Vol I Issue I July-September, 2012
Nietzsche
MYTH BUSTING:
OSAMA’s SPRING
BY Brijinder Singh
Page 14
Page 11
The Power Of Discourse BY Dr. Haider
Page 20
On Mistaken Notions BY Mobeen Chughtai Page 30
Reactionary Drawing Room Liberals Muneeb Tahir Page 40
The DEVIL INSIDE
Movie Review
Page 35
LET ME DANCE THE SUFI WAY Wasio ABBASSI
Page 38
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Special Interview with
Dr Manzoor Ahmed
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the World Trade Organisation
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Special Interview with
Dr Manzoor Ahmed
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) from 2002 to 2008.
Last Page:From the front cover -D
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Democracy Why And How Much?
by Muhammad Jawwad
9
The Enemy Within
by Humayun Nosherwan
11 14
Myth Busting Osama’s Spring
E d it o r ’s
C h o i ce
Nietzsche The Vertical Man
by Brijinder Singh
16 35
How Pornography Harms Children??
B y F ah ad A h me d S id diqui
The Devil Inside
M o vie R ev ie w B y Our Edit or
36 38 By
The Nature Of Time
Faisal
Irshad
Let me Dance The Sufi Way
by Wasio Abbassi
PAGE 42: Over Rated: The Most 2
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Featured Artist
Bilawal Khoso
Creative work from his collections “Propaganda Art” and “Disguised”. On Inner Pages
Dr. Eqbal Ahmad (1933 - 1999)
19 20 22 23
The Rational Optimist
B o o k R ev ie w b y Our Edit or
The Power of Discourse
By Doctor Haider Shah
Food The Pakistani Cuisine
F ro m Our Facebook Page
Jgnorance & False Honour
By Muhammad Ilyas
28 40
Myth busting Gravity Hills!!!
E dit or ’s
B y
C h o ic e
Reactionary Drawing Room Liberals
M u n e e b
T a h i r
30 44
Definitive and Authoritative List Ever 3
On Mistaken Notions
By Mobeen Chughtai
Special Message From Salman Hameed
Editorial Social Media Participation: Need of the hour
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he influence of online social media has significantly presented its importance in the second decade of 21st century. The twitter and facebook led revolutions in Middle East shook the world. Moreover, big guns tweeting directly on a common person’s computer updating him every second is another example of e-revolution. The communication has never been so effective in human history. However, recently I was shocked to see an extremism promoting facebook page with 160K likes. The page is based in Pakistan and is representative of the Zaid Hamid type mindset. On the other hand, I could only gather 98 people on RSOP page in a year of its launch. This is a very serious construction of an extremist trend accross the internet -- hounding teenagers on the online media, promoting intolerance and conspiracy theories. There are two things that can be related to this effect. Most of the people using the online media belong to the youth group of Pakistan. These are reactionary teenagers who have been continuously fed with conspiracy theories ever since they became aware of the world around them and whose education is based upon the literature developed from Nasim-Hijazi mindset. They find reason an enemy and are quite adverse to the notions of tolerance and moderation. One finds them saying ‘Subhan Allah’ on every morphed artistic Islamic image of natural objects and when someone reasons with them, you hear them cursing that person and issuing political and religious decrees against him. This half baked knowledge and shallow understanding equipped with stealth armour of fundamentalism, is evident from their behaviour. The SMS generation endorses every fake news story, irrational claim and illogical thought without even attempting to find any supporting evidence on the grounds of being religiously faithful. Thus accepting everything that is presented to them. On the other hand the makers of this fake information are equally committed and productive. One can find glorification of Hitler to Zaid Hamid on these platforms. The educationists and the moderates term social media a waste of time. They are not synchronizing their thoughts with the modern technological trends due to varied reasons. Most of the people are busy and are limited to a very small area of influence. They are reluctant to develop an effective firewall of reason and education in front of online fraudsters and hate mongers. They are neglecting the influence of online/social media on the psychological thinking pattern of this naive, huge and important group of our society and leaving them a prey to ZH variants. We at RSOP have started this online movement to create an alternative and a rational discourse on online media. We invite all the concerned people to contribute and raise their voice against this bigotry. RSOP finds it a moral duty of the learned people to educate the impressionable group in a way that is more effective. For us, this is the call of the hour.
Editors and Content Advisors
(Website and The Rationalist Quarterly, Pakistan)
Founder and Patron
Dr Haider Shah
haider@rationalistpk.org
Akif Khan
Chief Editor editor@rationalistpk.org akifzeb@rationalistpk.org
Ahmed Waqass Goraya Managing Editor waqass@rationalistpk.org
Mohammad Jawad
Content Editor jawad@rationalistpk.org
Mobeen Ahmed Chughtai Copy Editor mobeen@rationalistpk.org
Atif Zeb
Creative Editor atif@atifzeb.com
Scientific Advisory Council
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Mariam Goraya
mariam@rationalistpk.org
Media Coordinators
Mobeen Ahmed Chughtai mobeen@rationalistpk.org
Umair Bilal
umair@rationalistpk.org
Akif Khan
akifzeb@rationalistpk.org
Anila Athar Hasan
anilaatharhasan@yahoo.co.uk
Akif Khan-The Editor
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articles
A FEW NOTES ON DEMOCRACY,
Why and how much?
Surprisingly, democracy is also good for the national security of a country and research shows that democracies are more likely to win wars than non-democracies.
by Muhammad Jawwad
D
emocracy as a form of government, is perhaps one of the most talked about, but least understood concept. In conversations, talk shows and debates in the legislatures, it can mean anything and everything from a kind of revenge all the way up to any form of elected representation. Therefore, what really is democracy and why is there so little of it in the Muslim World?The most common misconception about democracy is to equate any form of elected representation with democracy. This is far from the case as elections have been taking place in some of the most authoritarian regimes in the world. Free and fair elections can be thought of as a method to achieve democracy but they are not the only necessary condition.
Democracy has several essential elements forming its core and any omission or subversion of these central elements would make a political system anything but democratic. Another equally important point that must be noted in bold letters is that “democracy” is shorthand for “Liberal Democracy” and this is how the term is used throughout this article. Liberal Democracy has several essential elements forming its core and any omission or subversion of these central elements would make a political system anything but democratic. A democracy(read Liberal Democracy) must include elements of political pluralism; equality before the law; freedom of expression and other human rights; due process; civil liberties; read it on our website
economic freedom and elements of civil society outside the government. A third extremely important point is that any attempt to fore-fend any of the above essential elements of democracy by any means will make the resulting mixture anything but what is called Democracy. The essential elements stated above and liberal democracy, are not merely complementary, rather, they are interdependent. However, what good is Democracy? Why not another system of governance or some other version of democracy? This is perhaps the easiest question to answer when investigating Democracy. A perfectly valid and compulsive case can be made in favour of superiority of Democracy as a form of government based on philosophical arguments. However, a far more compelling reason would be that human experience over time has shown Democracy to be the best form of government based on any useful criteria. Studies upon studies have shown that democratic countries tend to be more politically stable, less corrupt, do better economically, develop quicker, deal better with emergencies and catastrophes, better governed, freer, more tolerant, better informed and less prone to violence. Other studies have produced surprising conclusions, for example, it has been pointed out that no two democracies have ever gone to war against each other. Similarly, Amrita Sen, the Indian Nobel Prize winner, has noted that no functioning democracy, irrespective of its economic state, has ever suffered a large-scale famine or refugee crisis. It must be noted that some very valid theoretical as
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articles well as practical problems have also been identified with democracy but it is yet to be shown that the sum total of all the criticism is even remotely comparable comparable to the list of benefits pointed out above. Until such revelation is made and put on the table for all to see, it will be taken as granted that democracy is the best form of government. Surprisingly, democracy is also good for the national security of a country and research shows that democracies are more likely to win wars than non-democracies. Some of the reasons pointed out for this correlation are a better ability to find and cooperate with partners in the conduct of wars and superior mobilization of resources or selection of wars that the democratic states have a high chance of winning. Stam and Reiter also note in a study that enemy soldiers may more easily surrender to democracies since they can expect comparatively good treatment. Nazi Germany killed almost 2/3 of the captured Soviet soldiers while over 1/3 of the American soldiers captured by North Korea in the Korean War were killed. Taliban routinely kill enemy soldiers in captivity and release the gruesome videos for propaganda purposes. Compare this with the mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Ghuraib prison camp or Guantanamo Bay under the hands of American soldiers and the resulting public outcry throughout the world, most notably within the US and its allies. Democracy Index produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit is considered one of the most
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authoritative measure of democracy. The index classifies 167 countries of the world into four regime types, Full Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid Regimes and Autocracies while assigning a score to each. No Muslim majority country makes the list as a Full Democracy, Indonesia (a score of 6.53), Mali (6.36) and Malaysia (6.19) make the cut as Flawed Democracy at 60th, 63rd and 71th place. Notable inclusions as a Hybrid Regime are Bangladesh (83rd place), Turkey (88th), Pakistan (105th) and Egypt (115th). The list of Authoritarian regimes is a virtual roll call of Muslim
majority countries with dishonourable mentions going to Sudan (153rd place), Syria (157th), Iran (159th), Saudi Arabia (161st), Uzbekistan (164th) and Turkmenistan (165th). As evident from the above, Muslim populations are missing an awful lot because of lack of democracy in Muslim lands. The explanation of why so many Muslim countries are not democratic has more to do with historical, political, cultural, and economic factors than with religious ones. Nevertheless, many Muslim thinkers invoke crude notions of secularism and sovereignty and consider democracy to be the rule of humans as opposed to Islam, which is rule of God. Other scholars of Islam have declared Shura, or consultative decision making, to be a basis of any Islamic system of government. However, this in itself is not enough. It will have to be shown, theoretically as well as practically, that Islamic law is fully compatible with modern concept of human rights. For this matter, Muslims will have to understand that freedom leads to more freedom and the wheel does not turn back, at least in the long term. The established human rights are here to stay and key reforms will be required within Islam specially relating to women’s rights if Muslim societies are to become democratic.
A surprisingly pragmatic but hypocritical model of Islamic Democracy that incorporates the secular nature of Democracy and theocratic nature of Islam into one may be that of Pakistan. According to Pakistani constitution, no law can be inaugurated in contrary to Islam but in practice, this provision is more or less completely ignored. Perhaps the consequences of such intellectual double-speak in the psychological and practical aspects of the nation’s life are not yet fully understood and it is difficult to say if this read it on our website
articles can be taken as a way forward in other Muslim lands. A spectacularly inaccurate perception exists among sections of non-Iranian Muslims, of Iran being a democratic country, perhaps because of the interest shown in mainstream media about Iranian elections. Iran, however, persistently scores a bottom 10 in all major indexes of democracy produced by various international organisations. Sham and meaningless elections are normally ignored by much of the world (how many news sources covered the “elections� under the Husni Mubarik regime or Sadam Hussain?) but a surprising curiosity exists about the results of Iranian elections in the world.
Democracy Index produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit is considered one of the most authoritative measure of democracy. The index classifies 167 countries of the world into four regime types, Fulla Democracies, Flawed Democracies, Hybrid Regimes and Autocracies while assigning a score to each. It is too early to say if the so-called Arab Spring will lead to more democracy in the Middle East or a new set of dictators will simply replace the older ones. The jury may still be out on this but one pleasant surprise has been the upgrading of the status of Tunisia and Egypt to Hybrid regimes from Authoritarian regimes in the Democracy Index. This was the result of largely free and fair elections, which took place in both countries. However, it is yet to be seen how much of real power is transferred to the elected parliaments, especially in Egypt. Another heartening aspect of the Spring has been the strengthening of the civil society and increased activism within the Arab countries.
Muhammed Jawwad
An Economics Graduate and a freelance writer based in Glasgow, UK. He runs a blog at http://cafe-reality.blogspot.co.uk and can be reached at mohammed.jawwad@gmail.com read it on our website
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photo by Lance Cpl Andres J. Lugo
articles
THE ENEMY WITHIN
No other but we are responsible for what we are today. By Humayun Nosherwan
W
ho is responsible for this dismal and depress ingly dark fate of Pakistani nation? In addition, who is to blame for the fear of impending disaster and catastrophic future that now occupies the hearts and minds of people living in this part of the South Asia and in entire Muslim world? WHO is the real enemy of Pakistan? This is a common question posed by a lot many masses these days. Moreover, answers they generally find are trivial and most of the time confusing. This confusion exists for a part because everyone in our society holds a different perspective regarding the answers to these questions. Some argue that these troubles are the outcomes of some universal conspiracy against Islamic world and Pakistan. Thus, people who share this mentality are quick to make conclusions and blame West, Zionists, and Freemasons and lot many other entities or forces for this sorry state of affairs in every corner of national life. Whether this is about political instability, poor governance, military, foreign affairs, economic or financial downturn, fingers are always pointing towards these malefic and rather
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supernatural types of evil forces. Nevertheless, for some people who adhere to more rational thinking and logical judgment this attitude and view of blaming others for our own shortcomings and wrongdoings is “misguided” and meaningless. Somewhat so, this confusion has given way to some raw thinking, maybe directionless, but it’s heartening to see that at last minds here in our country are working for the sake of something worthwhile, to figure a way out of this abyss of ignominy which promise nothing but a dark future haunting the coming generations. In recent days there have been many triggering events, which not so very pleasing for Pakistanis but were indeed thought provoking. Few days back, a youth named Faisal Shehzad, naturalized American of Pakistani origin, who was arrested and accused by FBI of planting a car bomb into New York’s busy Time Square. On the other hand 21 years old young Pakistani Muhammad Ajmal Kasab, who have been handed down death sentence by Mumbai court for his alleged read it on our website
articles alleged involvement in Mumbai carnage two years ago, made headlines in national and international media. This news came as a shock for the entire nation and for those unlucky folks who are living abroad. People residing outside Pakistan were greatly affected, for it made their lives more difficult in foreign lands. Nevertheless, contrary to this, for people living in Pakistan these fateful events provided with the fresh subjects to reflect upon. However, for some it came as an opportunity to vent out their inner hate and spitefulness against United States, India, and other fore mentioned “evil forces” of the infidels. According to a recent survey almost 90% of Pakistanis are convinced that these evil forces in general and United States in particular are a mortal threat to Islamic Ummah to Pakistan’s national security and sovereignty. No wonder that results would be different if same kind of survey is conducted for India. What these surveys really indicates is the awful fact that there is a deepening hate and killing intention taking shape in the mindset of so many young people who are now majority in Pakistan’s population.
