturing-a-%E2%80%98hero%E2%80%99/" rel="nofollow">Beena Sarwar</a> on the role of Pakistani media in the aftermath of Gov Taseer's assassination:<br /><br /><i>..<br />... To top it all, how was the opportunity created to transform Qadri into a celebrity? Who informed people about his court appearances, resulting in crowds gathering, chanting slogans and showering him with rose petals? Television cameras broadcast all this, further glorifying the murderer. These slogans, and the banners and posters supporting Qadri that have cropped up around the country, have not only turned this man’s cowardice – in shooting at an unarmed victim – into some kind of heroism, it has resulted in further intimidation of anyone who supports amendments to the controversial, man-made ‘blasphemy laws’.<br /><br />Such was the manufactured hype and the propaganda around Qadri’s supposed act of valour that a group of lawyers (mostly supporters of the PML-N and PML-Q) hailed him as a hero and vowed to fight his case pro bono. And these are the people who are supposed to uphold rule of law.<br /><br />Then there was the preposterous video clip of the murderer in police custody, singing a ‘naat’ (religious song), apparently filmed by policeman on his cell-phone and released to the media and the internet.<br /><br />The glorification of Qadri’s criminal act of murder could not be possible without the vilification of Salmaan Taseer’s supposed ‘blasphemy’ – for which there is not an iota of evidence anywhere. The build-up to the murder owes much to the Pakistani TV talk shows and channels that perpetuated this false propaganda against the Governor. This propaganda is what led to the widespread belief that the Governor was somehow, preposterously, guilty of his own murder – in much the same way that attention is diverted to what a rape victim was wearing or doing.<br /><br />The media editors and bosses belatedly realised the effect that the constant exposure of Qadri was having. According to a senior inside source at a major TV channel, they have since got together and agreed informally to cut down on such coverage that was serving only to glorify the murderer.<br /><br />The 24/7 news channels amplified the outrageous propaganda of the ‘religious right’ that preceded the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer apparently because he took up the case of Aasiya Noreen, the poor Christian woman sentenced to death by a sessions court for ‘blasphemy’. Taseer tried to obtain a presidential pardon for her even before her case came up for hearing before the Lahore High Court, which must confirm the death sentence or acquit an accused. Taseer did not say anything that human rights organisations like the HRCP have not been saying for years but he was flamboyant about it, while being a political thorn in the side of the Punjab government.<br /><br />There was propaganda also against Sherry Rehman, the PPP parliamentarian who has submitted a bill to amend the ‘blasphemy laws’ in order to prevent their abuse and misuse. The propaganda against her included the outright lie that she was acting alone and had not taken other parliamentarians into confidence. The truth is that she had lobbied extensively behind the scenes and even got the opposition PML-N to agree not to oppose the bill once it was tabled.<br /><br />The agreement of the TV channels to avoid publicising Qadri’s words and deeds, although belated, is a welcome step. The next step is to take criminal action against all those indulging in hate speech and incitements to murder. Some citizens have begun to register such complaints with the police. Will the government stand by them?</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-17377118462138281402008-09-15T09:05:00.000-07:002008-09-15T09:05:00.000-07:00BJP's subsidiary Bajrang Dal is committing atrocit...BJP's subsidiary Bajrang Dal is committing atrocities against Christians in Karnataka, according to BBC. Here's an excerpt from recent report:<BR/><BR/><I>The police in Karnataka say that churches were attacked by mobs in the districts of Udupi and Chikmagalur on Sunday.<BR/><BR/>Over 60 people have been detained after outraged Christian groups protested and called for a shutdown in the coastal city of Mangalore, which is the worst affected by the violence.<BR/><BR/>Last month more than 2,000 schools run by Christian organisations in Karnataka shut down for a dayin protest against the anti-Christian violence in Orissa.<BR/><BR/>Karnataka is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which has close ties with the Bajrang Dal.<BR/><BR/>"The BJP is responsible for the attacks. It is creating social disharmony," the main opposition Congress party leader Mallikarjun Kharge said.</I>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com