Pakistan's Islamists focus on women

[Vicky19]

Pakistan's hard-line Islamist political parties have spent months in protest campaigns against President Pervez Musharraf. But recently they have changed tack, concentrating on women's issues.

Last week the six-party religious alliance that constitutes one-fifth of the country's parliament, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) introduced a bill in parliament seeking a complete ban on women in advertising.


The move follows the MMA's recent successes in stopping women from participating in outdoor sports.

Political observers in Pakistan are intrigued by the sudden shift of emphasis in the MMA's politics.


Islamists in Pakistan are opposed to Gen Musharraf's alliance with the United States and accuse him of subverting the nation's Islamic identity.

But they now seem to be placing a greater emphasis on an agenda of cultural orthodoxy.

Disrupted

The shift was first noticed when the MMA started to oppose women's participation in sports events open to the general public.

A mini-marathon organised in Gujranwala, some 40 miles north of the Punjab capital city of Lahore, was disrupted by MMA workers armed with batons and led by an MNA Qazi Hameedullah.

Several people were injured, including the MNA, in clashes with the police and the organisers had to abandon the race.

A subsequent race scheduled for Sargodha - the home of Pakistan's air force some 150km southwest of capital Islamabad - was shifted to within the boundary walls of a college.

Describing the shift in the race's venue as another victory - the government had earlier conceded to the MMA's demand that passports should again state the holder's religion - MMA leaders vowed not to let "the immoral government of Gen Musharraf tamper with the nation's Islamic credentials".


Indecent


Soon after, a private member's bill titled the "Prohibition of Indecent Advertisements Bill 2005" was submitted to the national assembly.

The proposed law seeks that making or publishing "indecent" advertisements be declared a criminal and non-bailable offence. It proposes one-year imprisonment for any ad agency that uses women models - and at least five years for those found in repeated violation of this law.

The word "indecent" includes everything that is against religion, eastern values and traditions, and promotes licentiousness.

Pakistan analysts say that the shift reflects a steady erosion of the MMA's political agenda.

The alliance tried and failed to persuade President Musharraf to stand down as head of the army last year.

It also failed to stop the government's aggressive campaign against local and foreign Islamic militants in which hundreds have been arrested and dozens killed over the last three years.

The MMA's string of failures was capped on 7 April by their inability to stop the first bus service across divided Kashmir in more than 50 years.

The Islamists believe that the bus service is part of a process that will see the disputed divide of Kashmir become, in time, the accepted border, with most of the state recognised as part of India.

For them, the bus service can cause irreparable harm to Kashmiris' freedom struggle.

"The MMA hardly have any politics left," says Nighat Said Khan, the head of the Institute of Women Studies at Lahore.

Running a left wing women's organization for over 20 years, Ms Khan has often found herself at loggerheads with the Islamists.

"But where they have failed with political issues, they have succeeded on issues such as the religion column and women's participation in public life.

"That may be why they are reverting to a cultural agenda where they have had far more success compared to the political front," she says.

Despite his avowed policy of turning Pakistan into a modern, enlightened Islamic democracy, Gen Musharraf's government has so far made no headway in dealing with discriminatory religious legislation such as the so-called Islamic penal provisions introduced by Gen Ziaul Haq back in the 1980s.

For example, the president vowed to repeal Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws soon after he came to power. But following a brief and intense campaign by hardline Islamists, he backtracked.

The crisis in the MMA's politics has been further fuelled by reports of on-going negotiations between the government and Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Any deal between the two would eliminate the government's dependence on the MMA's parliamentary strength.

Under such circumstances, it appears that all that the MMA can do is to try and protect existing laws that women and minority groups denounce as discriminatory, while forcing more orthodox Islamic legislation through.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4435471.stm

[que10]

can some1 plz tell these ppl to n get a life.

[Highway-2-Hell]

*****s like the MMA need to be locked up for good.
The extraordinary thing is, despite being so blatantly moronic and backward they still attract the majority of the people towards them. It's as if the people want these laws enforced upon them in which case, I think the MMA should seize power and bring about a Taliban like rule. We all know how that turned out.