Nevertheless, for some people who adhere to more rational thinking and logical judgment this attitude and view of blaming others for our own shortcomings and wrongdoings is “misguided” and meaningless.
One might wonder that unlike any other nation in the world why there is so much reckless hate brewing in the hearts of these young men who yet have to see much in life. There are so many other countries, which in recent history have suffered directly the brunt of American’s imperialist ambitions. To name them like Cuba, Vietnam, Germany and Japan etc. the point to mention Germany and Japan is to draw attention to the gory fact that in Second World War almost 70% of Germany’s population perished due to terror bombings by American and European Allied airstrikes. Japan suffered the wrath of atomic bombs on its densely populated cities like read it on our website
Nagasaki and Hiroshima in which millions died. However, contrary to this, America has no war history with Pakistan neither it had any record of strained relations. Rather it have always been a benefactor to Pakistan and contributed a lot to its economic, financial, military and social welfare since the creation of the country in 1947. Pakistan have received billions of dollars aid since the times of dictator Ayub Khan and in recent years on account of being an ally in War against extremists in Afghanistan and tribal areas. However, there is a very serious issue regarding the perception of Pak-US relations in the minds of citizenry. Even after realizing the immense importance of bilateral and strategic relations of PakUS and the worthiness of the fact that this War against religious extremism and terrorism is in the favour of Pakistan and its people. In addition, keeping good relations with India is the key to the progress of both neighbouring countries and necessary for the economic stability in the whole region. The ruling classes of Pakistan have failed very badly in convincing the masses to this effect. As a result general public perception is negative and untoward regarding US and India. This failure has contributed much to the development of conservative mindset, which has resulted in the grim consequences like that of Faisal Shehzad and Ajmal Kasab. The point here is important and clear, that due to these handfuls of stupid and dogma fed youths the whole nation of Pakistan is suffering and facing the frown of international community. Pakistan is being largely seen as a nation that produces one of the best irresponsible individuals with an abominable destructive mentality and sadly they are the only export by this country. However, question of the discussion remains the same. Who is responsible for all this crap? Who is the real enemy of Pakistan? Keeping in view all the facts the answer is intriguing and heart-rending. The whole responsibility of all this devastation lies on “US”. You got it all wrong! It is not United States, US means. No other but we are responsible for what we are
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today. This is one fact which is irrefutable and worth noting. Moreover, there is no point to deny it, as it is a combined failure of everything and everyone The prime reason for this failure is that We learnt nothing from our history and history of others. The larger majority of Pakistani nation and its leadership exist in the state of denial. We are not a “nation” but a group of people who are working for their self-interests and caring for nothing even the reputation of their so-called beloved country. To make this worse, from last 60 years we have been ruled by some well known and well qualified thieves. Germany, Japan, French British etc. share a bloody history of wars and conflicts but today in 21st century, they have realized the mistakes made by their forbearers and they are no longer repeating them. More than half of the century after the end of WW2, Germany now is the leading economy of European Union and Japanese are studying in the American universities and competing on the global scale in all fields of science and technology. The people living in these countries are enjoying one of the highest standards of life and are respected everywhere. These nations gave their young generation new hopes and new way of thinking and a promising bright future and environment of peace and prosperity. Contrary to the fact, we are still infesting the minds of our young generations with resentment and passion of revenge against phantasmagorical enemies of Islam and Pakistan by teaching those lessons of hatred. Our political and religious leaders mastering in the field of denying vices in our society and focusing attention to how mean and nasty the rest of the world is. The curriculum books portray the images of Gandhi, Nehru, Lord Mountbatten and many more as the incarnation of evil instead mentioning something positive and constructive. Is it really hard for us to stop in our tracks and realize that something is inherently wrong here and need to be fixed before we run into complete destruction? Is it impossible to start afresh with sincere intentions and purpose of peace just like Germany and Japan? If our collective mentality hinders us to do it, then there is no other but it is the real enemy within.
Humayun Nosherwan The
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humayun360@yahoo.com
author is student of Business Administration in IIUI
Myth Busting
photo by AFP
articles
OSAMA’S SPRING
It was a stunt of fantastical proportions when the locals correlated the spring with a mystical justification A surprise indeed, when gushing water oozes out from OBL’s compound in Abbottabad! Wait this is not the real surprise. The actual surprise is the fact that the local residents call this a miracle. A miracle which happens because according to them innocent (yes, you read it right, innocent) people were killed there. Now I wonder which myth do I do bust here. The myth of innocence or the myth of non-sense. Let’s stick to the latter as it is related to an indigineous and unknown phenomenon. The area where the spring oozed is called Orash valley. River Jab once flowed through this valley. Later on the river’s water became limited to a stream, when the water usage increased. The area around the stream is now a major field for agriculture. Rice, maize and wheat crops are regularly grown in this area. The fact here is that due to the river that once flowed here, the land area has turned into a fresh water wetland. Hence the water table in the area rises after spring and monsoon, resulting in sprouting of water through the crevices, throughout the area. It is a common practice for the locals to bore a six to eight feet injection and get continuous water from the water table. When the foundations of new buildings are laid in this area, even in other seasons of the year, contractors have to fill the foundations straight away, after digging, because of the water table, which fills the foundations in no time.
Hence, it was a stunt of fantastical proportions when the locals correlated the spring with a mystical justification. Ever since, I read the story, I have been wondering if the gushing of water had to be a miracle then why in favour of OBL! May be a more “rational” explanation would have been that the water sprouted just to wash the land and clean it off the sins. However, as Einstein has rightly pointed out, “Stupidity has no limits.”
art & culture
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Bilawal Khoso is a young, passionate graphic design professional. He graduated from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology in Media Sciences in 2012. He did a six-month internship in the Marketing Department of the university. He has a passion for graphic designing. Inclined towards Sufism, Bilawal wants to be a journalist, photo journalist to be precise. Bilawal also designed the law programme brochure
ARTIST
for the University of London and BA-BS programme brochure for the University of Wales. He works in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator . While working on posters of “Worldwar 1 and 2”, his life and perspective to visual designs changed dramatically. He realised that each design has a meaning, a purpose & conveys an idea. According to him “No design is useless, even the worst designs have the reason to be the worst.” Bilawal currently works as a freelancer. We are sharing some graphics from his collections “Propaganda Art” and “Disguised”. You can view his work here http://www.behance.net/blwl he tweets at @BilawalKhoso
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NIETZSCHE
by Brijinder Singh
“Let us honour if we can, the vertical man, Though we value none but the horizontal one.” – Auden “Be sorry for the extraordinary man that he had to live in such miserable age that he had to exert himself polemically all the times.”- Goethe Nietzsche went hopelessly insane at the age of forty five in January 1889 and died as such eleven years later on 25th August 1900 in Weimer. Ironically the king Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, on whose birthday Nietzsche was born and christened after him, became mad a few years later and so did Nietzsche’s father. Yet this man, Nietzsche, has inspired the greatest minds of twentieth century more than any other thinkers of recent times. Thomas Mann, Herman Hess, Rilke, Andre Gide, Sartre, Camus, G.B.Shaw, W.B.Yeats,O’Neil, Martin Bubber and Freud have all acknowledged their debts to the inspirational vision of Nietzsche. In Mohammad Iqbal’s poetry one can clearly realize the strong influence of Nietzsche’s philosophy before Iqbal’s lapse into politico-religious whirlpool. Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Rocker, in the Prussian province of Saxony, on 15th October,1844. His father Ludwig Nietzsche was a Lutheran minister. After his father’s death in 1849, his mother lost her other son in 1850,born in 1848. She moved her family to Naumberg and Nietzsche spent the rest of his childhood ”as the only male in a household consisting of his mother, sister, father’s mother and two maiden aunts. In 1861, he wrote an enthusiastic essay on his “favourite poet”, Friedrich Holderlin, of who, majority of his people scarcely even know the name. Holderlin had spent last decades of his life in insanity. But sixty years after Nietzsche wrote his essay, Holderlin was widely recognized as Germany’s greatest poet after Goethe. The teacher gave the remarks on Nietzsche’s essay-“I must offer the author the kind advice to stick to a healthier, clearer and more German poet”. Nietzsche wrote in an apocalyptic moment-“Not only the reason of millennia, their insanity too, breaks out in us. Dangerous it is to be an heir.” He was a professor at the age of twenty-four and taught classical philosophy for ten years, from 1869 to 1879, when he retired because of poor health. Nietzsche’s first book “The Birth of Tragedy” came in 1872. Rarely is a man born who is too honest to be painful even to himself, who is a chimera that eludes and infuriates the uninitiates and yet brings back the pearls of wisdom
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articles from the depths of soul at the risk of being ridiculed and shunned. And all of it was Nietzsche. He wrote;” With thy love, go into thine isolation, my brother, and with thy creating; and later only will justice limp after thee”. Nietzsche was skeptic about systems. He wrote passionately against them. He wrote,” I am not bigoted enough for a system and not even for my system.” What he objects to is the failure to question one’s own assumptions.” A very popular error: having the courage of one’s convictions; rather it is a matter of having the courage for an attack on one’s convictions” This, insight of non-ideological consciousness in western thought, is perhaps unique and more near to the ancient wisdom of east, of which he spoke of rather too harshly, sometimes, for want of his exhaustive excursions into them. He realized that systems were good for man who uses them intelligently, but bad for the philosopher who artificially imprisons his thoughts in one of them.
He envisioned a completely free man, a psychologically healthy over-Man whom he called “Superman”, a man without crutches. “I am a railing alongside the torrent; whoever is able to grasp me may grasp me! Your crutch, however, I am not….” Nietzsche’s prose is lyrical, prophetic and yet sarcastic, even to himself. He was weary of the dull-minded pupils who want to grasp the “truth” with one leap. Lou Salome perhaps came closest to being accepted for the role of pupil. He intentionally created polemic barriers around him so as to discourage the “wagon-jumpers”. “Blow amongst these leaves O Zarathustra that everything may run away from thee the faster” He envisioned a completely free man, a psychologically healthy over-Man whom he called “Superman”, a man without crutches. “I am a railing alongside the torrent; whoever is able to grasp me may grasp me! Your crutch, however, I am not….” It is arduous task to categorize him. He was liberated soul for whom convictions were like prisons. It was the cold and rigid philosophical atmosphere of Europe, which he so abhorred and yet was forced to address himself to. Nietzsche’s meeting, friendship and final parting of ways from Richard Wagner, the great musical composer, were the most important events of his life. They shared passion for Schopenhauer and music. Wagner was like a father substitute to him, he surely missed, having grown up in a fatherless house alone with five women. In Wagner he saw the possibility of complete man. Cossima, Wagner’s wife, turned protestant and what was then fashionable, antiSemite.
