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Jawed Ghamidi, a well known religious scholar and thinker of Pakistan has called Salman Taseer’s murder “a sign of illiteracy”. He is of the opinion that if this madness is not stopped immediately we will not even be in a position to hold this dialogue as we are doing today. According to him, “if anybody has a different view on the law dealing with dishonour of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), he should also be provided an opportunity to put forward his views and should be given a patient hearing. Laws formulated by human beings are not divine scriptures that cannot be discussed”. It should be noted that Jawed Ghamidi has also been forced to flee the country due to the threats of religious Ulema. -- Asad Mufti (Translated from Urdu by Arman Neyazi, NewAgeIslam.com)
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| The Governor Is Dead, Salman Taseer Is Alive | |
By Asad Mufti Translated from Urdu by Arman Neyazi, NewAgeIslam.com A daily in Holland has written about the fatal attack on the Punjab governor Salman Taseer by a religious fanatic: “The daylight murder of Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab has fully exposed the truth that Pakistan government has been a total failure in maintaining the stability of the country and the fact has become completely evident that terrorism and religious passion have taken very deep roots in Pakistan”. Jawed Ghamidi, a well known religious scholar and thinker of Pakistan has called Salman Taseer’s murder “a sign of illiteracy”. He is of the opinion that if this madness is not stopped immediately we will not even be in a position to hold this dialogue as we are doing today. According to him, “if anybody has a different view on the law dealing with dishonor of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), he should also be provided an opportunity to put forward his views and should be given a patient hearing. Laws formulated by human beings are not divine scriptures that cannot be discussed”. It should be noted that Jawed Ghamidi has also been forced to flee the country due to the threats of religious Ulema. This incident that is one of the biggest incidents in Pakistan speaks a lot about the gravity of Pakistan’s changing political, social and religious atmosphere and shows that organizations or states are not democratic but the thoughts have to be so. Eight hours before his death Salman Taseer had written this couplet of Shakil Badauni on twitter: Mera azm itna buland hai ki paraye sholon ka darr nahin Mujhe khauf aatish e gul se hai kaheen yeh chaman ko jala na de. (“My intentions are so high that I am not afraid of the unknown blaze I am afraid of the fire of the flowers lest it burn the garden”.) There is no doubt that in comparison to respect, honour and familiarity life has no meaning and he very well knew as to what honour and respect was. He was not one of those people who die without being “alive” He lived for high ideals and he was so determined that he had got rid of ”duniya w ma fiha” (the world and everything it has) so much so that even he himself did not himself to come between him and his objectives. He had only one objective and that was to fight for Justice. That was the reason that he jumped into the practical world to achieve justice for a poor girl of the country. The girl belonged to the minority community and the person was secular. Once a student of Delhi University had asked Pt. Nehru as what was the definition of Secularism and Pt Nehru’s reply was “Similar security to all the citizens of the country”. Salman Taseer’s loss of life is a loss of not only politics but of secularism, human friendship, sectarian brotherhood and that of unity. People know that he used to create sectarian brotherhood and unity through his writings and practice. Even in the face of numerous criticisms, foul cries and attacks by the extremists and other such groups never backtracked from his mission and commitment he like Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Even if this commitment of Salman Taseer remains with us as his legacy it will be of great help to us in this new age. This is a wrong notion held by certain people that for the safety of religious independence it is necessary to implement the anti blasphemy laws. In my opinion safety of the right of expression is more important than the safety of religion because on certain religious beliefs certain other followers of the religion have different opinions and I will dare say that hate, differences, force and feelings like jealousy are because of the religion itself. Ayyub Masih, a Christian had been sentenced to death for blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and 67 years old Catholic Bishop John Joseph had committed suicide in the court itself saying that his dead body should not be taken from there unless this law is taken back. Even today many arguments are being given and this law is being argued in the Pakistan courts in various related hearings. In this light I think Pakistan also needs a Sachar Committee to take stock of the situation as far as Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs are concerned. I have already made it clear that religion and sense, law and rules and regulations are two different things. Religion cannot be brought under the purview of logic or sense or discussions. Building a nation on the principles of religion is baseless and such a country cannot be united. Country’s power is hidden in its secular characters. Democratic forces get strengthened through secularism which enlightens the way of progress and unity of a country. It should be noted again that the course books being taught in Pakistan schools have such lessons which strengthen the feelings of animosity among different communities and sow the seed of terrorism and extremism. Indira Gandhi had only thrown two-nation theory into the Arabian Sea but we have thrown democracy, politics, law, sense, justice, logic, beauty of life, confidence, dreams, freedom, self respect , self belief, culture and manners , constitution and law during these 63 years into the Arabian Sea. Who is a bigger criminal? Indira Gandhi or us? Source: Sahafat, New Delhi URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=3952
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12:39 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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