Source/Credit: Scotsman | News
By Syed Hamad Ali | April 15, 2011
Wearing shoes with green soles can make you lose a cricket match. So goes the logic of a prominent Pakistani religious scholar, Aamir Liaquat, in comments he made on a leading private TV channel.
He was analysing the reasons behind the defeats suffered by Pakistan's cricket team. Apparently this is because green is the colour of Islam - and also the colour of the national flag.
"These are matters of belief," explained Mr Liaquat. "Those who worship at the altar of reason will never understand them."
Over the past few years Pakistan has undergone a media revolution. A decade or so ago there was just one major TV channel, the state run Pakistan Television. It was a mouthpiece for whichever government - civilian or military - was in power. Today the picture has dramatically changed with dozens of private news channels, enjoying more broadcasting freedom than counterparts in the Middle East (or even the West.)
But while free media has largely been a positive for Pakistan, in terms of exposing corruption and government misconduct, there is also a need for greater responsibility in what is being said on-air.
It's worth noting Mr Liaquat is not a small-time scholar with a fringe following. Rather he is one of the most recognised religious figures in the country thanks to his TV shows. He has even served as minister of state for religious affairs under ex-dictator Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Liaquat is no stranger to controversy. A few years ago guest scholars on his show described a persecuted religious minority in Pakistan, the Ahmedis, as Wajb-ul-Qatl (liable to death.) He has also openly spoken on TV of his support for the fatwa on Salman Rushdie over his Satanic Verses novel. And he once spoke in favour of Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws by comparing them to a computer "firewall." The popularity of such a figure on mainstream Pakistani TV, who many also consider to be a "moderate" voice, raises troubling questions regarding the kind of material being allowed to air by the "free" media in Pakistan.
Certainly he is not the only one. Perhaps the most polemic is Zaid Hamid, a charismatic TV analyst who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan. While he is not allowed his own programme, he still gets invited on and off to mainstream talk shows as a guest analyst to talk about political affairs and foreign policy. Often seen with a red beret on his head, Mr Hamid is an ultra-nationalist who believes the Mumbai attacks were conducted by "Hindu Zionists" and has spoken of his desire to see the Pakistani flag flying in Delhi. While he condemns al-Qaeda he also believes - as a lot of others in Pakistan - that the 9/11 attacks were conducted by the US itself. Troublingly even programmes which one assumes should be light-hearted have fallen prey to the conspiracy trap.
For example, there is a clip doing the rounds on the internet where a morning show host Farah Hussain, roughly the equivalent to Lorraine Kelly, talks about a "deliberate" conspiracy to malign Islam. To illustrate, she displays a toilet mat with anabstract design on which she claims to make out the name "Allah" in Arabic. "This is definitely not accidental," she tells her viewers. "This is a planned effort."
The success of radicals and loonies like Mr Hamid and Mr Liaquat in appealing to youngsters and other vulnerable elements in society can only be understood in the context of the failure of the more liberal elements to stand up for issues of justice and against state corruption. There is a very superficial definition of liberal as someone who wears jeans and watches MTV.
A noticeable section of the liberal community supported the previous "enlightened moderate" dictatorship of Musharraf. Similarly, under the corrupt regime of president Zardari, the radical voices of opposition have often come from conservatives and conspiracy theorists - stepping in to fill the vacuum of discontent among the people. Unfortunately they are only distracting - if not adding - to the mountain of problems the country already faces.
Read original post here: Pakistan switches on to Islamic radicalism peddled by TV stars
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.