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She inspired Wagner to write “Parsifal”-the Christian music drama. Nietzsche, the pagan, was horrified. He never ceased respecting that sincere and “genuine Christianity” which he considered “possible in all ages” but was repelled by its distortions. Wagner, the neo-convert, was gleeful with his Semitic Christian chauvinism, fanatical bigotry and German mania. Nietzsche could not stand all this. He became increasingly aware of the impossibility of serving both Wagner and his call: “Independence of soul- that is at stake here! No0 sacrifice can then be too great: even one’s dearest friend one must be willing to sacrifice for it, though he be most glorious human being……” Nietzsche said what he thought was the need of the time- to force the thinking man to see the creeping demons beneath what we call civilization. But like all prophets, he failed and cultured man not able to grasp his implication, turned against him. The madness of the civilization finally bloomed into full-scale psychotic frenzy in the shape of Third Reich and Hitler. It was all against which Nietzsche had cautioned bluntly time and again. He could foresee the ugly and horrifying climax of the philosophical, political and emotional currents of his times. He cried in his writings like a helpless man who understood but could do nothing to stop the gathering momentum of the historical stupidities and viciousness of men. It is a sad irony that in their hurry to gain credibility, the brown-shirts of Hitler embraced and thus sullied Nietzsche beyond imagination. The Nazi scholars like Oehler, Baumler, and hartle distorted his words and used them out of context to propagate anti-Semitism. Nietzsche never spoke in softer terms about Man’s prejudices. He wrote to his sister, Elisabeth, in hearing about her marriage to Bernhard Forester, a prominent leader of anti- Semitic movement: “One of the greatest stupidities you have committed for yourself and for me. Your association with an anti-Semitic chief expresses foreignness to my whole way of life which fills me ever again with ire or melancholy…….. It is a matter of honour to me to be absolutely clear and unequivocal regarding anti-Semitism, namely opposed…..” In fact it was her sister, Elisabeth Forester Nietzsche, who corroborated in falsifying Nietzsche’s philosophy in her wish to be in the company of fast rising Nazi leadership and many people, for the lack of their own study of Nietzsche, still hold him in contempt. Nietzsche wrote:” He will be mistaken for another and long be considered an ally of powers he abominates.” “ Thus Spake Zarathushtra” was the culmination and integration of all Nietzsche believed in. He spent only about ten days on each of the first three parts. The very rapid composition itself, however, was accomplished in a frenzy of inspiration in which he felt as if was a ‘mere mouthpiece” of the flood, which erupted out of him. Like any mystic vision, it was too illuminating for the foggy-minded culture to look at.
He was like a man who had seen and experienced something extraordinary and wanted to share its joys with the rest of humanity. This was the book that was to inspire the coming generations with its profundity, lyrical prose and deeply disturbing psychological implications. Nietzsche knew of people’s propensity to romanticize the past or to project them futilely into future for a utopian dream. He was acutely aware of its frightening consequences as the history later on experienced bitterly in the shape of “Third Reich” of Hitler, nightmarish utopias of communism or our present day religious fundamentalism. He asked the men to believe inthemselves and to address themselves to the present so as to solve their dilemmas. He wrote: “With mummies, some fall in love; other with phantoms; both alike hostile to all flesh and blood….. Oh! How repugnant are both to my taste! For I love blood.” To understand Nietzsche, the disturbing questions he posed, the convictions he held and lived, the liberating vision he had, one must go through his life and his works rather than have a cursory and hurried acquaintance through articles such as this. Such articles should rather be the starting point to an illuminating journey.
The madness of the civilization finally bloomed into full-scale psychotic frenzy in the shape of Third Reich and Hitler. It was all against which Nietzsche had cautioned bluntly time and again. He could foresee the ugly and horrifying climax of the philosophical, political and emotional currents of his times. Nietzsche’s task must be determined not by looking at his life, devotedly or ironically but by a careful examination of his thoughts. Nietzsche was a prophet of modern times, afraid of being pronounced holy, a man too sceptic to believe in himself and yet knew his genius and was crushed by it. Nietzsche’s words mirror his coming horrors prophetically and poignantly: “With my tears, go into thine isolation, my brother. I love him who seekth to create beyond himself, and thus succumbeth.”
Brijinder Singh Brijinder Singh is an Urdu poet based in New Zealand. He has two books published and is a rationalist, an atheist and foremost, a humanist
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By Hugo-photography on Flickr
taboo
HOW PORNOGRAPHY HARMS CHILDREN
By Fahad Ahmed Siddiqui
While
there are many ways that pornography harms children, I want to assure you that every child who views pornography will not necessarily be affected and, at worst, traumatized in the same way. The effects of pornography are progressive and addictive for many people. Just as every person who takes a drink does not automatically become an alcoholic, every child who is exposed to pornography does not automatically become a sexual deviant or sex addict. However, since pornography has a new door to the home, school, and library through the Internet, it is important for us to look at the many ways that pornography can potentially harm our children.
Exposure to Pornography Threatens to Make Children Victims of Sexual Violence The Internet has proven a useful tool for paedophiles and sexual predators as they distribute child pornography, engage in sexually explicit converstions with children, and seek victims in chat rooms. The more pornography these individuals access, the higher the risk of their acting out what they see, including sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. Pornography’s Relationship to Rape and Sexual read it on our website
violence. According to one study, early exposure ( under fourteen years to pornography is related to greater involvement in deviant sexual practice, particularly rape. Slightly more than one-third of the child molesters and rapists in this study claimed to have at least occasionally been incited to commit an offense by exposure to pornography. Among the child molesters incited, the study reported that 53 percent of them deliberately used the stimuli of pornography as they prepared to offend. The habitual consumption of pornography can result in a diminished satisfaction with mild forms of pornography and a correspondingly strong desire for more deviant and violent material.
Pornography’s Relationship to Child Molestation In a study of convicted child molesters, 77 percent of those who molested boys and 87 percent of those who molested girls admitted to the habitual use of pornography in the commission of their crimes. Besides stimulating the perpetrator, pornography facilitates child molestation in several ways. For example, paedophiles use pornographic photos to
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They also use them to arouse a child or to lower a child’s inhibitions and communicate to the unsuspecting child that a particular sexual activity is okay: “This person is enjoying it; so will you.” Exposure to Pornography Frequently Results in Sexual Illnesses, Unplanned Pregnancies, and Sexual Addiction As more and more children are exposed not only to soft-core pornography, but also to explicit deviant sexual material, they are learning an extremely dangerous message from pornographers: Sex without responsibility is acceptable and desirable. Because pornography encourages sexual expression without responsibility, it endangers children’s health. One of the grimmer consequences of adult-like sexual activity among children has been a steady increase in the extent to which youth are afflicted with venereal disease. In the United States about one in four sexually experienced teenagers acquires a sexually transmitted disease (STD) every year, resulting in three million cases of teenage STDs. Infectious syphilis rates have more than doubled among teenagers since the mid-1980s. More children contract sexually transmitted diseases each year than all the victims of polio did, in its eleven-year epidemic, 1942-1953. Another obvious result of children involved in adult sexual activity is the increased rate of pregnancy among teenagers. Research has shown that “males who are exposed to a great deal of erotica before the age of 14 are more sexually active and engage in more varied sexual behaviours as adults than is true for
experience and exposure. This means that the sexually deviant child may have been molested or simply exposed to sexuality through pornography. In a study of six hundred American males and females of junior high school age and above, researcher Dr. Jennings Bryant found that 91 percent of the males and 82 percent of the females admitted having been exposed to X-rated, hard-core pornography. Over 66 percent of the males and 40 percent of the females reported wanting to try out some of the sexual behaviours they had witnessed. In addition, among high schoolers, 31 percent of the males and 18 percent of the females admitted actually doing some of the things they had seen in the pornography within a few days after exposure.
males not so exposed.” One study reveals that among 932 sex addicts, 90 percent of the men and 77 percent of the women reported that pornography was significant to their addiction.vii Exposure to Pornography May Incite Children to Act Out Sexually against Other Children often imitate what they’ve seen, read, or heard. Studies suggest that exposure to pornography can prompt kids to act out sexually against younger, smaller, and more vulnerable children. Experts in the field of childhood sexual abuse report that any premature sexual activity in children always suggests two possible stimulants:
partly from the disturbing changes in attitude that are facilitated by pornography. Replicated studies have demonstrated that exposure to significant amounts of increasingly graphic forms of pornography has a dramatic effect on how adult consumers view women, sexual abuse, sexual relationships, and sex in general. These studies are virtually unanimous in their conclusions: When male subjects were exposed to as little as six weeks’ worth of standard hard-core pornography, they: developed an increased sexual callousness toward women began to trivialize rape as a criminal offense or no longer considered it a crime
Exposure to Pornography Shapes Attitudes and Values Most of us caring, responsible parents want to instil in our children our own personal values about relationships, sex, intimacy, love, and marriage. Unfortunately, the powerful irresponsible messages of pornography may be educating our children on these very important life issues. Just as thirty-second commercials can influence whether or not we choose one popular soft drink over another, exposure to pornography shapes our attitudes and values and, often, our behaviour. Photographs, videos, magazines, virtual games, and Internet pornography that depict rape and the dehumanization of females in sexual scenes constitute powerful but deforming tools of sex education. The danger to children stems at least
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taboo at all or violent types of pornography (normal sex no longer seemed to do the job) devalued the importance of monogamy and lacked confidence in marriage as either a viable or lasting institution viewed non-monogamous relationships as normal and natural behaviour.
Exposure to Pornography Interferes with a Child’s Development and Identity During certain critical periods of childhood, a child’s brain is being programmed for sexual orientation. During this period, the mind appears to be developing a “hardwire” for what the person will be aroused by or attracted to. Exposure to healthy sexual norms and attitudes during this critical period can result in the child developing a healthy sexual orientation. In contrast, if there is exposure to pornography during this period, sexual deviance may become imprinted on the child’s “hard drive” and become a permanent part of his or her sexual orientation. Psychologist Dr. Victor Cline’s findings suggest that memories of experiences that occurred at times of emotional arousal (which could include sexual arousal) are imprinted on the brain by epinephrine, an adrenal gland hormone, and are difficult to erase. (This may partly explain pornography’s addicting effect.) Viewing pornography can potentially condition some viewers to have recurring sexual fantasies during which they masturbate. Later they may be tempted to act out the fantasies as sexual advances. Sexual identity develops gradually through childhood and adolescence. In fact, children generally do not have a natural sexual capacity until between the ages of ten and twelve. As they grow up, children are especially susceptible to influences affecting their development. Information about sex in most homes and schools comes, presumably, in age-appropriate incremental stages based on what parents, educators, physicians, and social scientists have learned about child development. However, pornography short-circuits and/or distorts the normal personality development process and supplies misinformation read it on our website
taboo about a child’s sexuality, sense of self, and body that leave the child confused, Pornography often introduces children prematurely to sexual sensations that they are developmentally unprepared to contend. This awareness of sexual sensation can be confusing and over stimulating for children. The sexual excitement and eventual release obtained through pornography are mood altering. For example, if a young boy’s early stimulus was pornographic photographs, he can be conditioned to become aroused through photographs. Once this pairing is rewarded a number of times, it is likely to become permanent. The result is that it becomes difficult for the individual to experience sexual satisfaction apart from pornographic images. Most of us find it difficult to talk to our children about sex in general, let alone the harmful effects of pornography, as graphically described in this chapter. We want to protect the innocence and purity of childhood for as long as possible.
Fahad Ahmed Siddiqui
A high court advocate working for SNTP ( h t t p : / / s n t p p . b l o g s p o t . c o m / ) . He can be reached at qaslaw@gmail.com
QUOTE POWER
“WE CAN EASILY FORGIVE A CHILD WHO IS AFRAID OF THE DARK THE REAL TRAGEDY OF LIFE IS WHEN MEN ARE AFRAID OF THE LIGHT” -PLATO
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book review THE RATIONALOPTIMIST
ito r’s Ch been going erratically upwards for 10,000 years oice
and has rapidly accelerated over the last 200 years: calories; vitamins; clean water; machines; privacy; the means to travel faster than we can run, and the ability to communicate over longer distances than we Author: Matt Ridley can shout. Matt Ridley is the author of provocative books on evoYet, bizarrely, however much things improve from lution, genetics and society. His books have sold over the way they were before, people still cling to the 900,000 copies, been translated into thirty languages, belief that the future will be nothing but disastrous. and have won several awards. In this original, optimistic book, Matt Ridley puts forward his surprisingly simple answer to how att Ridley, the author of genome writes humans progress, arguing that we progress when we another book, “The Rational Optimist, How trade and we only really trade productively when we prosperity evolves”. The book was launched in May, trust each other. The Rational Optimist 2010, and is an interesting read. will do for economics what Ge Hoping for the best from mankind, Ridley nome did for genomics and puts the progress of humans will show that the answer to our and the development problems, imagined or real, of the human society is to keep on doing what in a very positive way. we’ve been doing for 10,000 Discussing different years to keep on changing.” stages of development, Ridley hopes for a Matt Ridley has written better and sustainable thought provoking future for the humankind. books on Starting from the evolution, genetics and first tool developed in the society. Translated into human history, he tells his thirty languages, readers that the solutions of his books have every feared calamity are remained best possible. He discusses genetics, sellers. An archeology, linguistics, evolution, interesting read, economy and technology. highly recommended for our dear readers! In the words of the author on his website: BEST PRICE! “Over 10,000 years ago there were available at amazon.com fewer than 10 million people on the Hardcover $17.81 planet. Today there are more than 6 billion, Paperback $10.87 99 per cent of whom are better fed, better Click here to purhase sheltered, better entertained and better protected available in Itunes against disease than their Stone $11.99 age ancestors. The availability of For iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. almost everything a person could want or need has Click here to purchase
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Ed
cover story
R
ationalist society is another debating club of some pseudo intellectuals who think by talking they can bring a revolution, our critics comment. They are not totally wrong as actions speak louder than words and bringing storms in teacups from the comfort of our sofas is hardly the ideal solution for a meaningful change. But the spoken and written word should not be outrightly dismissed as useless. Every change is preceded by the right kind of discourse first. “I have a dream,” harangued Martin Luther King Jr in his soft but determined and emotional voice on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC in front of a charged crowd, “that my
thinkers. Michel Foucault, a prominent French philosopher and writer, views discourse as a means of creating subjective truths by the dominant players of any organisation or society. A ‘discourse’ is not just the spoken word but rather a combination of spoken, written and signed language, which signifies power relationships. Put simply, a ‘discourse’usually has an element of spin on the observed facts. For instance, even a primary school student knows that an earthquake is caused by the movement of tectonic plates. The deaths and miseries of thousands of Pakistanis in 2005 earthquake was an unpleasant fact of nature. But when Maulana Tariq Jamil and his disciple Junaid Jamshed stated in a television
THE POWER OF DISCOURSE-Dr Haider Shah
PD:US four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. .” In the highly segregated and racist US of the 1960s, King’s dream seemed like a farfetched romantic fantasy. King was, however, creating a discourse of change, which finally bore fruit about 50 years later when Americans not only treated all coloured children equally but also elected one of them, Obama, as their president in preference to all white candidates. The importance of ‘discourse’ in structuring power networks has been discussed by many influential read it on our website
programme that the earthquake was a divine retribution for our sins, a fact of nature was skilfully turned into a discourse, as the choice of words had a very well defined motive. Discourse is like a heap of ammunition with massive energy stored inside. The heap in due course of time is ready to explode when right detonating conditions develop. The French Revolution did not happen all of a sudden. In the background, a discourse of change had been generated by romantic writers like Rousseau and rationalists like Voltaire over many years.
