Monday, January 26, 2015
Chinese mom sells baby for $7,000
A woman in central China has been prosecuted for selling her newborn baby for $ 7,000, state media reports said, the latest of a string of shocking cases that have shed light on the country's trade in children.
End of the road for Rafa
This time there was no escape for Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. He was crushed by Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. But Maria Sharapova stayed in contention by routing Eugenie Bouchard.
Rare predator spotted in river
The CEO for the World Wildlife Fund spotted a rare black jaguar in Brazil's Juruena National Park.
Haris Sohail ‘freaked out’ by supernatural experience
NEW ZEALAND: Batsman Haris Sohail was the latest cricketer, following Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, to insist he felt the presence of a ghost while staying at a hotel on tour, Fox Sports reported on Tuesday.
Watson famously admitted to being frightened during a stay at Lumley Castle in England on the 2005 Ashes tour, and now it appears he isn’t the only cricketer to have such an otherworldly experience.
Sohail was reportedly left traumatised after being woken in the middle of the night by what he insisted was a ghost pushing him, according to New Zealand Media and Entertainment.
The cricketer, then allegedly phoned team management who arrived on the scene a short while later to find the 26-year-old with a high fever.
The officials managed to find the shaken-up batsman in another room at the Rydges Latimer Hotel in Christchurch.
A somewhat incredulous spokesperson for the hotel was forced to insist there was “no active ghost” at the establishment.
“It’s hard to believe,” the spokesperson told the NZ Herald.
“The Pakistan management told me it was only a nightmare” he added.
He further said, the people on the team wanted Sohail to move room.
A source close to the team said the cricketer had been unable to train with his teammates because he’s “traumatised” and “pretty freaked out”.
Just last year England paceman Stuart Broad admitted he asked to change rooms while staying at the Langham Hotel in London, an infamous ghost hot spot that reportedly has as many as seven supernatural beings staying on the premises, including a German doctor who murdered his wife while on honeymoon before committing suicide.
“During the Sri Lanka Test I had to move rooms,” Broad told the Daily Mail last year.
“It was so hot in the room I just couldn’t sleep, and all of a sudden the taps in the bathroom came on for no reason,” he also said.” I turned the lights on and the taps turned themselves off.”
He added, he ended up asking to move rooms.
Balochistan unrest: Five dead as pickup hits landmine
QUETTA:
At least five people, including a retired policeman and a Hindu trader, were killed on Monday when a pickup hit a landmine in Chatter area of Nasirabad district. Two others were injured in the incident.
According to Nasirabad District Police Officer Saleem Lehri, a pickup carrying passengers was on its way to Chattar from Dera Murad Jamali when it struck a landmine in Sonwa area. “Five people were killed and two wounded in the landmine blast,” the district police chief confirmed.
Police and rescue workers ferried the bodies as well as the injured to the Divisional Hospital in Dera Murad Jamali. The deceased were identified as retired police sub-inspector Mohammed Salah, Hindu trader Lal Chand, Yar Mohammed, Mohammed Ibrahim and Sayed Qurban Shah.
The Naseerabad police have started an investigation into the incident. Chatter is one of the troubled areas in Naseerabad district where Baloch militants frequently target power pylons and security forces. However, there were no claims of responsibility for the blast.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
Violence: Girl burnt alive for saying no to marriage proposal
SUKKUR: A teenage girl was set on fire by a young man in Kaltarpur Muhalla in Kandiyaro, Naushahro Feroze district, on Monday morning. The girl, who has received 60 per cent burn injuries, has been referred to a hospital in Karachi for medical aid.
Reports said that Sajid Qureshi, a cloth merchant and also a resident of Kaltarpur Muhalla, wanted to marry 18 year old Aqsa, daughter of the late Ikram Qureshi. The girl’s mother refused his proposal, as the man is said to be an alcoholic. Reports said that the man kept on pursuing her, but the girl’s mother and brother repeatedly refused his overtures.
On Monday morning, the accused Sajid Qureshi, who was reportedly drunk, broke into the house of Ikram Qureshi and tried to assault Aqsa. The girl resisted and started screaming for help. The accused then threw kerosene oil on her, set her on fire and fled, reports added.
Reports suggested that the girl’s mother and brother were not at home and rushed after hearing her screams and put out the fire, but by then she had received burn injuries on her face, hands and chest. The girl was rushed to the taluka hospital, where the doctors said that 60 to 65 per cent of her body was burnt, and referred her to a Karachi hospital.
Kandiyaro police, on the complaint of the girl’s brother Nabeel Qureshi, has lodged an FIR against Sajid Qureshi and arrested him. The SHO Kandiyaro Asad Nabi Khichi, talking to The Express Tribune, claimed that the man in question lives adjacent to girl’s house. According to him, this matter was going on for months and Sajid Qureshi’s proposal was refused more than once by the girl’s mother and brother.