[Fazi]

i didn't know that what is MMA one friend told me and then i came to know that what is going on in pakistan becoz of these parties

[rabians]

Highway to Hell, what do you mean by the claim that the MA attracts the "majority" of ppl towards themselves? how does the no. of supporters of MMA constitute a "majority" of Pakistan's ppl?

the truth of the matter is that at no point in pakistan's history has the MMA ever attained anywhere close to a majority in the national asembly- infact they have struggled to attain even a respectable stake in the parliament. even now in the middle of a situation where the two strongest political parties are eviscerated the MMA has only managed to grab one province and that too in reaction of the US war against Iraq.

it is completely false that the MMA appeals to the majority of pakistani ppl. there is nothing whatsoever to support this claim.

[tehmasp]

Originally posted by rabians
Highway to Hell, what do you mean by the claim that the MA attracts the "majority" of ppl towards themselves? how does the no. of supporters of MMA constitute a "majority" of Pakistan's ppl?

the truth of the matter is that at no point in pakistan's history has the MMA ever attained anywhere close to a majority in the national asembly- infact they have struggled to attain even a respectable stake in the parliament. even now in the middle of a situation where the two strongest political parties are eviscerated the MMA has only managed to grab one province and that too in reaction of the US war against Iraq.

it is completely false that the MMA appeals to the majority of pakistani ppl. there is nothing whatsoever to support this claim.

whether it is true or not, it is scary and alarming to see a miniory representative party with such influences on the present government which could bring a backward talibanization of Pakistan. We are not talking about today or tomorrow, but the longer the tactics of the MMA are allowed to continue the more harm there will be for the country in the future. The problem is with education. Any followers that the MMA may gather is because of a lack of understanding by those Pakistanis about the pure detriment that the MMA's policies have on Pakistan's future. The present government has to quickly battle the lack of education, health, and employment. When these basic things begin to stabilize in the country then you will start to see a less and less influence of any MMA-like policy. The worse the country gets the more power MMA will surely grasp.

[makaveli19]

maybe you guy'z don't remember we got this country fro islam and for people to live in an islamic way not to think that we are west and make races for woman
With all the tought of woman's rights we forget what are woman's duty's
So stop with the nonsense that the MMA is stupid It's the only democratic party

[Farishta]

They have always been a pain in the neck

[tehmasp]

Originally posted by makaveli19
maybe you guy'z don't remember we got this country fro islam and for people to live in an islamic way not to think that we are west and make races for woman
With all the tought of woman's rights we forget what are woman's duty's
So stop with the nonsense that the MMA is stupid It's the only democratic party

I didn't say to go western and where does it say being Muslim is to be backward. Does being Muslim mean to gang-rape women and deny them proper rights? No it doesn't. The MMA are utterly useless. They waste their time arguing insane things when they can never bring about any constructive change. And where do you get the notion of them being a democratic party? Attacking a girls marathon (whatever your stance maybe on it) is never a democratic approach.

And moreover you need to remember really why this country was formed, yes it was for Muslims, but Jinnah wanted an open society Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

On top of that I'm sick of people like the MMA complaining about women in advertising, women this , women that; and talking about Islam here and there. Anyone can walk into a big CD shop in Islamabad and buy **** cd's & etc... You can open up the newspaper and see pictures of "famous" people in places like Karachi drinking alcohol. Heck right next to my grandmother's house is an Arab diplomat that throws alcohol parties right behind which there is a madrasa. But I guess that must be ok because the party is after Ish'a and before Fajr. There are men commiting many more un-Islamic things and that is never brought into attention as much as what/how women should be living. And if the Prophet (PBUH) were here today he would never imagine the kind of treatment of women that is going on in Pakistan today.

[rabians]

anybody who supports the MMA disrupting a women's marathon in total defiance of the law of the land and imposing their will on people by means of brute force, needs to reeaxmine his/ her views. the MMA is obsessed with women, their rule in the NWFP has produced no meaningful policies, no substantial improvement in the lives of the people. all they care about is somehow removing alol women from all spheres of public life, something that has NO sanction WHATSOEVER in islam. their misogyny is their own problem, dont dump it on islam.

