Tuesday, April 07, 2009
According to Ansar Abbasi (April 6), the NWFP chief minister, while questioning the authenticity of the video, asked that how a 17-year-old could walk away from the flogging without any sign of pain. A psychiatrist explained the phenomenon calling it 'denial of pain'. To cope with unbearable physical pain mixed with intense emotions the body produces chemicals that numb painful physical sensations. As a result the very mental perception of pain is altered. During events involving intense grief or humiliation strong emotions take precedence over physical sensation. In this regard one can cite the example of what happens to mourners during an Ashura procession as they use chains and knives on their bodies to commemorate Imam Husain's sacrifice. Since strong sentiments accompany the practice the wounded can usually walk away or rejoin the mourning procession without showing signs of pain or fainting.
The NWFP chief minister was also quoted as saying that the video was shot somewhere else and is being used to derail the Swat peace deal. Sir, questions of premise and the identity of the victim do not in any way undermine the suffering of a hapless female at the hands of psychopaths so vividly caught on video. It is a chilling reminder of the Taliban brutality that was unleashed on the women of Afghanistan who were denied the right to education or access to medical care under male doctors even in emergency. The anti-woman practices of the Taliban in Afghanistan were neither fake nor a figment of liberal imagination but are indeed recorded historical facts. The Swat peace deal, if signed, would be anything but peaceful for the women of Swat.
It is amazing how pro-Taliban elements in politics and the media hasten to churn out conspiracy theories to justify violence in the name of Islam but remain deaf and dumb when they are asked to condemn suicide bombings.
Mrs Talat Farooq
Executive editor, Criterion Quarterly
Islamabad
*****
I am ashamed to be a Pakistani and a Muslim. It was horrifying enough to see the video, but the horror was aggravated when people like Ansar Abbasi and Shahid Masood started defending this act in the name of Islam. It seems to me that we cannot now find the moral courage to condemn any heinous act, if that act is committed in the name of Islam. For God's sake, we must wake up now. The Taliban want power -- that is all. This has nothing to do with religion. If we don't stand up to them now, the time is not far off when Pakistani women will be publicly beheaded and flogged in Qaddafi Stadium.
Jahan Ara Iqbal
Islamabad
*****
Chand Bibi has confirmed that the entire incident did not happen (April 6). If the girl denies being beaten then she is either not the girl in the video or is denying it under duress. This could only mean one of the two things. The Qazi courts are not intelligent enough to identify the correct girl and ask her a simple question or are not strong enough (or willing) to protect the weak against the strong. Could the defenders of Nizam-e-Adal please explain this anomaly?
Adnan Cyprian
Riyadh
If 'close relatives' can hold down a 17-year-old girl to be flogged in public , something has gone drastically wrong with our religion and the Pathan culture -- if indeed these animals can call themselves either. What frightens me most is the fact that a time may come when our youth might become so disillusioned with this barbaric brand of so-called 'Islam' that they might get alienated from religion altogether. Power hungry, oppressive priests who tried to run people's lives for them were a major cause of the Europeans becoming atheists. Religion can never be thrust down someone's throat. It is something one believes in oneself, without fear or favour. Lest we forget, despite his exalted position and power, Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was a gentle, soft-spoken person who practised and preached tolerance and kindness -- and he is best remembered for his general amnesty towards his worst enemies. Whose brand of Islam are these brutes preaching? Or are they some strange phenomenon that we have yet to understand and uncover?
Nighat Kamal Aziz
Islamabad
*****
I was very reassured to read your editorial, "Screams and silence" (April 5). I am glad that The News has taken a clear, correct and strong position on the matter. This should embolden others. You must keep at it.
Fasih Ahmed
Lahore
*****
Emboldened by what has been happening of late in Swat, the Taliban in Bajaur have now barred womenfolk from acquiring CNIC cards. How are they going to get passports or any other government document or service?