Irked by the man’s pestering, the family had sought the help of some influential person and three months ago, the matter was resolved and Sajid had promised not to bother them again, the officer said. The officer confirmed that on Monday, the accused allegedly broke into their house and threw kerosene oil on the girl and put her on fire.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
Composer pioneers ‘made-in-China’ musicals
In 1982, songwriter San Bao fell in love with musical theater -- then an alien art form in China -- when he saw a videotaped version of CATS, which became the longest running musical in Broadway history.
Timeline: What’s expected city by city
The first major snowstorm of 2015 is expected to hit the Northeastern United States on Monday afternoon. Here's what's expected in three major cities.
Russian spy arrest in New York
A Russian Spy ring operating in New York City to collect economic intelligence and recruit other potential spies was broken up by the FBI, who arrested one of the men today.
Ukraine wants war crimes probe
Moscow stepped up its war of words over Ukraine on Monday, warning Western countries not to give Kiev the impression it had their automatic support regardless of its actions.
COAS Hockey Cup: Army Seniors down PAF 3-1
KARACHI:
Captain Muhammad Imran scored a hat-trick to guide Army Seniors to a 3-1 victory over PAF in their Chief of the Army Staff Challenge Hockey Cup match yesterday at the Army Hockey Stadium, Rawalpindi.
PAF took the lead through a penalty corner converted by Mudassar in the 10th minute, which was levelled by Imran in the 14th minute. The skipper then went on to score two more goals in the 23rd and 45th minutes to wrap up the match.
Army Seniors now top Pool A with three straight wins.
In the next match, SSGC’s Shakeel Abbasi started off with a penalty corner goal in the seventh minute against Wapda, with Yasir Shabbir scoring on the 37th minute to give SSGC a 2-0 lead.
Wapda replied with a goal through Muhammad Imran in the 38th minute but Waqas Sharif struck in the 43rd to level the scores as the match ended at 2-2.
Meanwhile, Punjab drew 2-2 with Police in the last match of the day.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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Who is Sajida al-Rishawi? And why does ISIS care about her?
She's remembered as the would-be bomber whose device failed to detonate in a string of otherwise deadly terror attacks at Jordanian hotels in 2005.
Women’s football: Balochistan United seek new talent
KARACHI: Balochistan United (BU) Women FC are looking to recruit the best pool of talent available in the country this season after successfully gaining recognition through the South Asian Football Federation (Saff) Championship, which included 10 of their players.
BU and national team manager Raheela Zarmeen has said that the players are more motivated after their November stint at the event. “People recognise us now,” Raheela told The Express Tribune. “Earlier, no one would care about women’s football so being recognised is an achievement in itself.
“Now players come for practice with a lot more enthusiasm.”
According to the manager, one of the achievements of BU was to become the first women’s club in the country to bag a major sponsorship from K-Electric last year.
And they are now looking to sign Young Rising Stars’ Sahar Zaman and Model Town Football Association’s Shayan, but the transfers are not easy despite being them perceived as the richest women’s football club in the country.
“We wanted to sign Sahar and Shayan but their parent clubs aren’t releasing them. They are asking for Rs200,000 at least, which is unfair because the Pakistan Football Federation’s (PFF) approved NOC fee for their transfers at Rs4,500 each,” said Zarmeen.
However, the PFF has asked the two clubs to release the players, who have shown their interest in joining BU.
‘We need more exposure’
Raheela laments their uneventful calendar year which includes only two competitions: the inter-club championship in May and the national championship in September.
Since BU has been in the process of shifting their headquarters to Karachi from Quetta due to the law-and-order situation, things have become a bit more complicated.“We need more events generally. The men’s teams, including all the age groups, have 38 events this year, which comparatively is unfair,” the official rued.
“And now that we are in Sindh, the Sindh Women’s Football Association doesn’t want to see BU compete here.”
BU will begin their season next month with training.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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Asian Cup: South Korea brush aside Iraq to enter final
SYDNEY: South Korea stormed into the Asian Cup final with a clinical 2-0 victory over Iraq yesterday, avenging a painful defeat at the same stage eight years ago.
Goals from Lee Jeong-Hyeop and Kim Young-Gwon did the job for the Koreans, who dominated a wet semi-final in Sydney to move a step closer to ending a title drought dating all the way back to 1960.
They will face hosts Australia or the UAE this weekend in their first final appearance at Asia’s showcase tournament in 27 years.
“We can’t speak about pressure anymore,” South Korea’s coach Uli Stielike told reporters. “We came to Australia as the third-ranked team in Asia and we have achieved all the goals we set. What comes now is extra. We have already taken a big step forward.”