[rabians]

on the other hand i think its very important to be realistic and realize the dimensions of the situation rather than exaggerating it wildly with declarations of the "majority" of pakistanis being MMa supporters or the talibanization of the country. the MMA more than any other party in pakistan a strong organizational infrastructure- it can assemble large vociferous crowds with success to disrupt whatever idea or movement theyre opposed to. the government has to show that the law of the land cannot be held hostage by anybody.

islam will always be a fundamentally important part of the pakistani nation but nobody should be allowed to hijack it for their own ends.

at the same time the nation needs to reexamine its own priorities and its vision of itself. the more certain sections of society are forcing westernization down people's throats the more powerful the reaction has been. progress and modernization is NOT westernization- we have to retain our own identity and shape our own modernity.

[tehmasp]

Originally posted by rabians
progress and modernization is NOT westernization- we have to retain our own identity and shape our own modernity.

couldn't have said it better.

[Highway-2-Hell]

Allright, maybe the majority thing was a tad on the extreme side. Yet, they do consist of a vast amount of people. Their strength has only increased in the recent past.

[Brutus]

"Highway to Hell" you were right when you said that MMA commands a majority's vote in Pakistan. Yes, majority among the people who have any brains. MMA boasts the loyalty of the learned class in Pakistan and it is the most disciplined and democratic party, unlike the two major parties of Pakistan whose history is replete with corruption, oppression and a blatant disregard towards the law of the land.

Talk of being *****ic when trying to insinuate that the MMA somehow stands in fovour of the gang rapes. The knowledge of basic facts is appalling over here. MMA or JI historically has stood against the oppression of women and the have-nots. Whenever an incident as heinous as gang-rape occurred, JI has always been first one who stood for the rights of the victims, while the ruling junta were always trying to sweep it under the carpet, because it might have implicated some of their own. JI has long advocated the death penalty for rapists, which the governments of PPP or PML failed to even put in the assembly for voting, even with absolute majorities. I can understand the plight of PPP or PML, it is hard to have the feudal lords in the party on one hand and trying to pass a bill which gives stern punishments for corruption and moral decadence on the other hand.

On the flip side, I have never supported MMA stands on two issues. Their stand on Hadood ordinance and the inclusion of the religion column in the passport. In these cases probably the intelligentsia of the party succumbed to the overzealous ones.

Pakistan is not going to become a model of modernity by women running rampant on the roads or by exposing themselves on the cover of magazines for all and sundry to ogle. Women must be provided with all the facilities, like gymnasium, swimming pools, sports grounds etc. but with the emphasis on privacy. Roads are not the place to do it. That's what Islam says and that's what our identity is. Islam puts women on a very high pedestal and it is beneath her to become a showpiece for the sake of men. It is not modernity, but again this is not what the western media would have you believe.

Last but not the least, Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted an Islamic state because Islamic state by nature is secular. What does secularism means? Respect for difference, whether it is ethnic, monetary or religious. That's exactly what Islam stands for. There is an Ayah which says something to the same effect,
" Their is no compulsion in the religion."
So people with the misguided perceptions need to wake up and smell the coffee.

That's enough for now.

[rabians]

women running in a marathon are supposed to be "running rampant"? thats quite an azaming thing to say. dont try to over-dramatize things. the fact of the matter is the MMA openly threatened the law of the land by saying we will do what we want, we will impose our will on the country. there is nothing islamic about that- islam is very strict about respecting the law.

also sorry to burst your bubble but the majority of the "learned people" in pakistan HAVE NEVER been behind the MMA. read any newspaper and see what is said about the MMA. you are making a completelty nonsensical statement there when you suggest "learned ppl" support MMA. the MMA's way of operating is to try to browbeat ppl and scream and shout. i have never seen them make issues such as the treatment of women fundamental to their platform- its all women should not model etc. they have made such a big deal out of the co-education issue but what's there solution? do they have any plans for opening separate universities for women? how many have they opened in the NWFP where they are in power?