Mahabat Khan Bangash
Peshawar
*****
We must appreciate the person who made the video of the lashing of a 17-year-old girl in Swat; only when the act of brutality was seen by the nation was it sufficient to open our eyes. I say this because such an act is not new in many places in Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are two points I wish to make here. First, as seen in your columns, it is useless to ask the question 'how' the act was according to Islam, or any religion for that matter. The Taliban will not read these columns. It must be assumed and understood that while these people may claim to be Muslims, they are not to be accepted in any religion of the world, let alone Islam. They are simply barbarians, and only the state has a right to punish an individual, not self-assumed power through brute-force and inflicted fear.
Second, the commissioner of Malakand, Syed Muhammad Javed, says with 'full authority' that the incident was not of Swat, giving the reason that the accent of the people in the video is not Swati. This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Being a Pakhtun myself, and others will confirm this, there are a lot of accents of Pashto spoken in Swat since there are many tribes who are migrants to the area. The chief minister's secretariat endorses the commissioner's claim, saying that the villagers of Kala have denied any information of the incident. Common sense suggests that with such brutality and fear in the area, does Mr Hoti really think that the people of Kala will openly acknowledge the occurrence of this incident? If they were not scared of their lives, would they have not stopped the 'punisher' from inflicting those wounds on the screaming girl instead of watching quietly? The point to be noted here is that neither the commissioner, nor the chief minister have condemned the incident, and instead, are only trying to divert people's attention from the fact they have failed miserably in attaining peace in the region.
It is also very obvious that they do not wish to speak out against the Taliban in any way, since they know they themselves will be targeted by the barbarians of the area, notwithstanding the fact that more than half the MPAs of the ANP have already absconded to Dubai, the US, and the UK. I urge the NWFP government to either act or quit, for by not acknowledging facts, they are playing with the lives of the people.
Ali Shah
Rawalpindi
*****
After the recent terrorist attacks by the Taliban in Pakistan, I can only suggest two options to the government. Either cancel all peace deals and declare a full-fledged crackdown on the Taliban nationwide or allow the Taliban to take over the country just like they have taken over Swat and the north. I would prefer the first option.
Yasir Amanat
Islamabad
*****
First it was FATA, then Swat, then more of NWFP and now even Islamabad and Lahore... when and where will this madness end?
Usman Ahmed Mirza
Islamabad
*****
The incident in itself is despicable; but I am more worried about the stance taken by the 'sarkari maulvi', Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman. He is not bothered about the public flogging of a girl, but only concerned whether the punishment was awarded by a competent qazi.
Faqir Ahmad Paracha
Peshawar
Samar Minallah is getting death threats, Mr Minister
Regardless of the authenticity of the Swat flogging video or when it was filmed, there is absolutely no legal or moral justification for a senior politician to make baseless allegations against someone who happens to be genuinely concerned about the issue and is not playing the tune he would like to hear. The ANP information minister, Iftikhar Hussain, rushed off to Swat to hold a press conference in which he singled out human rights activist and internationally acclaimed documentary maker Samar Minallah for mentioning the incident on a television talk show, and circulating the video that she had received via email from Swat.
His allegation that she was out to sabotage the 'peace deal' was obviously designed to divert attention from the real issue. For the last fifteen years Samar has been highlighting human rights violations through her documentaries, much to the embarrassment of various governments and their administrations. It was an opportunity to once and for all shut her up by initiating a vicious smear campaign through the internet. It is pathetic that rather than admit that the government has lost its writ in Swat, they resorted to such underhand tactics.
Mr Hussain's mala fide intention is obvious from the fact that he also lashed out at Athar Minallah, her brother, who had nothing to do with this matter, and accused both of them of working according to an 'agenda'. As a result of the statement, Samar is receiving threatening emails. All one needs to do is to go online and check her credentials, and they are the kind that no smear campaign can wipe out.
I would like to inform the information minister, and in fact the entire ANP leadership, that he has put Samar's, Athar's and our entire family's life at risk at the hands of forces who now only see her as a hurdle in the fulfilment of their 'agenda'. I demand a public apology and a retraction of that damaging statement in a press conference immediately. The lawyers' movement has taught us many lessons, one of them being that the truth can never be suppressed. Every effort was made to malign those involved but to no avail. I will continue with my demand for as long as it takes.
Ghazala Minallah
Law lecturer,
Islamabad
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