Pakistan remains obsessed with Dr Salam's faith, while the rest of the world is showering him with accolades for his remarkable scientific achievements.
Source/Credit: Miami Islam Examiner
By Mansura Minhas | July 10, 2012
Censorship of news has always been a self defeating proposition, and more so in the modern age of digital information. Contravening such bans is no rocket science. But try telling that to Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority, which remained undeterred despite the apparent imprudence of actions to this effect. Last week, at the whims of the hardliners, it proceeded to ban the website of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, alislam.org. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is facing harsher restrictions in Pakistan. Its members are persecuted in Pakistan and can be sentenced to death jailed for life for trivial ‘crimes’ like uttering Islamic greetings such as “Assalamo Alaikum” (peace be upon you).
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community made international news headlines this week. PTA banned one website, but with a twist of fate (brutal indeed for PTA), international news organizations like CNN and Washington Post gave headline coverage to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad’s recent visit to the United States. Many Ahmadi Muslims were awe-struck by the sight of CNN.com on Saturday afternoon which bore an uncanny resemblance to alislam.org, as a cover photograph their spiritual leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad popped up as they logged on to CNN.
PTA’s woes didn’t end there. Bad luck smacked a double whammy when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) ordered placing the name of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman and two of his aides on the exit control list!
Discovery of Higgs boson made headline news worldwide and is being heralded as one of the greatest groundbreaking research in particle physics. International media scrambled to write features about scientists who had pioneered this research that will revolutionize and deepen the understanding of the universe; for this very reason it is also being termed as “God particle’.
Dr Abdus Salam, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, helped develop the theoretical framework that led to the apparent discovery of the subatomic "God particle" last week. Dr Salam hailed from a small village in Pakistan. This news should have made headlines and Pakistanis should have been joyously embracing positive recognition that ensued for the services of a true son of its soil.
Pakistani media overwhelmingly chose to remain mum; with the exception of a few hushed mentions. Concurrently, leading world newspapers are continuing to highlight the achievements of Dr Salam. Why such a stark contrast in the two reactions? Pakistan remains obsessed with Dr Salam's faith, while the rest of the world is showering him with accolades for his remarkable scientific achievements.
Pakistan’s state of affairs is dismal. Rational discourse has vanished, pluralism has been thwarted and the Mullah is hell bent upon transforming Pakistan into a theocracy, where differences of opinion and beliefs have no room. The hardliner clergy is holding the country hostage. School curriculums have been tempered; history books ignore the accomplishments of notable heroes belonging to minority groups. Many school going children in Pakistan are unaware that a Pakistani scientist ever received the most coveted Nobel Prize. The infamous Dr A Q Khan, who proliferated Pakistan’s nuclear secrets, is glorified as a hero!
While Dr Salam was busy working on his groundbreaking theory in the early 1970s (efforts that would ultimately win highest laurels for a Third World country in science), the government of Pakistan was busy declaring him outside the realm of Islam and a heretic as he belonged to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
In such a precarious scenario, it is no small surprise that Pakistan ranks the lowest in literacy rates in the world. A government which is relentless to decide who is a Muslim has little to spare towards core issues – education, health etc.
Intolerance and bigotry is hard to satiate. Merely ignoring Dr Abdus Salam was not enough for the hardliners; epitaph on Dr Salam’s graveyard was tempered and the word 'Muslim' was scratched from the phrase ‘First Muslim Nobel Laureate’!
In the aftermath of the turn of events of the last week, one hopes that in future, Pakistan’s government would refrain from counterintuitive measures like blocking/banning websites. It is high time it works towards restoring some sanity and dignity. Embracing Dr Abdus Salam as its ‘own’ would be a good start.
Read original post here: Pakistan’s ostracized son pioneered Higgs Boson
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