in 2000, pakistan had a massive cotton harvest but the growers were given very poor prices and were very hard done. qazi hussain ahmed's wonderful advice to the poor starving farmers was to put the cotton on the roads and set it ablaze to make a statement. he was unethical enough to try to use the very basic survival of the farmers for political gain asking them to destroy their livelihoods so that he could have something to make incendiary statements about.

the hudood ordinance is a twisted piece of legislation but nobody has been able to change it in big part because of the insane screaming the MMA starts when it is even discussed. their support for the hudood ordinance is a sure sign of their misogyny.

[Brutus]

Women have the right to participate in every walk of life, including to run in a marathon. This is NOT the bone of contention here. But Islam also emphasizes a woman's right to privacy. Roads are not the place to do it. This is not only against Islam, it is against our identity too. We may disagree on the tactics used by the MMA to stop the marathon, but can't challenge their stand on principle. As I said MMA has overzealous elements in the party and they sometimes go overboard with their reaction.

It's a sad state of affairs, and I sympathise with you, if you gather your facts from newspapers. Here are some ground realities for you. Most of the Pakistan's leading columnists are on the payroll of the bigwigs. If you believe the newspapers don't twist and distort the truth, then you have to believe the right wing newspapers in US and Fox News too. Who will tell you that Bush is nothing less than a god incarnate and the attack on Iraq was the noblest of the noble causes and best thing that could happen to the people of Iraq, and it doesn't matter if some of them got killed (around 100,000).

Here are some pearls of wisdom from Ayaz Amir, whose column is the crowning glory of none other than DAWN, on what is the cause of high birth rate in Pak and how to tackle it, " If you take away something as natural to human nature as night clubs and bars, what else are people going to do." Goodness gracious! You see, you are on slippery slope when you believe in newspapers.

Talk about living in a cocoon and an armchair critic stomping his feet, when you enlighten me that MMA or Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) "never had the following of the learned class". Here are some facts for you: JI always won from Karachi before the inception of MQM and the politics of division that ensued. That city is more than 10% of the population of Pakistan. POP QUIZ: Which area has the highest literacy rate in the country? Let me make it easy for you, KARACHI. So much for not having a following in the learned class.

JI was the only party who introduced the bill in the national assembly, as early as late 80s, for the members to be at least graduates because they were secure in the knowledge that none of them was going to get disqualified. That bill couldn't see the light of the day because everybody else vehemently opposed it.

Let me come down to my first hand experience, my paternal and maternal grandfathers were in PPP and PML respectively and both of them never lost an election and I saw the functioning of both of these parties closely. Heck! I was part of it and became very disenchanted with the corrupt way they conducted their business.

On the other hand who was participating in the elections from JI side, doctors! engineers! Even their rank n' file consisted of, what you would call, the learned class. Who, the doctors, once a year would travel to the remote areas of Pak and perform hundreds of operations free of charge for the poor. People who were making a difference in the lives of ordinary human beings. Not only that, they were running quality schools (not madrassas) for the poor scattered all over pakistan. Give me an example of one other party, other than Tehrik-i-Insaaf, who is involved in this kind of charity work.

My father attended one of the annual meetings of JI once in Lahore, there were scholars attending not only from pakistan, but from other parts of the world too, even one from as far as Jamaica. Topics of discussion: Problems faced by muslims in particular and the world in general and their possible solutions, fiqah, riba and how to build better financial institutions and system which would stabilize the worth of property and currency etc. In short people with real cognitive abilities who can bring about the change to take us out of the sorry mess we are in.

Coming towards the government in NWFP, it would be really naive to think that a chief minister of a province, which is not even a major player in Pak's politics will have the resources and influence to bring about a significant change when even the National Assembly and the prime minister are reduced to a puppet in front of one man, Musharraf.