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cover story Similarly, the Marxist discourse was created and spread by a large number of writers in Russia to pave the way for the 1917 revolution. All gatekeepers of the old order, therefore, view with great suspicion emergence of any new discourse as it threatens the long established power structures. No wonder they always try to nip the evil in the bud. Their frantic reactions range from verbal denunciation of the new discourse to the physical elimination of those who generate and promote the new discourse of change. In the 17th century, the Biblical paradigm of the cosmos dominated the public discourse in Europe. In this discourse, Earth was the centre of the universe, man was the God’s vicegerent and the Church was the custodian of the word of God. This kind of discourse was thus the source of the Church’s immense sociopolitical power. When Galileo tried to introduce a new scientific discourse, which claimed that earth was not the centre of the universe, he was summarily prosecuted for challenging the old discourse as the new discourse threatened the whole power structure. A century later we see a very fertile period for scientific advancement as many new theories explained mysteries and wonders of nature. Many scientists, e.g. Newton, were quite religious and were closely associated with the Church. However, once again, the Church establishment singled out Darwin for spirited condemnation when he published his Origin of Species thesis in 1859. Again, the reason was the same. Unlike other scientific theories, Darwinian science was generating a new discourse, which
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threatened the socio-political power that heavily rested on the continuation of the old discourse. The religious establishments do not enjoy any monopoly in jealously guarding the prevalent discourse. Many secular organisations and societies also observe strict xenophobic rules. Any dissenter from the official Nazi discourse was either summarily shot or made to swallow a cyanide capsule. The Siberian wilderness was populated by those Soviet dissenters who were lucky enough not to be put down by the secret police henchmen. Democratic governments also try controlling social dis course by
exercising direct or indirect control over the media and opinion makers. Even at an organisational level, all change management consultants emphasise the need for introducing a new discourse for changing the underlying organisational culture. In Pakistan we also have an official discourse. Pakistan military is the custodian of both geographic and ideological frontiers therefore it is beyond any critical scrutiny for all its acts of omissions and commissions. According to this old discourse since the country is always passing through a sensitive period therefore one should not question any level of performance of the security agencies and that the sensitive agencies are too sensitive to afford any level of criticism. With a relatively free media and a more independent and assertive judiciary we see a gradual rise in a new discourse which questions the validity of the officially sponsored old discourse.
The deaths and miseries of thousands of Pakistanis in 2005 earthquake was an unpleasant fact of nature. But when Maulana Tariq Jamil and his disciple Junaid Jamshed stated in a television programme that the earthquake was a divine retribution for our sins, a fact of nature was skilfully turned into a discourse, as the choice of words had a very well defined motive. In addition to intimidating tactics, the defenders of the old discourse also try to deflect attention from the new discourse by raising non-issues. For instance, soon after the Abbottabad operation, Altaf Hussain arranged an unnecessary referendum in Karachi so that the accountability calls after Osama Bin Laden operation become less audible. Then the media was overtaken by the drama of ransom payment to Somali pirates to rehabilitate the Navy and its chief ’s image read it on our website
cover story after the deadly attack of radicals on Mehran Base. Interestingly the parties that were once considered anti-establishment have become prime apologists and defenders of the old discourse while PML (N), once considered close to the establishment, seems to be the only mainstream political party that off and on supports the new discourse.
Not only have foreign countries like
food PAKISTANI CUISINE Here is a small list of foods which were suggested to a friend (Dusty Chaitanya Alter) from India at RSOP discussion group, when he asked about good food in Pakistan; planning to visit. It is published in the magazine on the request of members, so that this valuable
Saudi Arabia and Iran contributed to a
information may remain with us in accessible
discourse of hatred and vengeance but we
Mohammad Jawad
ourselves have also stoked the fire by remaining disinterested in knowing what is being taught and learnt in our schools, colleges and universities. The widespread terrorism in Pakistan has not descended upon us overnight. Placing the whole blame on a handful of misguided radicals also amounts to understating a more serious problem. This ammunition of hatred has been piled up over many decades. Not only have foreign countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran contributed to a discourse of hatred and vengeance but we ourselves have also stoked the fire by remaining disinterested in knowing what is being taught and learnt in our schools, colleges and universities. Despite grim realities no one can deny me my right of having a dream. One day in Pakistan humans will not be hated and killed on the basis of their faith or ethnicity. If King’s dream can come true in the US, why not mine in Pakistan? Adapted from op-ed published in Daily Times, Monday, June 27, 2011
Dr Haider Shah The writer teaches public policy in the UK and is the founding member of Rationalist Society of Pakistan. He can be reached at hashah9@yahoo.com read it on our website
format.
äCharsee tikka in peshawar, roast muragh in nathiya galee
äFish from Attock äBehari kebab from anywhere äMian jee ki daal next to GT road,Gujrat äSattar tikka in Rawalpindi Akif Khan
äTandlianwala, Faislabad ka Man Pasand Halwa.
äAlobukhare ka sharbat by roadsides in Peshawar and Pindi (Health Warning) Sonia Wahab
äSavour food äJehangir Balti, Saddar, Rawalpindi äKamaran Cafe (coffee), Saddar, Rawalpindi äBandoo Khan, Lahore and Karachi äSofto (for orange slush and fried chips). Ammad Aslam Khan
äSufi Chapal kabab in Islamabad äSardaar ki Machli (fish), Lahore. äGol gapey, Anywhere äChaniote ka Pateesaa äSamosaa chaat from refreshment center in Rawalpindi Umar Khan
äChapli kebab of Takht Bhai or Peshawar äBadewanee Pairey(sweets) of Mardan äChaman ice-cream of Mall Road, Lahore äFried fish at Sardaryab, Charsadda (sitting by the river)
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women IGNORANCE AND FALSE HONOUR by Muhammad Ilyas
ccording to a recent news from Faisalabad Honour killings: Man guns down six daughters – The Express Tribune a man gunned down his six daughters “on suspicion that two of them were in relationship with boys in the neighbourhood.” The man killed the two teenage girls (14 and 16 years old) because they developed relationship with boys. This act of the young girls he thought dishonoured him. He also took the lives of the rest of the four of his daughters alongside them because he thought they did not let him know and instead supported the two sisters guilty of this ‘crime’. The question is why did one man, a father to boot, unlawfully, callously, brutally, inhumanly took the lives of six humans in one go? The man ostensibly did this ‘honourable’ act to wash off the black spot of ‘dishonour’ from his name that he thought his hapless daughters had put on it by indulging in the ‘shameless act’. Killing all six of them was, therefore, according to his thinking essential to restore his damaged honour. The incident is a reflection of the state and direction of our society in many ways as this is not a singular act of insanity. This is not a rare exception either. It’s a tragic reality. The incident indicates quite a few alarming trends in our society. First, it shows the level of ignorance, intolerance and falsity in our society. Why else would someone take six young, vulnerable lives on the basis of a mere suspicion? Secondly, it shows unjust, ignorant social pressures on individuals that push people to the level of lunacy and utter madness, compelling them to go to such levels of barbarism in order to restore their ‘honour’. In this sense the father is as much a victim of the brutal social expectations and norms as are the daughters. This, however, does not mean any absolution of the man from his inhuman act. He must be punished according to law.
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Third, the incident indicates the false sense of honour and dishonour prevalent in the society. The murderer in this case not only took the lives of six young women on a mere suspicion, he also boasted about it in the aftermath of the brutal and criminal act and reiterated that he would do so again if he had to. Obviously he does not regret anything. This shows the man’s conviction in his false and ignorant understanding of honour. Fourth, the man did this at his own home in the presence of his wife and at the instigation of his son. That means he was not entirely alone in the act. He had a sense of that ‘social’ support behind him. That makes the act even more alarming. Lastly who knows what role might economic pressures and the responsibility to shoulder the burden of six daughters have played in this tragic to the lives of these young girls? Now some questions: What made a father take the lives of his six young daughters in such a barbaric way? Could it have been prevented? If ‘yes’ how? If ‘no’, ‘why not’? By doing what he did, did the man actually restore his honour, in other words, does he stand more ‘honourable’ now? How could one do better than what he did in the situation that he was in? What does the society and the state need to do to prevent such barbaric acts?
Muhammad Ilyas Khan is an academic, a researcher and writer based in UK. He writes in DAWN and on his blog mikhan7.blogspot.co.uk can be reached at ilyasjans@yahoo.com. read it on our website
Photo By Shubert Ciencia [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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personality Q) What is trade liberalisation and can you briefly explain the global trends over the past 10 years?
Dr Manzoor Ahmed Dr Manzoor Ahmad is a Senior Fellow at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva. A Pakistani national, he has served in various senior positions for his government and in international organizations. He was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2002 to 2008. During that period, he chaired the WTO Council for Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) from 2004-2008 and the Balance of Payments Restrictions Committee during 2003-2004. He also served as the Director, Liaison Office, Food and Agriculture Organization to the United Nations from 2008 to 2010. For the last two years, Dr Ahmad has been working as an independent consultant on international trade and food security issues from Geneva and Islamabad. He is also one of the regular panellists on the WTO dispute settlement system. He acts in various leading capacities in a number of global public policy institutions, think-tanks and as an adviser to the government of Pakistan. He has published several papers in international and local journals on issues relating to international trade and is frequently invited to make presentations at international conferences, academic institutes and other influential forums. Dr Ahmad received his B.Sc (Hons) and M.Sc from the University of Peshawar and his Ph.D from the University of Hull, UK. Dr Ahmad’s appointment as Senior Fellow at ICTSD will commence on 15 May 2012. courtesy http://ictsd.org/about/our-people/dr-manzoor-ahmad/
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Trade liberalization means reduction or removal of import duties or other import-related taxes or other barriers such as import restrictions. In other words, it is the process of opening up a country to imports. For example, recent decision by the Government of Pakistan to allow imports from India is a step towards trade liberalization. On the other hand, when it raised import duties in 2006/07 on a large number of products, which it classified as luxury goods, it restricted trade in those products. Global trend over the last several decades has been to liberalize trade. While developed countries have been liberalizing over the last hundred years, developing countries started doing that over the last 3 or 4 decades. Some examples of liberalization in our region are Korea and Singapore in the 1970’s, China, Turkey, Malaysia, Chile, Mexico in the 80’s and 90’s.
Q) It seems that South Asia, particularly Pakistan and India, have been pretty much immune to this trend. Do you see the current limbo continuing?
I don’t think South Asia has been immune to trade liberalization. India started liberalizing in the early 90’s. Except for some brief interruptions, it has continued on that path. Similarly Pakistan started the process in the early 1990’s through elimination of import licenses and reduction of import duties and removal of various import surcharges. But in case of Pakistan, this was always a short-lived process. During 1997 to 2002, pace of trade liberalization picked speed but since then there has been no effort to continue that process. In fact, in 2006/07, imposing regulatory duties and raising tariffs reversed the process. Currently the Planning Commission is engaged in this process but it is having difficulties in convincing powerful lobbies to give up their comfort zones.
Q) Can you please explain (in non-technical language) the benefits of trade liberalisation especially in the context of Pakistan and and
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personality India? What will we gain or loose in the short, For example, if there were no checks on import of agricultural products, major subsidizers could medium and long term on the whole? Both countries experienced rapid economic growth whenever they liberalized their trade. After the 20002002 intensive trade liberalization phase, Pakistan’s GDP growth in the following five years was over 7 percent. This spurt in growth came to an end when starting in 2006, Pakistan started reversing the liberalization process. Similarly in case of India, GDP growth has been more than 7 percent since it began on its liberalization path. It is slowing down as India has slowed its liberalization. Higher growth rates mean higher employment and lower poverty. When there are fewer restrictions on imports, there is a greater variety and availability of goods. Having to compete with imports improves
ruin the livelihoods of poorer countries to which they could export cheaper products. Even in agriculture those countries which have integrated themselves with international markets have done well compared to those which remained highly protected. For example, in India trade in services was open and during the last few years, trade in goods was liberalized. As a result both these sectors are doing well. On the other hand, agriculture was highly protected. This policy has kept the farmers poor and agriculture much less efficient.
its printing industry would flourish. Students would have cheaper locally produced books. If tariffs were reduced on auto-parts and cars, there would be less smuggling and consumers would be able to buy better products at cheaper prices. There would be several other related benefits such as less pollution, longer durability of vehicles, better safety, etc. If import of medicines were liberalized, poor people would have access to cheaper medicines. Of course, it would mean that a few industrial units would either have to become more efficient or reduce their profit margins to be able to compete. Any adjustment cost is only in the short term. In the long term, everyone is a gainer, as those industrial units that are uncompetitive would move on to produce those goods and services where they are more competitive.
