More provocation
THERE appears to be no end to the repeated grotesque acts of attacking Islam’s sacred symbols, mainly because Western states refuse to take any solid action against these provocations that occur on their soil. The latest outrage involves the same Swedish resident — of Iraqi Christian origin — who had burnt a copy of the Holy Quran outside a Stockholm mosque on Eidul Azha.
On Thursday, the provocateur again desecrated the Muslim sacred text outside the Iraqi embassy, while also disrespecting the Arab country’s flag, which has the name of God on it.
Earlier, when news broke that the Swedish authorities had given him permission to carry out his second ‘protest’, Iraqi demonstrators stormed the Nordic country’s mission in Baghdad. The reaction from the Muslim world after the latest incitement has been one of indignation.
The Iraqi government has expelled the Swedish ambassador, while Saudi Arabia has called upon Stockholm to “stop these disgraceful acts”. Iran, meanwhile, has noted that freedom of speech is being used to “attack dignity, morals and religious sanctities”. Pakistan has also observed that “provocative acts of religious hatred cannot be justified”.
If these had been one-off incidents, the Muslim world may have brushed them aside as the dreadful antics of madmen. But these hateful acts are increasing in frequency, supported by hard-right actors, Islamophobes, and supposed defenders of free speech.
As a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council recently noted, these acts are not about free expression, but religious hatred. Moreover, there is a wide chasm in the worldview of the West and most of the Global South where the profaning of sacred symbols is concerned.
The former insists that while these acts are unsavoury, they are protected by free speech, while the latter asserts that attacking religious symbols is a calculated act of hatred and violence that has little to do with freedom of conscience.
Clearly, even the West has red lines where free expression is concerned — defiling the memory of the Holocaust being amongst these. It is sad that these red lines do not apply to the sacred symbols of Islam.
Meanwhile, there were protests when a Syrian Muslim resident of Sweden announced he would burn the Torah and Bible — but he did not do so, stressing that the idea was to show that “freedom of speech has limits” and that people “must respect each other”.
The responsibility to control acts of desecration lies with Western governments. Either the West can help build a more tolerant world where people have the freedom of belief, and their sacred symbols are protected from violent extremists. Or it can hide behind smug notions of ‘enlightenment’ and free expression, which are little more than a cover for bigotry and religious prejudice.
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2023
Naila’s feat
NAILA Kiani continues to go from summit to summit; her latest ascent — of Broad Peak — making her the first woman from Pakistan to climb all eight-thousanders in the country. Two weeks after summiting Nanga Parbat, Naila became the first woman from Pakistan to stand atop Broad Peak, the world’s 12th-highest peak 8,051m above sea level in the heart of the Karakoram range. Add to the fact that she’s a mother of two, and it’s a remarkable achievement. The 37-year-old is also the first Pakistani woman to summit eight peaks above 8,000m in the world. She is rightly being hailed as a trailblazer for women mountaineers in the country after surpassing Samina Baig. What makes it even more incredible is that the Dubai-based former banker only started climbing two years ago, just seven months after giving birth to her second daughter. She even held her bridal photoshoot at the K-2 base camp in 2018 and is part of the new wave of mountaineers from Pakistan who have made a name for themselves in a very short time.
Among those mountaineers is also young Shehroze Kashif, who at 21 is looking to become the youngest in the world to climb all eight-thousanders. It’s not only a race against time for him but, unlike Naila who has a permanent sponsor, he also faces a challenge in raising the funds. He has three more peaks to climb, which is not easy as mountaineers must brave freezing temperatures, harsh winds and deadly drops to achieve their feats. Despite having funding, though, it hasn’t been easy for Naila either, who has had to face online trolls in Pakistan who didn’t rate her as a climber. But she’s defied them all to stand atop some of the world’s tallest peaks and is now aiming for more in her quest to become the first woman mountaineer from Pakistan to climb all eight-thousanders in the world.
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2023
Bulldozed
IF there is one trait that seems common to almost all Pakistani lawmakers regardless of their political affiliation, it is a barely concealed disdain for parliament and legislative procedure.
Where once they derided the PTI government for running an ‘ordinance factory’ instead of executing its legislative business through parliament, the ruling parties have done little better since assuming power, having finally reduced the National Assembly to a rubber stamp for their legislative agenda.
On Thursday, the first day of the 15th National Assembly’s farewell session, the House allowed critical legislation without the required number of lawmakers present for proceedings, with Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf binning House procedures to allow the draft of two laws to be drastically amended, and then having the amendments passed by a voice vote before they were even tabled.
According to reports, he gave Aviation Minister Saad Rafique the floor to introduce extensive amendments, including 100 new clauses, in the Pakistan Airports Authority Bill, 2022, and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Bill, 2022, with less than two dozen members present. Both bills had been moved a year ago and were approved by the relevant committee in their original form.
The privilege to amend or introduce rules and laws is not a prerogative that can be exercised without checks and balances. What was so important about the amendments that they could not be put to debate and discussion before the elected representatives of the people, as is required?
Had the government been sleeping for the last few months that it finally realised it had necessary business to conduct at the eleventh hour? And what does it say about our lawmakers that less than two dozen deigned to attend the session — which, as is now usual, started hours later than its scheduled time — despite there being much legislative work still pending before the NA?
It is unfortunate that the government appears to have disregarded all criticism of the manner in which it has gone about making and changing laws over the last 15 months.
Despite there being no meaningful opposition in the NA to obstruct its efforts and some weeks remaining till the end of its tenure, it still opted to pass legislation without having it debated or endorsed by public representatives. What else can this be described as if not contempt of parliament?
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2023