I am not saying people in JI are angels of mercy and they don't have any shortcomings but it is the only party in Pak which can claim to have a moral compass. But some changes are long overdue in their ranks too. They will have to distance themselves from the overzealous right wing religious elements, and some political figures too, like Fazal-ur-Rehman and Qazi Hussain and bring the more moderate elements to the fore. Who happen to be the backbone of this party. Only then they will be able to gather the mass public support which is necessary to bring about any change.

[rabians]

firstly Brutus, i DO NOT gather all my facts from newspapers. ive luved in Pakistan almost my entire life and have experienced first hand just what the MMA means, what their agenda is and what their legacy to my nation is. secondly your interesting conspiracy theory of EVERY newspaper journalist and columnist being on someone's payroll and all being part of a massive conspiracy to demean the MMA while being very amusing has nothing to do with real life. there are a variety of newspapers in Pakistan and a variety of viewpoints and the MMA has come under attack from multiple quarters. also any comparison between DAWN and Fox News is deeply hilarious so please dont talk about things that you clearly dont know much about. ayaz amir is just one of DAEN's writers he does not determine DAWEN's edictorial policy and although he leans a lot towards a westernized ethic, he has in the pasat taken up punches against westernized circles as well. im no fan of his but as i said you dont try to generalize the state of the entire news producing media in pakistan dure yto a coiuple of sentences from one man.

also as to the marathon, women's right to privacy ca also be ensured by men co=operating and not intruding during the marathon. i am amazed by the wonderfully casual way in which you have brushed aside the MMA's choice of "methods"- shrill calls to violence and using "any means necessary" in a direct challenmge to the state is not a minor issue. no responsdible political party behaves in that way. differences of opinion happen but at the very point someone resorts to open threats they lose all pretensions to moral clarity and lets not forget that the threats came noty from some "overzealous elements" but from party spokespeople.

[rabians]

there is no doubt about the fact that the PPP and PML are massively corrupt. their internal structures are themselves decidely undemocratic so any claims of their bringing democracy to the country are absurd. their only goal is power. the MMA's particuipation in social welfare activities has given it a support base and deservedly so but their national presence cannot be regarded as a boon for the country. again and again they seem to pounce upon ideas and questions that are shockingly childish and I think that it is naive at best to regard them as some kind of moral champions. other parties have used socialism and nationalism for their own hunger of power, the MMA uses islam. their openly threatening stance towards women seeking to forge their own identities is clearly determintal to half of pakistan's population and seriously impairs pakistan's progress. the MMA women have argued on nternational tv that the hudood law is perfectly just, they have declared that women who dont wear the hijaab are only muslim by name. this santimonius attitude of "we will coerce you into thinking and behaving like us" is seriously harmful.

the MMA's big acheivement is their coarse control of student politics in Pakistan- you dont have to read newspapers to find out the grimy details of the Jamiat using the Punjab University as their personal playground, threatening to break ppl's limbs if they arranged trips for the student body (as girls and boys being on the same trip will obviously lead to massive uncontrollable sinning because everybody except the Jamiat is completely bereft of any moral moorings whatsoever). some of their "student leaders" happen to be in their late 30's and early 40's residing in university hostels and frightening both students and faculty with open displays of firearms and telling everyone just how to live their lives islamically as of course their openly corrupt lawless life style makes them such effective models of islam. these ppl who fought against the Pakistan ideology now try to tell pakistanis how to be properly muslim and properly Pakistani- the very thought is hilarious.

haha, having a following in karachi at one point in time in a long past decade is a proof of the "majority" of learned ppl in Pakistan supporting the MMA. hahaha. that sure is funny. since you continue to make this riduclous claim about MMA somehow having the support of most of the educated ppl in Pakistan please provide meaningful statistics from some respectable source. your claim is hilarious. the party that thinks that the biggest issues plaguing the country are women appearing in advertisements and thinks the biggest priority is to stomp out the menace of music casettes in the NWFP inspires respect from the educated in pakistan when corruption, economic problems, massive poverty is rocking the country? hehe. yeah right!

the chief minister of NWFP has no power to set any meaningful agenda for his province so his only choice is to decide to bulldoze music casettes on priority basis? that is ridiculous. there is no doubt that musharraf holds the power in pak but provincial governments have their provincial budgets and they can thrash out sensible inteligent policies to benifit their ppl in ways that are most advantageous. despite the constraints on them from the federal government its not as if their hands are tied behind their backs. the fact of the matter is that the MMA has not much to show for its position as a provincial government. and for this, for once, musharraf is not responsible.