There are several sectors where Pakistan has a comparative advantage. Pakistan has over ten million tons of surplus capacity for cement whereas there is an acute shortage in India. Pakistan has advantage in producing cotton-based fabrics such as “lawn” and denim; and made ups such as bed linen, towels etc. Other products, which Pakistan can export to India, include surgical goods, sports goods, electrical fans, and many other light engineering products. Pakistan can export value-added ethanol rather than exporting its raw material molasses to EU. We are already
Q)Moving on the comparative advantage, can you identify sectors of Pakistani economy that will enjoy a comparative advantage vis-à-vis India? Is it correct to say that a more competitive economic environment and cheaper inputs has technology and brings in more productivity. There may be some adjustment for some industries resulted in most goods and services produced but overall everyone is a winner. For example, if in India to be cheaper compared to Pakistani Pakistan were to reduce tariffs on import of paper, counterparts?
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exporting huge quantities of gypsum which is available abundantly. India has an advantage in producing cheaper industrial machinery and industrial chemicals. Pakistan is already importing textile machinery from Q)Do you think that the benefits are going to be India but most of it comes through Dubai which felt across the board or will particular sections adds costs to our importers. Similarly we can import of the society be better off while other interest cheaper industrial raw materials such as plastic granules, dyes, paper, refined petroleum products groups will be hurt? In general, where trade liberalization has been across and speciality iron and steel products and their raw the board, the benefits were also felt across the board. materials. This would make our industry more competitive. When we allowed import of pharmaceu Perhaps it may not work in some exceptional cases. visit our website:click here
personality Q)With Pakistan being a signatory to the WTO and WCO, what obligations do the agreements put on Pakistan? Do the agreements allow protection to any sector(s) at all or even some sort of a gradual approach towards liberalisation or Q)What sectors will be particularly hit? Does not? trade liberalisation require that the less Being a signatory to WCO only obliges us to competitive sectors are allowed to perish? provide transparency for our customs procedures tical raw materials While some Indian products are comparatively cheap as compared to other countries, they are still relatively expensive because of exchange rate vis-à-vis Pakistan. But there is nothing wrong in getting cheaper products.
The most likely sectors that may not be able to withstand full competition are autos, pharmaceuticals, synthetic textiles and their raw materials such as viscose, pet resin, and paper. However, these sectors are not being exposed to full competition at the start of the liberalization process. On an average, import of autos is subject to over 100
and use the same international trade facilitation instruments such as the Harmonized System for classification of goods or the Kyoto Convention for clearance procedure as other members of WCO do. It does not oblige us to reduce our tariffs or liberalize our trade regime. On the other hand, being a member of WTO does
percent duty and other taxes. Even if imports are allowed, the duty rate is not likely to be reduced immediately. However, if the auto industry were to team up with its counter-parts in India, it would strengthen it. For example, auto kits for Suzuki cars from India are said to be available for 50 percent of price of what they are imported from Japan. If they were used, they would make Suzuki cars cheaper. Similarly if auto parts are imported from India instead of Thailand, they will make our cars cheaper. Already some of our exporters are exporting some auto parts to India. Pakistan can become a part of the supply chain and become a major exporter of auto
oblige Pakistan to meet certain obligations such as allow the same treatment to all WTO members. Thus Pakistan has to allow import of Indian goods as it does for other countries. But for import duties, there is considerable policy space. Pakistan and India do not have to liberalize in terms of their current commitments. Both are entering into bilateral or regional free trade agreements and thus binding themselves to opening up to their trading partners. Thus the obligations they have taken for trade liberalization are not related to their membership of WTO. In fact, most of the liberalization both countries have undertaken has been unilateral or because of bilateral or regional agreements and not because of WTO membership.
If the auto industry were to team up with its counter-parts in India, it would strengthen it. For example, auto kits for Suzuki cars from India are said to be available for 50 percent of price of what they are imported from Japan. If they were used, they would make Suzuki cars cheaper.
parts. Some manufactures of chemicals are concerned about their ability to compete. Soda ash is a good example. It may be true that since our manufacturing units are located in the North and it becomes rather expensive to transport them to Karachi. So they will find it difficult to compete without adequate protection. But instead they can export to northern India and use imported soda ash for our industry located in Karachi. Thus our industry using soda ash in Sind area will get cheaper input and our soda ash industry in the north will have a market in Northern India. visit our website:click here
Q)It seems that most fierce and passionate opposition to trade liberalisation especially with India is based on misplaced notions of patriotism. How much of a problem do you think this is and do you feel that patriotism is used as a smokescreen to protect vested interests? Take the example of the sugar industry that is entirely owned by political class. Do you think that to maintain the price setting powers, the political class fans all sorts of flames, including “patriotism”, to ensure that free trade with India does
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personality not come about?
CAREER OVERVIEW OF DR MANZOOR
So far the sugar industry has not been in the forefront of opposition. Both Pakistan and India have had periods of shortages and surpluses of sugar. Thus they can import or export to each other. Last year Pakistan faced shortages and imported cheaper sugar from India. Patriotism may be exploited by some people who are opposed to free trade but for ordinary consumers, it is quality and price that matters.
Founded World Trade Consultants, a Geneva based advisory firm specialized in International Trade (WTO issues) and Customs. Previously worked as the Director of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Liaison Office at Geneva. Served as Pakistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for 6 years – from 2002 to 2008. Chaired WTO TRIPS Council (special session) from 2004 to 2008 and Balance of Payment Restrictions Committee in 2003 Served on important WTO Dispute Panels One of the permanent expert on WTO Committee on Subsidies. Served as Member (Customs) at the Federal Board of Revenue, Islamabad. Deputy Director, World Customs Organization (1986 to 1996). Delivered many lectures at international forums, and published several papers dealing with international trade and other issues. Specialties Customs, International Trade, Food and Agriculture, Change Management, World Trade Organization, Trade disputes, Government liaison
Pakistan has been deliberating on giving MFN status or normalizing trade with India for the last 15 years. Every government favoured it but somehow found it difficult to do so. Now that Pakistan feels itself isolated from many other countries, it is finding it easier to open up to India. As far as the energy crisis is concerned, opening up trade would facilitate import of energy such as electricity and refined petroleum. It would thus help ease energy crisis to some extent. As far as balance of trade is concerned, it is not normal to have balanced trade with each of Pakistan’s trading partners. Our current trade imbalance is mostly on account of our huge deficit against countries with which we enjoy very friendly relations such as China, Malaysia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. No one would suggest that Pakistan starts reducing trading with these countries because of trade deficit. On the other hand, its major export partners with which it enjoys trade surplus are United States, European Union and Afghanistan. But it cannot rely just on these markets for its exports.
improve. Second, one is not sure when would be the right time. Indeed it is at this time that Pakistan is finding itself isolated that it needs to build bridges wherever it can.
Q)The recent MFN related controversy also saw an argument being floated persistently that “a right decision at a wrong time makes matters worse.” The current abnormal economic, political, energy and law and order situation has placed Pakistan on an unfavourable footing as compared to India. The true state of the economy is skewed and balance temporarily tilting in India’s favour due to the Afghan war The argument that Pakistan should delay opening and the resulting multi-dimensional crisis and hence, the decision should be delayed until of trade till Pakistan is out of various crisis does not normal economic circumstances resume. Does make much sense. First by delaying normalization of trade, the crisis would only worsen rather than the argument carry any weight?
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Q)How important is it that Pakistan-India and Afghanistan should be on the same wavelength for regional trade to flourish? What additional economic dividends can the old silk route / Central Asian trade bring to all the regional countries?
Their trading relations have improved a lot over the last decade. Afghanistan is Pakistan’s third most important export destination. But all three countries can considerably improve their economic well being if they were to show further flexibility. Pakistan does not allow import of Indian goods through land route for Afghanistan. Similarly, Afghanistan does not allow export of Pakistani goods through its territory for Central Asian Republics except on payment of taxes. While other countries are regionally integrating, progress in these neighbours has not been note-worthy. visit our website:click here
Q)How important is it that Pakistan-India and Afghanistan should be on the same wavelength for regional trade to flourish? What additional economic dividends can the old silk route / Central Asian trade bring to all the regional countries? It will take time as it took time for the European nations. Grant of MFN status and exchange of trade delegations is making lot of difference. Hopefully things will move fast to make SAARC into an economic unity.
Q)With all the benefits you have pointed out, do you think that the message is not getting through to the people and policy makers? Does trade liberalisation have a PR problem? After all, who would knowingly want to miss out on all these advantages. How can the message be put across more effectively? The message is finally getting there. There is a PR problem but the government has managed to take most of stakeholders along. Obviously one has to be cautious as previously such efforts were scuttled by unknown forces. It seems that this time there is some real progress but it is still too early to predict if we have moved on from our previous course. I was recently asked by the Ministry of Commerce to visit 10 major Chambers of Commerce and Industry to brief our business of the opportunities and to gauge their feeling about the opening of trade. My interaction with the businesses from all the four provinces and major industrial centres showed that they were keen to avail new opportunities. There was some scepticism but mostly from those who are enjoying special privileges. Opening of trade through LOC in Kashmir has brought prosperity on both sides. I am sure that if things proceed smoothly Pakistan’s growth rate will accelerate and poverty will come down. Also it may bring down our spending on defence and those resources could be devoted towards improving education and health.
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Myth Busting
GRAVITY HILLS
Very learned fellows with scientific backgrounds showed offensive belief in the presence of supernatural forces in the valley, especially as it was located in Saudi Arabia Gravity hills - supernatural forces at work? Gravity hills are the places where due to the surrounding perspective and absence of a reliable reference point, a slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope. Hence, when a ball is rolled or water is dropped or a car is freed of gears, all of them seem to move uphill - against the gravity. Recently and more frequently people on facebook and through emails started sharing the youtube videos of Wadi-i-Jinnat (The valley of Ghosts). Very learned fellows with scientific backgrounds showed offensive belief in the presence of supernatural forces in the valley, especially as it was located in Saudi Arabia (hence increasing the probability of existence of super naturals). Whereas, this happens to be, just an optical illusion, where absence of a reference point in the horizon shows the downhill slope as an uphill ascent. This is similar to the Ames room optical illusion where a trapezoidal room from one perspective seems as a cube. A person standing at the longer distanced corner seems shorter than a person standing at the shorter distanced corner, when viewed from front. This effect was invented by an American ophthalmologist Albert Ames Jr. in 1934. The same effect was used in many Hollywood movies, later on, to show giant creatures standing in front of dwarf humans. In the same room, if a ball is rolled, it appears to defy gravity. There is another Honi Phenomenon, in which things less closely observed seem more distorted than the things more closely observed, in the same Ames’ room. It is this Honi phenomenon at work which distorts our analytical ability and clouds our judgement towards the scientific explanation of events. The Honi phenomenon towards belief in supernatural instead of scientific explanation makes the later more distorted due to less acquaintance and belief in science. There are hundreds of gravity hills present around the globe, a list of which can be seen here. However, the crux of my argument is : Do the Jinns (Ghosts) really need such a simple trick to show people their supernatural ability? Why don’t cars fly in the air, out there? Time to open the minds to reason! P.S: You are welcome to bust a myth or send us the topic. at this address info@rationalistpk.org with “Myth busting” in the subject.
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FABLES SHOULD BE TAUGHT AS FABLES, MYTHS AS MYTHS, AND MIRACLES AS POETIC FANCIES. TO TEACH SUPERSTITIONS AS TRUTH IS A MOST TERRIBLE THING. THE MIND OF A CHILD ACCEPTS THEM, AND ONLY THROUGH GREAT PAIN, PERHAPS EVEN TRAGEDY, CAN THE CHILD BE RELIEVED OF THEM
HYPATIA
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articles
On Mistaken Notions of Freedom, Feminism and Patriarchy by Mobeen Chughtai
The following article was written during the Musharraf era and aims to present a Marxist critique of a particular strand of Bourgeois Feminism i.e. Anarcho-Feminism. Most you will, inevitably, find it geared towards a more socialist audience – and it was/is. The only purpose for sharing the article is to generate debate around the subject of Women’s Emancipation in Pakistan and present ONE view to the situation. It is, admittedly, by no means the only or final one.
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here are many questions that have opened up to us in the course of our revolutionary struggle against the present regime and Musharraf. We have all faced situations and circumstances that have tested each and every one of us – tested our resolve, tested our will, tested the very essence of our ideals and we have prevailed against all of them as a collective. However, as is the way of things – in order for some questions to come forward – others must fall behind. One such question is of women’s empowerment; the question which is at the theoretical core of all collective socialist revolutionary struggles. It is an important question and one which I believe we must revisit. We must return to the great leaders and Marxists to seek guidance since some of us do, on occasion, lose touch with reality. Let us begin with the basics. read it on our website
Who is an Individual? An individual – either man or woman – is a unit of society. The unit exercises a dialectical relationship with the collective both gaining sustenance from it and contributing to it in turn.
