Albert Camus's famous novel, The Stranger, was the story of a man who was killed not because of a crime he had committed but because of a steady rise in publicity about his character faults. Little things bothered people about the Stranger -- he didn't cry at his mother's funeral, he had a steady girlfriend he didn't plan to marry. When he became implicated in a crime, the trial became a showcase of all the tiny things he did in his private life that the public didn't approve of or simply didn't understand -- though none of these things were exactly wrong or immoral, in sum and in public, they cost him his life.
Salman Taseer was a Stranger in Pakistan. His millions of dollars, British mother, private relationships, and extravagant Western lifestyle -- though not in themselves crimes nor even shortcomings in character, could not possibly have been more in contrast with the very poor and increasingly religiously extreme population of Pakistan.
In the last few years, more and more of the private details of his life were leaked into the public consciousness, private photos were obtained and published, personal habits were recounted. Here in the U.S., a large number of tributes to him have framed him as a crusader of human rights who died for good but the fact is -- and most Pakistanis will tell you, if they are not in the habit of pandering to Western imagery, that what really killed Salman Taseer was anything but an isolated -- though brave -- act of heroism.
The ugly truth of Pakistan today is not about a battle between do-gooders and those who oppose them. What killed Salman Taseer was the primary and overwhelming disparity in Pakistan -- the one that has steadily fundamentalized that country since the days of the U.S.-imposed religious dictator Zia ul-Haq, through the first Afghan war and now the new Afghan war that is also blatantly being fought in Pakistan. That disparity is one of wealth, of have-nothings and have-everythings.
The great anger in Pakistan against the current President Zardari, his slain wife and their family has very clearly been against the extravagance of their elite Western lives -- the wealth and abundance, their obvious dismissal of not only the tragic and obvious poverty of the country they rule down on, but the values and traditions of its people which they may never have even learned, or simply choose not to respect.
Salman Taseer was also a multimillionaire -- though many people agree he came upon most of his wealth through industry rather than other means. But in a country as poor as Pakistan whose public has for a generation now increasingly embraced religion as the singular means of acquiring any authority or voice against the feudal lords and wealthy elite who are granted government positions from their friends to rule over people, apart from extreme and flamboyant wealth, the other major crime against decency is being out of touch with the public's values.
Those values include religion, and Taseer, a man who reportedly carried a tiny Koran around his neck, nonetheless did not understand that he had no authority to impinge on religious matters. Strangers cannot afford to be activists, even if it is just once.
Follow Shirin Sadeghi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ShirinSadeghi
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2041406,00.html#ixzz1Apverpij
The author seems to feel that Taseer deserved to die and that there is nothing wrong with religious extremism. Believe me, down that path, nothing good will come.
http://criticalppp.com/archives/36002
A:
Pew Global Poll Results
"Many Pakistanis endorse extreme views about law, religion and society. More than eight-in-ten support segregating men and women in the workplace, stoning adulterers, and whipping and cutting off the hands of thieves. Roughly three-in-four endorse the death penalty for those who leave Islam.
http://pewglobal.org/2010/07/29/concern-about-extremist-threat-slips-in-pakistan/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8248162/The-killer-of-my-father-Salman-Taseer-was-showered-with-rose-petals-by-fanatics.-How-could-they-do-this.html
the problem I have is with people who live in the West and America and then think you are supposed to run Pakistan. Support President Obama if you want to have the maximum effect on what is happening there. We need to be smart about foreign aid and our military actions, but our reason for being there is terrorism, not to micro manage Pakistani society. In America, we have limits on free speech and I don't think anyone from Pakistan will influence us by posting on this website, so for me, I live where the blasphemy laws are a little less strict when it comes to religion. Ms Sadeghi says that it's huge inequality in Pakistan that drove this murder. That inequality explains for us and give us a better understanding of the motivation causing extreme behavior of Taseer's assassination. The actual laws deciding how Pakistanis live should be decided by Pakistanis. If you don't believe that, then, by inference you believe Pakistanis should decide law in America. Is that what you believe?
The person murdered was a Pakistani Christian who dared to protested a proposed execution of another Pakistani Christian, a poor Pakistan Christian.
And his murder was celebrated by rich and poor Pakistani Muslims alike, regretfully.
So much for the inane attempt to palm it off on the class distinction thing.
As long as Pakistani society will be controlled and indoctrinated by a legion of fundamentalist mullahs, it will be remain a society mired in poverty, illiteracy, intolerance and under-development.
Bet on it.
According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India' s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males.
In India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population. The accepted reason for such a disparity is the practice of female infanticide in India, prompted by the existence of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship.
However this anti-female bias is by no means limited to poor families. Much of the discrimination is to do with cultural beliefs and social norms. These norms themselves must be challenged if this practice is to stop.
Diagnostic teams with ultrasound scanners which detect the sex of a child advertise with catchlines such as spend 600 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later. A family will avoid paying a large dowry on the marriage of her daughter. According to UNICEF, the problem is getting worse as scientific methods of detecting the sex of a baby and of performing abortions are improving.
These methods are becoming increasing available in rural areas of India.
"On Friday the imam of Peshawar's oldest mosque, Maulana Yousaf Qureshi, offered a 500,000 rupee (£3,800) reward to anyone who killed Bibi if the court fails to hang her."
"Cleric puts price on head of Pakistani woman"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/06/cleric-pakistani-christian-woman-blasphemy?intcmp=239
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?240001
The fact that such a person was considered to be a moderate in Pakistan and was assassinated for being too moderate says something about the fanaticism in Pakistani society. And this country is our ally in the fight against terrorism and to whom we are sending billions of dollars in aid?
@ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4167260.stm
It also found the books "full" of material "encouraging or justifying discrimination against women, religious and ethnic minorities and other nations".
The report said that most of the textbooks incited "militancy and violence, including encouragement of holy war and martyrdom".
There were repeated instances of "glorification of war and the use of force".
The religious parties in particular were incensed at the report and labelled it "paid Western propaganda".
*** And check today's editorial in the Pakistan Tribune: http://tribune.com.pk/story/100552/no-country-for-sane-men/
"Let’s not pretend to be shocked at the lawyers queuing up to defend ‘Ghazi’ Mumtaz Qadri and showering him with rose petals. In a nation with one of the highest number of lawyers per capita, these black-coated radicals are, in fact, a true reflection of our society."
"The silent majority has spoken, and they are with the radicals, not against them."
This article sheds more light on a complex event. The more we know, the better we can understand, and the greater our chances of effecting favorable changes.