[que10]

Originally posted by makaveli19
maybe you guy'z don't remember we got this country fro islam and for people to live in an islamic way not to think that we are west and make races for woman
With all the tought of woman's rights we forget what are woman's duty's
So stop with the nonsense that the MMA is stupid It's the only democratic party

first of all, u did not, n emphasis on NOT, get this country for islam. it was by the muslim ppl, n for all ppl. get ure facts straight. read history, n the history n speaches of the founder of this country who had made it very clear that religon had absolutly nuffin' to do wid the business of the state. i think ure confusing him wid ure last general who rules in da '80's. who used islaam n a simple "divide n rule" policy just to stay in power n gave birth to *****s like these. majority of whom r in MMA, not to mention da godfathers of talibans n mullah umer.
n if by "wut iz women's duty" ure somehow reffering to them not having an opinion, bieng opressed, give birth n raise children, have no rights wut-so-eva n make just make "paratha's" for *****s who r threatened by da better of da sexes then u need a lotta growing up to do.

and last but definatly not least, if by "da only democratic party" u mean ppl who Use Islam for thier own political n personal gainz. n use n fool poor illeterate ppl yet ****ing thier blood at the same time, then thankxx but no thankxx buddy.
u can keep that democracy to ureself. i can do widout it just fine.

[kashmiri]

Originally posted by tehmasp+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tehmasp)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-makaveli19
maybe you guy'z don't remember we got this country fro islam and for people to live in an islamic way not to think that we are west and make races for woman
With all the tought of woman's rights we forget what are woman's duty's
So stop with the nonsense that the MMA is stupid It's the only democratic party

I didn't say to go western and where does it say being Muslim is to be backward. Does being Muslim mean to gang-rape women and deny them proper rights? No it doesn't. The MMA are utterly useless. They waste their time arguing insane things when they can never bring about any constructive change. And where do you get the notion of them being a democratic party? Attacking a girls marathon (whatever your stance maybe on it) is never a democratic approach.

And moreover you need to remember really why this country was formed, yes it was for Muslims, but Jinnah wanted an open society Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

On top of that I'm sick of people like the MMA complaining about women in advertising, women this , women that; and talking about Islam here and there. Anyone can walk into a big CD shop in Islamabad and buy **** cd's & etc... You can open up the newspaper and see pictures of "famous" people in places like Karachi drinking alcohol. Heck right next to my grandmother's house is an Arab diplomat that throws alcohol parties right behind which there is a madrasa. But I guess that must be ok because the party is after Ish'a and before Fajr. There are men commiting many more un-Islamic things and that is never brought into attention as much as what/how women should be living. And if the Prophet (PBUH) were here today he would never imagine the kind of treatment of women that is going on in Pakistan today.[/b][/quote]


excellently put guys


MMA go back to mosques

Army go back to Barracks (once Musharraf is finished that is ::th:: )


Its funny to see most literate ppl in the West living out of Pak dont support the MMA, they prey upon the illiterates and use Islam at their own advantage, please dont deny this MMA fans....


Laters!

[que10]

Originally posted by rabians
there is no doubt about the fact that the PPP and PML are massively corrupt. their internal structures are themselves decidely undemocratic so any claims of their bringing democracy to the country are absurd. their only goal is power. the MMA's particuipation in social welfare activities has given it a support base and deservedly so but their national presence cannot be regarded as a boon for the country. again and again they seem to pounce upon ideas and questions that are shockingly childish and I think that it is naive at best to regard them as some kind of moral champions. other parties have used socialism and nationalism for their own hunger of power, the MMA uses islam. their openly threatening stance towards women seeking to forge their own identities is clearly determintal to half of pakistan's population and seriously impairs pakistan's progress. the MMA women have argued on nternational tv that the hudood law is perfectly just, they have declared that women who dont wear the hijaab are only muslim by name. this santimonius attitude of "we will coerce you into thinking and behaving like us" is seriously harmful.

