by
usmann
@ 2008-03-09 - 00:15:20
With this rising fundamentalism(as well as modernization in opposition),terrorism in the name of God, intolerance among people of different schools of thought, & a highly unstable state of Pakistan,
I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest that it time now that we turn Pakistan into a secular state, in which
every citizen has a right to live his/her life according to their tastes, until & unless the person concerned is not being unscientific, irrational, and harmful to the general public.Every human being is different from another one. Physically,mentally, & emotionally and so every human being’s opinions should be venerated.Its time to bring changes in our constitution and adopt constitutional liberalism in which every human being’s rights should being respected and protected, regardless of their class,creed,colour,religion or sexual orientation, and be given a chance to voice their opinions. Of course it is inane to assume that anyone who speaks aloud about his opinions, and whose opinions are loathed by two-third of the population(in the name of religion),is free from danger. But then it should be the utmost priority of the a government to protect the concerned person from being blown up just because some fanatical nutcases don’t have any tolerance leftover in them(if the concerned person is being rational and supported by evidences).
Its also the time to bring changes in our ‘Blasphemy Law’ according to which anyone is punishable by death(and you get to decide your favourite method) for being blasphemous intentionally or unintentionally. The last part of the statement doesn’t make much sense, at all, to me atleast.
Suppose if I am giving a lecture to a group of people(which includes some religious fanatics) and suggest something which is not acceptable to these people, what on earth justifies my death penalty?
For something which I said unintentionally??? I mean putting me in jail for ten or twenty years may still sound reasonable(with certain logical and debatable arguments and evidences), but death penalty is goes too far. Don’t make use of a person’s positive nature ,but kill him just because of something negative he did or said unintentionally. I hope this rule doesn’t imply to 3rd grade children.
Its also a time where we should give freedom of press to our nation. The process has started, but it needs to accelerate or we are DOOMED! Certain intellectuals don’t express their irreligious opinions out of the fear that they might get over with their lives. And when some audacious muslim free thinkers dare to do so, they are punished under the blasphemy law(as in the case of Dr.Younas Sheikh).
I don’t support Salman Rushdie’s(although I love his imagination) ‘Satanic Verses’, because I don’t think that he has any sane reason to justify it. The story of Satanic Verses revolves around the event of satanic verses which took place in reality(according to one biography of Prophet Muhammad).
However the novel explains the event in about no more than two or three paragraphs, where as it is dealt with gruesome sexual fantasies of Rushdie’s(Hazrat Ayesha having sex with lizards and the constant repetition of the words bhenchud(sister-fucker) by archangel Gabriel) in a book of 600 pages.
Like hello? Salman, you were supposed to write about satanic verses, not your sexual appetite.
If any sane man reads the novel he would ,not surprisingly, conclude that the book is highly insensitive and provocative( and more of a porno) than a literary work.
But if any sane man read the articles of Dr.Younas, he will conclude that they may be insensitive, but they are rational and thought provoking. Although I do diverge from some of his points. Like he was sentenced to death for suggesting that Prophet Muhammad’s parents were not muslims ,that he, himself, did not convert to Islam till the age of forty and that he did not shave his armpits as the practice was uncommon at that time.(I must inform you that Dr.Younas resfuses to accept that he ever gave this statement. Further more there were also no witnesses against him.)Nevertheless he should have been allowed, during the trials, to clarify his opinions and should have been free (no matter what ever the fundamentalists barked) if he had rational and historical evidence to support his view. Well! this did not happen. More over he wasn’t even provided with any defence lawyer( because all the lawyers became cowards or they would have lost their lives to religious fanatics).
Religion is a very personal part of a person’s life kit, just as sexuality. Many Muslims believe that they have every right to scream out at the errors of other religions & try to convert the world to Islam.
But if anyone claims any errors in Quran, he or she has to be killed off at any cost!
One thing that Pakistani muslims must understand(as well as all the muslims all over the world)is
that if Dr.Zakir Naik or Ahmed Deedat can speak against other religions , then other religious orators too have the right to take out free enquiries against Islam , given that they are supported by rationalization and evidences.
Although people in Pakistan are now being aware of their human rights( thanks to certain channels , such as AAG TV), major changes need to be introduced in the constitution of Pakistan.
LGBT rights should be introduced( although I am not in favour of transsexuals , but that doesn’t make my opinion divine, and I have no reason to suggest why a man should not conform his body to that of a female if he doesn’t feel comfortable with it), as what one does is bed is none of any one’s business. Anyone who has the right to interfere in the lives of people with sexual deviation are their families or governments( supported by strong scientific, psychological and logical reasons).Not some fuddy-duddy Mullah. Today scientific evidences are giving themselves up in favour of homosexuality and bisexuality(transsexual lifestyle is still debated) as being natural. But Pakistani government and legislature don’t want to conform their laws, in order to please Mullahs and the conservative portion of Pakistan , with an obsession to prove science wrong and make it evident enough, through the use of Quranic texts, that being homosexual or bisexual is grotesque.
And so instead of heading forward in time, we are heading backwards.Right now Pakistan is on the 136th number on human development Index which has listed the names of nations where human rights are needed the most .The reasons for Pakistan’s name to be there, are quite evident.
We need secularism so that instead of following Descartes saying (‘ He who hid well, lived well’), our intellectuals and geniuses should come out and stand for justice and truth. So that instead of suicide bombings and religious massacres, there are peaceful and tolerant debates. So that instead of animosity, love prevails.so that rather than being critical of someone’s distinguished nature and thoughts , positivism is appreciated. So that we start respecting diversity in religious believes, orientations, thoughts etc. Because diversity is what makes this world beautiful. Diversity is what doesn’t let us get bored of this life. Just imagine, what life would be like if every person thought what you thought. Practiced what you practiced. No novel experiences. Boring right?
But religions don’t seem to note this point. They seem to urge their followers to convert every possible human to their paths of salvation and to discriminate( and to evacuate religion) of any different human who doesn’t follow what they follow.Diversity is a strong point of this world.
Islam does support diversity, but to some extent.
And so most, if not, of all the things dreamed in this article are only possible in a secular and not a religious totalitarian state. Political decisions should be left best, in hands of politicians and political philosophers, not some Mullah who blindly believes that Allah , and not philosophy combined with experience and history, will guide him.
A person should be hanged only after much debate(backed by logic and scientific evidence) and not some blind faith in religion.Wether it is Islam, Christianity or Hinduism , it is quite clear that when ever these religions( or any other) tried to create a utopia through religious and totalitarian state, they have disturbed the tranquillity of a nation, repress the human ,religious and sexual rights of humans concerned. And they have affirmed disarrayed reasons, or none at all( since they just apologize ,and people don’t seem to care.Just recall how Vatican was connected to the Third Reich and was forgiven after it apologized afterwards.)for doing so.
Steven Weinberg has quite rightly stated that : “Good people will do good things, and bad people will do bad things. But for good people to do bad things — that takes religion.”
And before that happens( Isn’t it already happening?) we must create a secular state of Pakistan , or else the Islamists will create a terrorist one.
Thank you all,
Usmann Rana,
Lahore,