What is Society? Society refers to the larger collective of individuals which serves the purpose of increasing the odds of successful survival for the individuals. It comes into being once the social contract (Rousseau) is fulfilled. Unfortunately this is where the simplicity of the matter ends. Society, once it is formed, undergoes various radical transformations. It progresses in leaps and bounds – a process we know to be ‘revolution’. However, with growing numbers and increased progress the divide between individual right and social responsibility also undergoes consequent changes. Marx is of the view that while the evaluation of Individuals, their roles and their rights is important to their liberation however the evaluation of the society, its mechanisms
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– in particular the production mechanisms and property relations – are absolutely fundamental to the successful and eventual freedom of individuals. He says in the 1859 Preface of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, “In the social production of their existence, men inevitably enter into definite relations, which are independent of their will, namely relations of production appropriate to a given stage in the development of their material forces of production. The totality of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness. The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness. At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or – this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms – with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution. The changes in the economic foundation lead sooner or later to the transformation of the whole immense superstructure.” Engels builds upon the Marx’s premise, in his book Anti-Duhring, when he says,
a definite question, the greater is the necessity with which the content of this judgment will be determined; while the uncertainty, founded on ignorance, which seems to make an arbitrary choice among many different and conflicting possible decisions, shows precisely by this that it is not free, that it is controlled by the very object it should itself control. Freedom therefore consists in the control over us and over external nature, a control founded on knowledge of natural necessity; it is therefore necessarily a product of historical development. The first men who separated themselves from the animal kingdom were in all essentials as unfree as the animals themselves, but each step forward in the field of culture was a step towards freedom.” However, we find demands for more ‘absolutist’ and ‘undisciplined” freedom in our society. We find that we require immediate returns on actions and thought; we demand actions based on social and productive practices that do not exist yet but, more importantly, we demand them on individualistic levels rather than working towards them as a collective and FOR the collective. Lenin – in his book “What is to be done?” enlightens us to the consequences of such ‘absolute’ freedom and the many pitfalls associated with the phenomenon. He states the example of ‘freedom of criticism’ and how the embryonic Russian Socialist State was opened up to the most bitter criticism by people who had expectations incongruent with both reality and with how life works. He says,
“Freedom does not consist in any dreamt-of independence from natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends. This holds good in relation both to the laws of external nature and to those which govern the bodily and mental existence of men themselves — two classes of laws which we can separate from each other at most only in thought but not in reality. Freedom of the will therefore means nothing but the capacity to make decisions with knowledge of the subject. Therefore the freer a man’s judgment is in relation to
“Freedom” is a grand word, but under the banner of freedom for industry the most predatory wars were waged, under the banner of freedom of labour, the working people were robbed. The modern use of the term “freedom of criticism” contains the same inherent falsehood. Those who are really convinced that they have made progress in science would not demand freedom for the new views to continue side by side with the old, but the substitution of the new views for the old. The cry heard today, “Long live freedom of criticism” is too strongly reminiscent of the fable of the empty barrel.” read it on our website
articles On the matter of Individual freedom E. Belfort Bax raises an important question. He says, “Has the community or its organ, the Public Authority, the right to coerce the individual in respect of actions which, while admittedly not affecting the community directly (or hardly, perhaps, even indirectly), yet which, in the opinion of the majority, prejudicially affect the individual perpetrating them? Has the community – i.e., the “count-of-heads” majority of a given society – the right forcibly to coerce the individual for his own good, or what such majorities may deem to be his own good? This question, of course, strikes at the root of all individual freedom whatever in a democracy. To admit the affirmation in so many words is to surrender the whole principle of personal liberty.” Bax answers his own question beautifully when he says, “Until the principle of the sacredness of personal liberty in matters directly concerning the person alone, in some such general formula as that propounded by Mill in his essay On Liberty, is recognised, we shall go floundering along without rudder or compass in questions involving the limits of the right of interference on the part of the community and its organs of authority with such personal liberty. And, further, these limits as to the right of interference must be recognised as applying as much to democracy as to any other form of government. The notion that a “count-of-heads” majority of the population has the right, by virtue of its numerical
many of us hope democracy will prepare the way, or, shall we say, into which it itself will ultimately develop. Meanwhile, it behoves us to keep watch and ward, so long as government, in the sense of coercion as opposed to administration, is still necessary, over the limits within which such coercion may justly be exercised.” As we can see the divide between rights of the individual and the state of social responsibility are only – truly – minimized under socialism and wiped away completely in the Communist phase of history. Lenin, in this regard maintained, “As long as the state exists there is no freedom. When there is freedom, there will be no state.” [State and Revolution] Bourgeois revolutions or societies may offer us the concept of the ‘Bourgeois right’ and I am all for it, however, one must understand that the essential inevitability of the suppression of individual right and conscious will is the result not of individual choice alone but of the system. Now that the concept of the place of the individual within society is clearer we must move on to define the women’s question that gives us a perspective of where we stand and how the battle against patriarchy must really be waged. We must turn to Engels and his work in Origins of the Family, private property and the State to understand the fundamental nature of Patriarchy. Engels said, “Thus when monogamous marriage first makes its appearance in history, it is not as the reconciliation of
preponderance, to interfere with the purely personal habits and relations of the individual citizen, is a notion which is au fond logically incompatible with any security for individual liberty at all. It must never be forgotten in this connection that democracy is, after all, as old Friedrich Engels used to point out, only the last and highest form of the coercion of persons involving, it is true, the minimum of coercion – but still, like all government, based on the conception of the coercion of men, and not, like a Socialist Commonwealth, founded on the conception of the administration of things. It is for this later that
man and woman, still less as the highest form of such a reconciliation. Quite the contrary. Monogamous marriage comes on the scene as the subjugation of the one sex by the other; it announces a struggle between the sexes unknown throughout the whole previous prehistoric period. In an old unpublished manuscript, written by Marx and myself in 1846, [The reference here is to the German Ideology, published after Engels’ death – Ed.] I find the words: “The first division of labour is that between man and woman for the propagation of children.” And today I can add: The first class opposition that appears in history coincides
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with the development of the antagonism between man and woman in monogamous marriage, and the first class oppression coincides with that of the female sex by the male. Monogamous marriage was a great historical step forward; nevertheless, together with slavery and private wealth, it opens the period that has lasted until today in which every step forward is also relatively a step backward, in which prosperity and development for some is won through the misery and frustration of others. It is the cellular form of civilized society, in which the nature of the oppositions and contradictions fully active in that society can be already studied.” This is the KEY understanding that separates Marxists from other schools of feminism. Engels clarifies the situation in terms of the modern marriage system as well. He says, “The legal inequality of the two partners, bequeathed to us from earlier social conditions, is not the cause but the effect of the economic oppression of the woman. In the old communistic household, which comprised many couples and their children, the task entrusted to the women of managing the household was as much a public and socially necessary industry as the procuring of food by the men. With the patriarchal family, and still more with the single monogamous family, a change came. Household management lost its public character. It no longer concerned society. It became a private service; the wife became the head servant, excluded from all participation in social production.
open or concealed domestic slavery of the wife, and modern society is a mass composed of these individual families as its molecules.” So as we see that as history progresses the struggle for the emancipation becomes easier AND complicated at the same time; easier because the numerical strength of women in the labour force as well as the quality of the consciousness associated with women, due to their exposure to ‘life’, makes them more powerful. More difficult because Patriarchy passes from its overt and tangible phase into one where women believe they are ‘free’ when in truth the system does not allow for it at all. Examples of such patriarchal practices existing in Bourgeois society are sometimes difficult to identify. One classic example is of the ‘glass ceiling effect’. It is here that the pitfalls of ‘absolute freedom’ must be revisited. It is the belief of some elements in our society that we are free the second we recognize the problems we are faced with. It is their understanding that since we recognize the problem and we understand the mechanism governing such practices as ‘patriarchy’ – we are automatically over and above them. This is incorrect. Clearly, as Engels says, it is not through our knowledge OF the laws ONLY that we rise above them. It is through the sustained action of the collective in order to shatter the status quo, in order to change the productive relations that dictate social relations that we can make a qualitative and substantive change in our lives and the lives of others PERMANANTLY.
Not until the coming of modern large-scale industry was the road to social production opened to her again – and then only to the proletarian wife. But it was opened in such a manner that, if she carries out her duties in the private service of her family, she remains excluded from public production and unable to earn; and if she wants to take part in public production and earn independently, she cannot carry out family duties. And the wife’s position in the factory is the position of women in all branches of business, right up to medicine and the law. The modern individual family is founded on the
However, some of us believe that individualist actions to change individual lives in individual cases will, somehow, lead us to socialism. Anton Pannekoek, in his article Individual Acts, says, “Separated from mass action, the act of an individual who thinks he can accomplish great things on his own is useless. But as part of a mass movement, it’s of the greatest importance. The class in struggle isn’t a regiment of identical puppets marching in step and accomplishing great things through the blind force of its own movement. It is on the contrary a mass of multiple personalities, pushed forward by the same read it on our website
articles will, supporting itself, exhorting itself, giving itself courage. The irresistible strength of such a movement is based on many different strengths all converging towards the same goal”. What then should we consider to be the fate of Patriarchal notions held by some feminists, themselves? Have they disappeared entirely? Can they disappear entirely? They cannot. For that we must return to the very essence of Patriarchy again. It is the result of particular social relations as necessitated by the productive method and hence productive relations employed at the time. Are we living in a society which has changed in terms of its adherence to private-property relations or have class-antagonisms been solved in favour of the largest majority i.e. the Proletariat? No. How then can Patriarchy be expected to be eliminated from within society entirely? It is an absurd and unfair expectation. This is, again, supported by Engels when he said (and I quoted above) “Freedom does not consist in any dreamt-of independence from natural laws, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends.” Indeed the mere knowledge of natural laws does not lead to freedom. It is the possibilities of systemically reaching definite ends through that knowledge that
such elements in conducting a collective action – or that the priority of the collective plan is perhaps misunderstood. It is for this reason that this point of view departs from Marxism and aligns itself, in deeds if not in words, with NGO-istic and Individualistic feminism. It becomes a force of Right Wing conservatism rather than of Leftist progression. It is for this reason that this approach must be opposed – that we must understand the difference between the correct and the incorrect approach and cleanse ourselves of such individualistic and degenerative tendencies. I’ll let Lenin conclude for me, “The thesis must clearly point out that real freedom for women is possible only through communism. The inseparable connection between the social and human position of the woman, and private property in the means of production, must be strongly brought out. That will draw a clear and ineradicable line of distinction between our policy and feminism. And it will also supply the basis for regarding the woman question as a part of the social question, of the workers’ problem, and so bind it firmly to the proletarian class struggle and the revolution. The communist women’s movement must itself be a mass movement, a part of the general mass movement. Not only of the proletariat, but of all the exploited and oppressed, all the victims of capitalism or any other mastery. In that lies its significance for the class struggles of the proletariat and for its historical creation communist society. We can rightly be proud of the fact that in the Party, in the Communist
leads to freedom. To elaborate, knowing about Patriarchy does not END patriarchy in an individual. It is through that knowledge that a sustained effort involving the same rules of any struggle i.e. attack and retreat – that leads to eventual and permanent end to Patriarchy. The line held by some feminists, unfortunately, is in utter and absolute contradiction to this. Some are of the opinion that pushing for the salvation of women in individual cases is perhaps the highest attainable goal in life. This leads me to believe that perhaps there is no plan of action or serious effort on the part of
International, we have the flower of revolutionary woman kind. But that is not enough. We must win over to our side the millions of working women in the towns and villages. Win them for our struggles and in particular for the communist transformation of society. There can be no real mass movement without women.
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Mobeen Chughtai
The author is a social sector professional and member of administration and editorial board of RSOP and can be reached at rsoietypk@gmail.com
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movies
The Devil Inside
Ed
ito r’s R
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exorcism one of the demons enters the priest’s body, eventually causing his death. After his death, the same demon possesses the girl. When the other priest and her friend take her, from hospital to the big priest, the demon makes the vehicle hit into a truck, killing them all. The most disturbing aspect is the potrayal of the movie as a documentary. The shuddering camera effects were added to pose it as a filming of real events. However, when the public found out later that it was only camera work and not a real documentation of events , they lost interest in the movie. Consequently, there was a rapid drop in the number of people watching the movie. Public’s hope in finding something really “paranormal” on the big screen is perhaps the most irrational attitude in the society. In this age of science and technology, where there are rational explanations of dual personality disorders and psychology has advanced, people still believe in unseen phenomenon of the uplifting of a body into air. The failure of this movie provides a good discourse on what is not present and what is really present. Good material for beginner rationals who wish to
Director: William Brent Bell Writers: William Brent Bell, Matthew Peterman Stars: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1560985/ ince the advent of 21st century, the world seems to be moving away from superstitions and heading more towards rationality. However, there are still conscious efforts being made to divert people from rational thinking. “The devil inside”, is a similar futile attempt in this regard. Released by Paramount Pictures this January, the story revolves around the life of a girl who investigates the condition of her mother who is being held in a psychiatric institute in Italy. Tracing back her childhood memories, one finds out that her mother committed three murders of her family members, while possesed by a demon. The girl investigates the reality of exorcism and after she is convinced, hires two exorcists to free her mother. The mother happens to be possessed by multiple demons and during the analyse the backdrop of such myths.