the MMA's big acheivement is their coarse control of student politics in Pakistan- you dont have to read newspapers to find out the grimy details of the Jamiat using the Punjab University as their personal playground, threatening to break ppl's limbs if they arranged trips for the student body (as girls and boys being on the same trip will obviously lead to massive uncontrollable sinning because everybody except the Jamiat is completely bereft of any moral moorings whatsoever). some of their "student leaders" happen to be in their late 30's and early 40's residing in university hostels and frightening both students and faculty with open displays of firearms and telling everyone just how to live their lives islamically as of course their openly corrupt lawless life style makes them such effective models of islam. these ppl who fought against the Pakistan ideology now try to tell pakistanis how to be properly muslim and properly Pakistani- the very thought is hilarious.

haha, having a following in karachi at one point in time in a long past decade is a proof of the "majority" of learned ppl in Pakistan supporting the MMA. hahaha. that sure is funny. since you continue to make this riduclous claim about MMA somehow having the support of most of the educated ppl in Pakistan please provide meaningful statistics from some respectable source. your claim is hilarious. the party that thinks that the biggest issues plaguing the country are women appearing in advertisements and thinks the biggest priority is to stomp out the menace of music casettes in the NWFP inspires respect from the educated in pakistan when corruption, economic problems, massive poverty is rocking the country? hehe. yeah right!

the chief minister of NWFP has no power to set any meaningful agenda for his province so his only choice is to decide to bulldoze music casettes on priority basis? that is ridiculous. there is no doubt that musharraf holds the power in pak but provincial governments have their provincial budgets and they can thrash out sensible inteligent policies to benifit their ppl in ways that are most advantageous. despite the constraints on them from the federal government its not as if their hands are tied behind their backs. the fact of the matter is that the MMA has not much to show for its position as a provincial government. and for this, for once, musharraf is not responsible.


u r only a 110% rite but take a chill pill yaar.

itna ghussa nahin kartay. tabiyatt kharaab ho jaati hai.

in ma opinion, its a waste of time arguing wid ppl who've blindly made up thier minds n wont eva think or admitt that they can be wrong in thier stance.
n da fact that u brought up dat these were da same folks opposing the idioligy of existance of this country is still unknown to the majority of ppl.

like i said in one of ma posts earlier. ppl need to take history lessons be4 they start to form opinions.

anyone for history101??????

[rabians]

im not angry at all que10. but these things need to be said. there are different strains of opinion in pakistan and this is perfectly fine but we all need to be able to debate our ideas in order to understand each others positions.

[umerhusayn]

Before criticizing MMA or other political party, we should see within our shoes.

As far as marathon is concerned, first of all governmnet should have a common sense (which they lack in it), why to run women along men. Everyone knows what will happwn next. If they wanna do, then do it in stadium, why on roads?????

If we are an islamic state then we have to decide and measure what is right and wrong before doin things. Government should be held responsible.

Resolution of Pakistan say "No law would be made repugnant to Quran and Sunnah", but we see everything against teachings of deen in our so called "ISLAMIC republics of Pakistan".

I am not a diehard fan or supporter of MMA, i am a common man writing what i think its right.

We must study and think before we speak.

[rabians]

firstly women werent going to run alongside men, they were participating in their own marathon. they werent going to be running into cars etc, the men (for once) could have stayed out of their way. secondly, if you believe something is "unislamic" then you dont start threatening violence, youre supposed to convince people of your point of view. thats sometging the MMA has little interest in.

[aurelius]

the women were not running along with men in those marathons. Being an islamic and democratic state, the women have the equal right to participate in all the healthy acitvities including sports. And if they r running in those female marathons then the reaction of MMA is completely *****ic which wanna suppress those women.

One should not forget that this is the same MMA which couple of months ago opposed against the laws in NA to protect women from heinous social crimes like karo kari etc. so one can easily judge their intentions and respect for women.