Tag: extremism

  • ‘The light that will always shine’: Mashal Khan being remembered on 5th death anniversary

    ‘The light that will always shine’: Mashal Khan being remembered on 5th death anniversary

    Social media is remembering Mashal Khan on his fifth death anniversary. He was lynched to death on charges of blasphemy.

    Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student of the Department of Mass Communication at Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, was lynched by a mob and shot over allegations of blasphemy on April 13, 2017.

    In June 2017, a 13-member joint investigation team concluded that the allegations of blasphemy against Mashal Khan were unfounded and were used as a pretext to incite a mob against him.

    Have a look at the tributes:

  • Pakistan slams Modi’s fascist government’s planned ‘ghettoisation of Muslims’

    Pakistan slams Modi’s fascist government’s planned ‘ghettoisation of Muslims’

    Pakistani politicians and journalists have expressed their concern and called out Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s fascist government amid the hijab ban in the Indian state Karnataka.

    The backlash on Modi is coming after a Muslim student, Muskan Khan, wearing a burqa was surrounded by Hindutva mob on Tuesday within her college premises.

    In a video, it can be seen that the mob with saffron shawls are shouting at her, chanting “Jai Shri Raam”. Khan fearlessly retaliated by shouting back “Allah Hu Akbar” (God is Great).

    In an interview with NDTV, Khan said, “Since I started studying here, I’ve always worn the burqa and hijab.” Asked if she knew the men who bullied and harassed her, Khan responded, “Some were familiar faces from the college. Others I couldn’t recognise. My college principal and lecturers were very supportive after the incident took place.”

    Reacting to her video, Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi strongly condemned the banning of Hijab at educational institutions in India. He said, “World must realise this is part of Indian state plan of ghettoisation of Muslims.”

    He has also urged Indian Muslims to stand up for their rights in the neighbouring country, reports Radio Pakistan.

    Praising Muskan Khan for her courage, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif said, “A young Muslim Indian girl is a symbol of resistance against the Hindutva mindset.”

    Several other politicians and journalists also highlighted the fascism of the Modi government.

    Last week, the Indian state, Karnataka, banned religious clothes in educational institutions amid a controversy over the hijab and saffron scarves.

  • Amazon Prime offers rare apology ‘to anyone who felt hurt’ over ‘Tandav’

    In a rare move, Amazon Prime has issued an apology to its Indian viewers over the scenes in its political drama Tandav which sparked outrage and hurt religious sentiments, Reuters has reported.

    In a statement, the streaming said that it deeply regrets that viewers found certain scenes to be objectionable.

    Amazon apologises “unconditionally to anyone who felt hurt,” read the statement, adding that it will continue to “develop content while respecting the diversity of audiences’ culture and beliefs”.

    While Tandav controversy began in January, soon after the series released, it escalated last week when police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) questioned one of Amazon’s top executives for hours in one case filed against the show.

    When asked about the company apology, a senior state police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities would continue to investigate the matter.

    Read more – ‘Tandav’: A weak script saved by brilliant performances

    Featuring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Grover, Gauahar Khan and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub in key roles, Tandav has been accused of disrespecting Hindu deities, with several political leaders including Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya demanding legal action against the team. Karni Sena also announced a Rs 1 crore award to the person who will chop of the tongue of Tandav’s makers.

    Earlier, following the backlash and outrage, Tandav creator Ali Abbas Zafar issued an “unconditional apology” on behalf of the team and, clarified that “Tandav is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental” and that’s how one should also take it. While the series does appear to have been inspired by real-life incidents, it is also imperative to keep in mind that creative liberty has been taken.”

    Later, Ali issued another statement, in which he said that the makers decided to “implement changes” to the web series after concerns were raised. At least two scenes were removed from the show.

  • Destroying Buddha

    Destroying Buddha

    Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Saturday arrested four men involved in smashing an antique Gandharan Buddha statue found during construction work in Mardan. The remaining parts of the 1,700-year-old statue have also been recovered by Mardan police.