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articles
THE NATURE OF TIME
By Wolfgang Glock (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)],
by Faisal Irshad
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Since the beginning of human civilization,
people have devised different methods for keeping track of time in order to bring discipline and order to their lives. From the sun- dials and water clocks to the modern atomic clocks, our time keeping systems become exceedingly more complex and accurate. This sophistication for time keeping devices betrays the importance of time in our daily lives; e.g. the time seems to be the most important thing in the world when one reaches the office and finds the boss already arrived! However, what is Time? There is no proper answer to this question as the late Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, once said: “What is time? We physicists work with it every day but do not ask me what it is. It’s just too difficult to think about”. Although the philosophers have been thinking about the nature of time for thousands of years, the first scientific and mathematical model of time was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in his published work Principia Mathematica, in 1687. This model treated time and space as separate entities which provided a background against which events took place; but this background was not affected by those events. Time was absolute. It flowed equally for everyone and was also measured equally everywhere across the universe. This picture of an absolute time reigned supreme for more than the next two hundred years until Einstein in 1915 put forward the General Theory of Relativity, which demolished the individuality of time and space and unified them into a single entity called the Space-Time. The universe we inhabit is four-dimensional; three are the most familiar dimensions of space namely, length, breadth and depth but the fourth dimension is time itself that is perpendicular to the three space dimensions. However, is it not strange that while we can “feel” the space (and it feels quite “material”), time is so hard to comprehend? In the usual three dimensions of space we can freely move from right to left, forward to backward and up and down. Nevertheless, time is mysterious, because
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there is only one direction for us or the universe to move in time and, that is from past to the future and never the reverse. This is called the arrow of time, which is flying relentlessly from some definite past and into uncertain future. This direction of time can be understood in the light of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which asserts that all systems move from order to disorder, and disorder always increases for an isolated or closed system. This disorder is denoted by a quantity called Entropy. Imagine a system of a glass filled with water and an ink drop added to it. At the start, all ink will be located at a single point and we say that all the molecules of ink are “ordered� and system is in a state of order. However, after a short time, the ink starts dissolving into the water and all the ink molecules are now scattered across the water equally in all directions. The system is now in a state of greater entropy or disorder. Now let us suppose we make a film of this whole process and afterwards replay it. Everything is as expected. Now if we run the film backwards, something incredible happens. All the ink starts congealing at the end at a single place in the glass. We can easily understand that the film is being run backwards because it is highly improbable for all the ink molecules to start gathering at a single place. The reason is that there are so many states for this system of water, glass and ink in which the ink is equally distributed across the water but there is only one state in which all the ink molecules are at a single location. This is the reason why scrambled eggs never unscramble themselves. Therefore, when the film was run backwards the state of the system was moving from a disordered state to an ordered one and its entropy was decreasing, which is forbidden by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This decreasing entropy with time helps us easily identify that the film is being run backwards or from future to the past. Since we know that the entropy can only increase in time for an isolated system (a system protected from any external influences which in this experiment could have been some action of the experimenter which
might bias the ink molecules to move in a particular direction) so the time can only move from the past to future. We have performed this experiment on the macroscopic level of our ordinary experience and have determined the direction of the arrow of time. Let us now perform this experiment on the atomic and molecular level and see what it has to say about time and entropy. Imagine looking through a very powerful microscope at the atoms and molecules in a gas. What our view is showing us is a random motion of the molecules equally in all directions. As before, we are recording this experiment as well. When we replay the recording and then run it in the reverse direction then it is still the random motion of the gas molecules equally scattered in all directions and we cannot distinguish between the film being run forwards or backwards. On the other hand, we cannot determine the direction of the arrow of time! If we now zoom-out to a larger view of the gas so that we cannot see the individual molecules and atoms but instead see different wisps of the gas particles, we find out that the gas was actually coming out of the chimney of a factory. Now if this portion of the recording is run backwards, we can easily identify whether the film is being run forwards or backwards and hence determine the direction of the arrow of time. The reason is that the gas particles were in a disordered state outside the chimney as compared to their positions inside. Since, the disorder only increases with time and in this recording the gas is entering into the chimney from a disordered state to an ordered one therefore, the film is being run backwards. What these two experiments may be telling us is that the distinction between the past and the future is a mere illusion at the microscopic scale. At this level there is no arrow of time. What we at the macroscopic level perceive as the arrow of time is nothing but an abstraction created by our own minds. Time is an illusion and a very helpful one for us macroscopic beings because it is impossible to picture a world without time.
Faisal Irshad
is a science enthusiast with particular interest in Quantum Mechanics, Evolutionary Theory and Einstein’s Theories of Relativity. He has graduated as Software Engineer and currently works as MIS and Analytics Manager in a bank. read it on our website
articles
Let Me Dance The Sufi Way by Wasio Abbasi
Background Image By thephotostrand [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]
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stepped up to the open space, gazing at the sky filled slowly as Rumi words flew like a boat gliding over with clouds. It was noon, yet it seemed late even- the silvery surface of a calm river. Energy welled up ing. The cool air ruffled my clothes and attempted to to strengthen my body as it began to flow like water, dislodge my cap. It should have known the Sufis do like the Dervish of the old who would move to the not break off that easily. They adapt to the change, like sound of nature and love, of peace and tranquillity, water that fills up the cup or take the shape of palm in of heart and soul for Islam. And like the Whirling your hand. Sufism is the flow of Allah’s beauty through Dervish of the old I tilted my head to right with my your mind and soul, the appreciation of His creation eyes closed, my right hand raised at sky and left and feel of His divine blessings throughout your facing the Earth and began the chant of life, circling, existence right to the core. whirling, flowing like water caught in the whirlwind. The cool air ruffled my clothes again. Maybe it was I flowed in all forms and none, I embraced life and telling me about its existence, that air is also Allah’s death and gathered love and despair, I was the earth creation and not a distraction. I let it pass from my and the sky, I was the bird and the ant, , the leaf and conscious mind and felt the flow. It was moving in a the larvae. I was a thing of living and thing that never pattern, a pattern of serenity, of flowing beauty and took breath. I was solid as rock and soft as flower. I grace, of power and tranquillity, of love and insanity. was the essence of this world and bathing in the The air had stories, long forgotten and badly blessing of my Lord Almighty. remembered, biased and accurate, peace and war, However, the wind was not done with me. It was love and hate. I took it all and felt the ages and their whispered and circled around my focus. It lied and stories, the rise of empires and their crumble to dust, uttered truth. It blew from Sahara and blew from the might of sword and the boom of canon, whisper of Antarctica. It was the tornado and the poisonous seductive lie and sound of bitter truth. fume. It continued to blow and swirled around me, I took it all and let it flow, and in the confusion of ages countering the way I moved until it said what my and the stories … I heard him. conscious could not pass and I collapsed in a heap. It was Rumi, recitation of poetry that has survived I heard the cries and wails of the devastated. I heard centuries and still lives in the hearts of millions world the anguish of the educated and misery of the illiterate. over. The air vibrated, swirling around my focus on I felt the bleeding of the onlooker and bewilderment Rumi, trying to gauge me to listen more to its stories. of concerned ones. I felt the hunger of the greedy and I ignore it and keep on listening to Rumi and the patience of hungry. I experienced the luxury of rich tranquillity his words bring. Then the rhythm began, and discomfort of poor. I felt disinterest of powerful read it on our website
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and hope in weak and I could not bear it anymore. I asked the wind to tell me whose story it whispered. It blew around me in mocking; playing for it finally got my attention. I pleaded begged and wiped tears that flowed down my face. I asked the wind to tell the story it whispered for it was too new, its greed tainting, its anguish cutting, its hope burning, its despair slicing, its hate scorching and its pity insulting. It was too new to be a story of the old, too entangled to be of simple mortals, too narrow to be of progressive, too wide to be of zealots. It was tiny as pin and wide as a mountain. It was a story of sweetness of the greatest scent and bitterness of the foulest medicine. It was of valour and heroics, of cowardice and backstabbing. It had believers of Islam and liars with the hands on Quran. It had fathers seeing their daughters leave with husbands after marriage and it had brothers pimping to their sisters away without an ounce of shame. It was a story of construction and destruction, of falling sky and cracking earth and it was all searing my soul away. I asked the wind where the story happened. It blew silently around me. It did not say anything for a long time. I kept on waiting; it kept on blowing. Finally, it whispered… I tell the story of love and despair, of hope and anguish, of rose and thorn, of life and death, valour and cowardice not of forgotten times but present. I tell of thieves becoming lords and lords vanishing in abyss. I tell of nameless enemies and unknown friends. I tell of legends and myths, of right and wrong, justice
followers of Islam kill each other without an ounce of remorse. You dance like flowing water when devastation of water submerged half the nation. You dance for power when Lords of the land ignored the plight of the weak, left them like vulture feed and buried their women alive like the Pagan customs before Islam.
and injustice … I tell you of Pakistan. You cannot dance Sufi; you cannot dance. You dance for the joy of your Lord when Sufi shrines in Pakistan are destroyed by nameless enemies. You dance for love when woman is rendered as a commodity than a human being. You dance for the sky when fire falls from it to kill Muslims daily. You dance for freedom when countless mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters cry, wait and plead with lords of the land asking about the whereabouts of their loved ones. You dance for your Lord Almighty when
wait. They have strength of Quran in the soul yet lies and deceit guide their lives. They have Iqbal’s guidance but rolls off to opposite path. They have words of Jinnah they heed of utters of foreign lords. They have role model of Prophet Mohammed yet they bow down to thieves. They are beggars waiting for pity and pittance.Theyhavetoriseandbewhattheyaremeanttobe. Until then, you cannot dance Sufi. You cannot dance.
You cannot dance Sufi, you cannot dance. You dance for the joy of your Lord when Sufi shrines in Pakistan are destroyed by nameless enemies. You cannot dance Sufi, for while you dance the destruction continues and it will soon devour the whole humanity of the nation. For while there is hope, there is possibility of light in the darkest corner. Then what should I do if not dance. How can I bear this anguish you whispered me? How can remove these poisonous clouds off my brethren? You cannot do anything except pray, whispered the wind. They are beggars, made this way through decades. Let them find the strength in their feet, the iron in their will, the rod in their spine, the height in their spirits, the truth in their hearts and destiny in their hands. Let them find their way of which they went astray. They have the strength of Maula Ali in their arms yet they feel not. They have the knowledge of Abbasi caliphate but they are clueless. They have poetry of Rumi in the hearts yet they find darkness in
Wasio Abbasi is a Business Graduate and currently pursuing MBA in Marketing, hoping to be an academic and a scholar in future. Wasio is a Sufi at heart, member of Students of Pakistan and a winner of Brit-Idol and Commonwealth essay competitions. He blogs at wasioabbasi.wordpress.com and Express Tribune. read it on our website
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resent cohort of Pakistanis are well acquainted with the locution ‘drawing room politics’ since they started watching ‘9 bajay wala khabarnama’ (9’0 Clock news) on the national television and the locution prevails till date on some 60 odd news channels, 24/7. The phrase in fact has translated itself in various spheres of life, like drawing room jihadist (ZH’s recent psychotic episodes ensue in his drawing room) and a rather more recent phenomenon which I would fancy calling the birth of drawing room liberals (though the term hasn’t been coined by me). My area of concern in this piece would be these drawing room liberals (pretty decent accounts on ZH and his masquerades have been streamlined in the recent past so I feel no urge to discuss that ‘drawing room culture’).
