SWAT: Not the end of the road, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

SWAT: Not the end of the road

By Rahimullah Yusufzai

August 04, 2009

A number of positive things have happened in Swat and the rest of Malakand division in recent days and weeks. Educational institutions have opened in some, if not all, conflict-hit places, and these include girls' schools which were a favourite target of the rampaging Taliban. Repatriation of displaced people is in full swing to areas that, according to the military, have been cleared of the militants. Certain basic services have been restored to Mingora and Saidu Sharif and some other towns and villages. The police are again visible on the streets and the civil administration is being slowly revived.

However, a lot needs to be done to make the situation normal. Elected representatives, including lawmakers and nazims and other prominent people such as anti-Taliban landlords, have yet to return to their hometowns due to insecurity. Their return would be the yardstick for judging whether the situation is normal or not. The judges too don't feel secure to resume their work in Swat and parts of other districts in Malakand division. Commercial, agricultural and other economic activities will take time to revive, and until then it won't be easy to provide means of livelihood to the affected people. Tourism, once the mainstay of Swat's economy, and marble mining, the major job- and income-generating industry in Buner, will remain a closed chapter in the foreseeable future.

http://newageislam.com/swat--not-the-end-of-the-road/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/1709

India must isolate Pakistani radicals and army establishment,

Radical Islamism and Jihad

India must isolate Pakistani radicals and army establishment

Whose Side Are We On?

By Rajiv Kumar

Sep 9, 2009

To better appreciate complex diplomatic endeavours, we must start by taking note of some facts. First, India accounts for about 80 per cent of South Asian GDP. Being so dominant, it has to bear an asymmetric responsibility for achieving stability, peace and prosperity in South Asia. This must be the bedrock of our neighbourhood policy. Second, we cannot choose our neighbours and should work with whoever we can to help Pakistan defeat the jihadis. Otherwise, there will be negative outcomes for our own experiment at building a pluralistic, multi-ethnic and democratic society. Third, the strategic balance between the two countries must surely rule out any ideas of a decisive military victory. That road leads only to mutually assured destruction. We may well have to bite the bullet one day, but it is best avoided.

Fourth, there is not one monolithic Pakistan we can engage with. A choice must be made. There is the Pakistan of the armed forces which treats the country and its people as a fiefdom to be exploited for personal benefit. There is another Pakistan toiling in poverty, deprivation and backwardness for which succour from daily injustices is welcome from any quarter. Fundamentalists, meanwhile, see themselves as guardians of the Pakistani state and true representatives of the Islamic republic. They see victory within their grasp because they have duped the army into believing that it can calibrate the growth of jihadism.

http://newageislam.com/india-must-isolate-pakistani-radicals-and-army-establishment/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1754

Branding Islam: Islam, Islamism and political Islam have become new brands in the West, Muslims and Islamophobia, NewAgeIslam.com

Muslims and Islamophobia

Branding Islam: Islam, Islamism and political Islam have become new brands in the West

By Afiya Shehrbano

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

In the last few years, Islam, Islamism and political Islam have become new brands of academic and policy interests in western countries. Well-funded government think tanks in Europe and the US are drawing upon academics as well as representatives from their local Muslim communities in an attempt to dissect, distinguish and sanitize the politics from Islam. Presumably this is a means of dealing with global faith-based violence. It's a useful political tactic for western governments to appear to be 'doing something' other than fearing, arresting or bombing suspect terrorists. It also helps them avoid accusations of being Islamophobic. However, the process of research and offering courses on the subject is an exercise that is sometimes interesting, other times amusing and often disturbing.

In the United Kingdom for example, nearly every university is offering (very expensive) courses that analyse Islam as a practice, or organising conferences that attempt to 'frame' Muslims as political communities in and outside of the Muslim world. They are also funding several doctorates in this regard. As scholarship goes, this is a valuable exercise as some of this research attempts to debunk myths and challenge orientalist interpretations of existing literature on Islam and Muslims. However, in their wake, these projects are problematic when they begin to get articulated into policy and become applicable to those of us who actually live in the Muslim world.

http://newageislam.com/branding-islam--islam,-islamism-and-political-islam-have-become-new-brands-in-the-west--/muslims-and-islamophobia/d/1119

House of Representatives Issues Formal Apology for Slavery, Islam and Human Rights, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Human Rights

House of Representatives Issues Formal Apology for Slavery

By: The Associated Press

Tuesday 29 July 2008

The Cohen resolution does not mention reparations. It does commit the House to rectifying "the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow."

It says that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation.

The House "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow."

"Slavery and Jim Crow are stains upon what is the greatest nation on the face of the earth," Cohen said. Part of forming a more perfect union, he said, "is such a resolution as we have before us today where we face up to our mistakes and apologize as anyone should apologize for things that were done in the past that were wrong."

Cohen became the first white to represent the 60 percent black district in Memphis in more than three decades when he captured a 2006 primary where a dozen black candidates split the vote. He has sought to reach out to his black constituents, and early in his term showed interest in joining the Congressional Black Caucus until learning that was against caucus rules.

http://newageislam.com/house-of-representatives-issues-formal-apology-for-slavery/islam-and-human-rights/d/361