    When videos of a man breaking the antique statue surfaced on social media, many Pakistanis expressed their anger and disappointment at the blatant vandalism of an ancient cultural heritage. According to reports, the man who broke the Buddha statue was instigated by local cleric[s]. The video reminded one of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, which were once the world’s tallest Buddhas but were blown up and destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 on orders by Mullah Omar.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that if the progressive people of Pakistan remain silent observers and neutral, all hopes of a progressive and modern Pakistan will be dashed. Chaudhry added that “social degradation is immense and silence is not an option unless you want this society to be as dead as [a] graveyard”. His words about a dead or decadent society should be pondered over. Pakistani society is fast turning into a reactionary and intolerant one. The construction of a Hindu temple was halted just a week ago in Islamabad after protests by religious groups and now we have witnessed the destruction of a Buddha statue.

    While the KP government must be appreciated for its quick response in arresting those involved in this crime, we must ask ourselves if we want Pakistan to be a country envisioned by founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah or if we want it to turn it into a land of bigotry. The mistreatment meted out to our religious minorities renders the white in our flag meaningless. Unless and until all citizens are treated equally, regardless of their colour, caste, creed, religion and ethnicity, Pakistan cannot prosper.

    It was also unfortunate to see some of our lawmakers, including Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, justify and defend the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque in Turkey by citing Turkey’s laws and system of judiciary. This kind of obfuscation leads to the justification of bigoted acts. The progressive people of Pakistan do speak out against injustices but they are a minority, or so it seems. We used to say that the ‘silent majority’ in Pakistan is tolerant and against discrimination of religious minorities but in the past few years, we have seen that the so-called ‘silent majority’ actually nods in agreement with the reactionaries.

    It is rather sad to see Pakistan spiral into a regressive society. We must go back to the vision of our founding father who wanted to see a progressive and pluralist Pakistan.

  • Norway to distribute 10,000 copies of Holy Quran to combat extremism, hate

    Norway to distribute 10,000 copies of Holy Quran to combat extremism, hate

    Norway’s Muslim associations have announced they would distribute 10,000 copies of the Holy Quran with Norwegian translations in an effort to fight racism, hate and extremism.

    According to the the Norwegian Muslim Arts and Culture Association reported, it will be a collaboration with the Islam Literature Association and the Minhajul Quran mosque.

    “We want to respond to negative actions by spreading love and knowledge as taught by the Holy Quran,” said Muslim Arts and Culture Association in a statement, indicating that the copies would be handed out via the internet.

    The decision comes after an extreme right-wing group tried to burn a copy of the holy book during a protest in Kristiansand, a city populated with migrants.

    ‘Stop the Islamisation of Norway (SION)’ members were prevented from the desecrating by police, however, the group’s leader threw the holy book in the garbage.

    Turkey, Pakistan, Iran reacted strongly to the November 16 incident by issuing their formal condemnations.

    After receiving reactions from the Muslim community, Norwegian Politician Jøran Kallmyr held a meeting with the Islam Council of Norway and assured them that “Norway has distanced itself from the anti-Islamic organisation and said it does not provide any support to this organisation.”

    Kallmyr said that the Norwegian Muslim community’s safety was as important as the Norwegian citizens.

  • Coke’s Ad gets banned by PEMRA

    Coke’s Ad gets banned by PEMRA

    Extremism is no joke. Pakistan has suffered for the larger part of its history because of extremists. It’s something every single Pakistani is aware of and it’s nothing new. But using it as a casual term in a soft drink advertisement is.

    On July 28, after the Ad was released in a big social media and television campaign, singer and politician Jawad Ahmad tweeted: “The new #Coke Ad is an ugly interpretation of the word ‘Extremism’. It shows how low can marketing of a brand stoop to, just to make more money.

    It is dumb & immature of marketing team of Coke to use such a highly socially sensitive word so non-seriously just to sell their bottles.”

    Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority also found the advertisement to be problematic and has ordered that the Ad not be run on television or the radio until they review it. The Authority stated in their notice that they had gotten many complaints against the Ad and that, “the content of the advertisement is not only offensive but also tantamount to demeaning Pakistanis, as a nation.”

    PEMRA’s notice available on @ReportPEMRA ‘s twitter feed
    PEMRA’s notice available on @ReportPEMRA ‘s twitter feed

    It’s not clear what clause PEMRA has used to ban the Ad. The Authority will make it clear when the Ad is reviewed and the controversial content is omitted (which might be difficult in this case). Until then, judge for yourself.

    Watch the Ad here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIuU_kKWYZs