REACTIONARY DRAWING ROOM LIBERALS
by Muneeb Tahir
This contemporary phenomenon has given birth to a breed of reactionary liberals who more or less depict greater predictability in giving the same reactions in their responses to analogous impetuses. Banking on this conjecture, that this recently emerging class of liberals is predominantly homogenous in its opinions, I would like to put forth my narrative on: The birth of reactionary drawing room liberals. Drawing room culture of Pakistani liberals could be traced back to the turbulent era of Pakistani politics in the 1950s. Present breed of Pakistani drawing room liberals is however a by-product of the ‘social networking’ era. In a country where voicing dissent of the popular pro-establishment narrative (openly) could have serious repercussions for an individual, using social networking sites to do so seemed like an ingenious idea. By espousing this idea embattled liberal sections of Pakistani society could voice dissent and at the same time engage Pakistani hoi polloi in a rational discourse. The fact that this medium also obscured (to some extent) the real identities of individuals in a growingly conservative, intransigent and intolerant society invigorated the ranks of Pakistani liberals. The
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articles promise that they could reach out to a greater audience of people and put forth their narrative without the fear of persecution soon started enticing Pakistani liberals to use various social networking sites for streamlining their side of the story. As anticipated by a few, they experienced staunch resistance from the radicals and conservatives. High pitched ‘cyber battles’ came in a surprise package for those who didn’t brace themselves for a backlash. Thus, making the swooping ‘conquest’ of ‘cyberspace’ a dream yet unfulfilled for Pakistani liberals. After been at the receiving end from the Chauvinists and conservatives, reactionary drawing room liberals started emerging in the ranks of liberals.
room liberals). The Pakistani populace which was already). The Pakistani populace which was already exceedingly suspicious of liberal segments of the society is now even charier of the activities of liberals. One can’t help noticing the status updates and tweets of fellow friends condemning liberals in the harshest imaginable manner. These RDRLs have provided zilch but a low cost punching pad in the form of Pakistani liberals to a growingly paranoid society, which is mostly in search of reasons to lay blame on liberals for the Pakistan’s predicaments! RDRLs have also provided fresh stock to our local vigilantes for keeping in their arsenals of conspiracy theories. Unfortunately these theories could be Drawing room culture of Pakistani substantiated, unlike their other deluding stories. liberals could be traced back to the These RDRLs not only bash Pakistan but also turbulent era of Pakistani politics in condemn its existence. Apparently being unable to get the 1950s. over with the decision of history! Present breed of Pakistani drawing Our local vigilantes only have to rant against liberals room liberals is however a by-product and the rest could be substantiated by the exploits of of the ‘social networking’ era. these RDRL’s online. A common Pakistani generalizes These reactionaries eventually went rogue and gave it for all liberal segments of the society! up the potent tools of reason and logic. Perhaps the Sitting in their comfort zones these people are doing amassed exasperation had the better of them. In place no service to their cause (if any) or the nation (which of reason and logic came derision, blatant contempt, they bash for no good reasons most of the time), but unwarranted scepticism, self-righteousness, never are in fact sabotaging the efforts of liberals who are ending pessimism and unnecessary censure. still committed to bring reform to this society. They In short to counter the rhetoric splashed by the have enclosed themselves into shells and are not ultra-rightists liberals also reciprocated in their tenor. ready to engage the common man at any level. Their One must try to understand that two wrongs don’t specialty lies in criticism and that too not
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make a right! New trends started developing in this class with the passage of time, fuelled by extreme cynicism. One of these trends was showcasing one’s own self more Liberal than others (which is a never ending competition because these people have no bounds) by reproving Pakistan and the religion of country’s majority to untenable ends. This trend seems to be thriving nowadays and is a direct corollary to reactionary approach of these muddled drawing room liberals. There have been grim repercussions of such misadventures of these RDRLs (Reactionary drawing
constructive.
A word of advice for RLDLs, find yourselves a new ‘hobby’ and let the liberals who are committed to their cause, add sanity to this society! Muneeb Tahir The author of this article is a student of Textile engineering majoring in Fabric manufacturing and is based in Lahore. Muneeb can be reached at mnb_tahir@yahoo.com. read it on our website
humor OVER RATED? The Most Definitive and Authoritative List Ever
Ejaz Haider has done a serious damage(link) to my ambitions. I admit that I secretly hid the desire to rid the world of all the evils through blogging. I would invent strange problems first and then propose even stranger solutions to those strange problems. Since the desire has been exposed, the confidence is simply not there anymore. The liberal-secular-democratic community of Pakistan has just lost a wanna-be-philosopher-thinker as a result and I am reduced to pointing out some real and straight forward evils that infests the world instead. So in a moment of deep self-introspection, I thought that a good start will be to expose some over-rated as well as under-rated people/things as the world would definitely be a better place if we all listened to our inner opinions that we so blatantly keep to ourselves.So first, here is a list of some highly over-rated people/things I found when I listened to the inside of me Muhammad Jawwad
1. Iqbal
IQBAL I am lost for words here! In my opinion, one of the MOST over-rated persons ever. Was he the best poet of his era? Was he the greatest philosopher alive at the time? Was he the most influential thinker? The best motivator? An outstanding leader? Brilliant olitician? I just don’t know what his claim-to-fame is and I think no one can provide answers here without indulging in gross exaggeration.
2.Shane Warne & VVS Laxman
Shane Warne & V V S Laxman The first guy made his reputation bowling to God’s gift to spinners, the English batsmen, most of his career but was very ordinary against the Indians, the best players of spin. The second guy is counted a “legend” for scoring 17 centuries in 134 tests at an average of 45? My grannie in her heydays could do better than that!
3.General Hameed Gul
It will hurt him more if I don’t write anything about his evils.
4.ISI for vehicles that stop at a check post (this is a meta phor), it does a bloody good job. For those who refuse to stop or are not bothered at all, it is as toothless as Punjab Police. Why does it not go after the drug traffickers/smugglers/Americans? Because they do not stop at a check post!
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humor 5.Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman has been described as a “Department of Political Science� and is credited to understand the subtle variations in pace of Pakistani politics better than anyone else! My Sweet Lord, I disagree! In this land of crooks, every crook is just as crafty as the sum of all other crooks combined and the Maulana is nothing overly special. 6.Syed Munawar Hassan
for having more poison in him than he is normally given credit of. I predict Jamaat-e-Islami will be as directionless as a headless cockroach after he is done with it. He also makes Qazi Hussain Ahmad look decent, giant, sober, likeable and intellectually accomplished!
7.Hamza Shahbaz
ummm, well, he is the leader of the youth as per Atta- ul-Haq Qasmi!
8.Junaid Saleem
(from Hasb-e-Haal) - This man is the most over-paid person/thing/object in Pakistan taking his abilities into account. Any wage above the minimum wage rate of Rs 7000 per month to him is morally incorrect and economically unwise. Click here and here to see what I mean.
9.Ali Moeen Nawazish
Why would someone want to do A-Levels in their dozens? In a saner society, the state would have intervened to make sure that such act of teenage stupidity is not committed. The result has been an over-confident young man with lots and lots of A-Level knowledge eager to vent his opinions into the nerves of the nation at every opportunity. If there is a monument to the state of national confusion, this is it.
10.Syed Talat Hussain
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The digital-age version of Arshaad Ahmed Haqqani. Only anchor bold enough to brazenly appear on camera for the full 35 minutes without any guests. Khud kooza-o khud koozagar-o khud gil-e-kooza. I am sure Arshad Haqqani (remember him? Read this to see how seriously he took himself) would have done that too were he alive today.
Special Message From Salman Hameed
A Rational Umbrella for the Rational Society of Pakistan Salman Hameed is an astronomer and Assistant Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He teaches “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, and “Science in the Islamic World”, both at Hampshire College. Salman and Laura Sizer are also responsible for the ongoing Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion. He also writes on the blog “Irtiqa”. His blog tracks and comments on news relevant to the interplay of science & religion - including scientific debates taking place in the Muslim world.
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It would be an understatement to say that Pakistan is currently going through one of its toughest moments in her young history. There is a war on the border and a political turmoil within. Dangers, both real and imaginary, threaten the country, and the chasm between social classes is as wide as it has ever been. But, like always, there are positive efforts that provide flickering lights in a tunnel. I am familiar with the efforts of amateur astronomers in both Lahore and in Karachi. The last few years – the years of turmoil – have seen Pakistan’s nascent amateur astronomical gain international recognition. Similarly, not only is Pakistan producing an outstanding crop of writers, but it is also hosting promising forums for broader explorations, such as the Karachi Literary Festival. In that milieu, comes the news of the formation of the Rational Society of Pakistan (RSOP). I was provided an opportunity to write an article for its e-magazine, and I am delighted to contribute. Being trained as a scientist (astronomer), I am already biased towards the promotion of rationality – at least science-based rationality for matters addressing science & technology. But at the same time, I am curious to see the impact of such an endeavor in Pakistan, and abroad. So I began to wonder about places of potential promise and perils. Pakistan is a developing country, where high levels of poverty rub shoulders with a technological savvy middle class. Modern hospitals, airports, universities intersect with an overall literacy rate hovering around 50%, in a population of 175 million (please note that this rate varies tremendously between urban and rural populations). The impact of science and technology, however, is broad. Satellite dishes and cell phones are common in even some of the most remote areas of Pakistan. But science plays as a role in wide-ranging policies ranging from agricultural innovation and water distribution to vaccinations and urban development. It is, therefore, a no-brainer to argue for the promotion of a higher fraction of a scientifically literate society. If science impacts our lives, we have to understand science to formulate a judicious policy. For that, rational thinking is a must. The challenge, however, arises when alternative approaches are presented, which may not necessarily adhere to science-based rationality. Some are harm less. Receiving advice from a prognosticating parrot may be a bad financial decision, but it is overall considered entertainment. However, blaming
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behavior of individuals for earth quakes is not only irrational, but it also prevents us from a reducing future damage by taking into account the theory of plate tectonics when constructing buildings and houses. Similarly, some may argue for a pseudo-religious (or a religious) explanation for epilepsy or sleep paralysis. A framework of physiological causality, however, can allow one to treat the symptoms. The place for RSOP on matters like these can be clear and with relatively little controversy. The biggest challenge, however, comes when the alternative approach involves mainstream elements of a mainstream religion. In Pakistan’s case, the religion is, of course, Islam. Now, there does not have to be any contradiction between rationality and religion. After all, medieval Muslim scholars thought a lot about the role of reason in the society, and many considered that to be an inherent part of Islam. But there are also potential flashpoints of sciencereligion controversy in contemporary Pakistan. These range from the claims of scientific miracles in the Quran and the efficacy of prayer for drought (and then to prevent flooding) to the rejection of biological evolution, in particular, the origins of human beings. What kind of attitude will RSOP bring to these challenges? While the points of peril are obvious, there is also much promise. The key would be to walk a fine line between skepticism, reason, and religion. Islam is an integral part of the culture of Pakistan (for Muslims and non-Muslims), and an appreciation of its role in the society, I think, is rational. At the same time, it is imperative to recognize that there exist a variety of Muslim viewpoints across Pakistan. Many – perhaps most – would disagree with fundamental RSOP positions, but there are many others who see reason and rationality as an inherent part of their lives. These Pakistanis range from pious doctors and engineers , to deists and cultural Muslims The promise lies in the ability of RSOP to provide a fruitful forum for these diverse gro ups under the broad umbrella of rationality. None of the prior efforts on this matter have been particularly successful in Pakistan. However, I have high hopes for RSOP. The challenge is there for the taking. Good luck!
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FROM THE FRONT COVER
DR. EQBAL AHMAD (1933 - 1999)
is one of the rare breed of intellectuals and rationalists to emerge from the Subcontinent that are widely recognised outside their native lands too. Relatively unknown in his home country Pakistan, Eqbal Ahmed is widely admired through out the world amongst the intelligentsia for his political activism as well as for his academic output. Born in Bihar, India he migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and was raised here. After completing his degree in economics from FC College in 1951, he got enrolled in Occidental College in California majoring American History, in 1957. Later, he completed his PhD in Political Science and Middle Eastern History from Princeton. Dr. Eqbal Ahmad inspired two generations of students as a teacher but influenced a much larger audience through his many writings and interviews in the newspapers throughout the world. In USA, he built a career teaching history and politics at Cornell and many other universities. A larger than life figure, outside his lecture-halls he joined the independence movement in Algeria, rallied against the Vietnam war, was put on trial for plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger, organised protests against the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq, spoke out over issues relating to Bosnia, Israel and almost every “third world” country and yet found time to set up the Textile Institute of Pakistan. He was an anti-imperialist, a peace activist, a humanist and foremost a rationalist. His many works brought him close to many historians and great writers of his time who keep him in high regard and count him as a source of knowledge, wisdom and inspiration. His long list of admirers and contemporaries include the notable names of Edward Said (who dedicated one of his books to Dr. Eqbal Ahmad), Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Fred Jameson, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, Richard Falk, Alexander Cockburn and Daniel Berrigan. In Pakistan, he influenced the likes of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dr. Adbus Salam and Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy amongst many others. As a scholar, columnist and political activist he struggled for a changed and improved society, with better lives for underprivileged. He criticised the rich, but knocked the poor too for their feebleness. His collection of interviews are published under the title “Confronting Empires” and his lectures can be found at this website setup and supported by the efforts of Dr. Parvez Hoodhboy and his other admirers on his first death anniversary in 2001. http://www.bitsonline.net/eqbal/index.asp Eqbal had a dream of establishing Khaldun University in Pakistan, named after the personal hero of his, the 14th century historian Ibm-e-Khulun, but his untimely death put an end to the project before it got off the ground. It remains a sad fact that people like Dr. Eqbal Ahmad are not widely known in their homeland, Pakistan. Frequently called the second Sir Syed Ahmad Khan of the Subcontinent, Dr. Eqbal was among those people who are a beacon of rationality in our society. We pay tribute to the memory and work of Dr Eqbal Ahmed through this cover of the very first issue of The Rationalist Pakistan. Below are the some testimonials for Dr Eqbal by prominent international intellectuals. “Eqbal Ahmad was a shining example of what a true internationalist should be. Eqbal Ahmad was at home in the history of all the world’s great civilisations”. Kofi Anan, former secretary-general of the UN. “[Ahmad was] perhaps the shrewdest and most original anti-imperialist analyst of the post-war world, especially in the dynamics between the West and the post-colonial states of Asia and Africa.” Edward Said (The cover is designed by Bilawal Khoso)
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