The German insisted that South Korea’s 1-0 win over Australia in the group stage would count for little if, as he predicted, they meet the Socceroos again on Saturday.
“You know what Australia team we played that day,” he said. “[Mile] Jedinak injured, [Tim] Cahill on the bench, [Mathew] Leckie on the bench, [Robbie] Kruse on the bench. “We didn’t play the best Australia team. For me there is no doubt they will reach the final and we have to be prepared to play the best Australia team.”
South Korea simply overpowered the Iraqis with Lee climbing to glance in a free kick from Kim Jin-Su after 20 minutes.
Golden boy Son Heung-Min had already forced goalkeeper Jalal Hassan into a smart save with a long-distance rocket before Lee – a surprise Asian Cup call-up by Stielike – netted his second goal of the tournament.
Lee, who scored in the 1-0 win over Australia in the group stages, turned provider five minutes after the break, chesting down a high ball for Kim to smash home from the edge of the box.
Iraq, who prevailed 7-6 on penalties after a helter-skelter 3-3 draw in 2007, rarely threatened despite the presence of the match’s hero Younis Mahmoud.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” said Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil. “Korea have a quality team with a lot of players in top leagues in the world. For us there were a lot of positives to take from the tournament.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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Kurds take key city back
Kurdish fighters have taken the Syrian city of Kobani from ISIS' grip after 112 days of fighting with the Sunni extremist group, multiple sources say.
Egyptian female cyclists pedal for acceptance
CAIRO: Yasmine Mahmoud cuts a defiant figure as she weaves her bicycle through the chaotic streets of Cairo, a place where few women dare to pedal.
Every day, like for the past four years, she takes her bicycle from her 10th floor apartment and rides through the Egyptian capital, to the astonishment of bystanders.
“Unfortunately, it’s socially unacceptable in Egypt for a girl to ride a bicycle in the street,” said the 31-year-old executive secretary, as she prepared to set off from the upscale Cairo neighbourhood where she lives.
Women enjoy more freedom in Egypt than in deeply conservative Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, but the most populous Sunni Arab country still considers it inappropriate for them to ride bicycles.
Unlike in many countries, the two-wheeler is considered unsafe for travelling in Cairo’s traffic-clogged roads.
For Egyptian women it is all the more challenging given the city’s notorious sexual violence, and female cyclists in particular are targeted by passers-by.
The majority of cyclists in Egypt are working class men, preferring two wheels for running daily errands.
Egyptian Yasmine Mahmoud, a 31-year-old executive secretary, carries her bicycle down steps outside her home in Cairo on December 25, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
Mahmoud’s family objected to her cycling initially, but later started trusting her ability to cruise through the capital’s traffic bottlenecks.
“I used to ride a bicycle when I was a kid, either near the beach where we went for holidays or in sports clubs,” said Mahmoud, dressed in a yellow sweater and blue jeans, and wearing bicycle-shaped earrings.
“It took me a while to ride it again, but now it’s my daily companion.”
Mahmoud now refuses to drive her car unless she has to travel far.
“A bicycle saves both time and the money required for gas,” she said.
“This road would have taken at least half an hour,” she said, pointing to a queue of crawling cars at a roundabout, which she quickly passes on her bicycle.
Egyptian members of the Go Bike group take part in a bicycle ride in Cairo, on December 27, 2014 PHOTO : AFP
In addition to traffic hazards, “verbal sexual harassments and cynical passers-by are big problems too,” said Mahmoud, who still recalls how a young man once tried to forcefully jump behind her on her bicycle.
“I just ignore them and ride on,” she said laughing.
Sexual assaults against women rose following the 2011 uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak, with hundreds of attacks reported, activists say.
But this does not deter Mahmoud, who has taken her passion to a new level. She is a member of Go Bike, a group that promotes cycling.
Every Friday morning, the group arranges cycling tours. Many participants are women keen to learn the sport and wanting to follow Mahmoud.
“I am ready for the challenge,” said Shaimaa Ahmed, a veil-wearing 26-year-old pharmacist, as she brushed dust from her clothes after falling off her bicycle minutes into her first attempt at cycling.
Fifty-year-old amateur Wafaa Ahmed is proof that cycling is not just for the young.
“The only fear is harassment, more than the chaotic traffic and lack of security on the streets,” said the mother-of-two, who wants to travel to her workplace by bicycle.
Go Bike founder Mohamed Samy wants bicycles to replace cars for travelling short distances.
“But what we need are separate lanes for cyclists,” he said.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi threw his weight behind promoting cycling just days after coming to office.
In July last year, Sisi took part in a cycling marathon to encourage people to switch from automobiles.
Go Bike aims to “change society’s perception” about girls riding bicycles, said the group’s spokeswoman Hadeer Samy, wearing a bicycle-shaped necklace.
“We want bicycles to be a means for Egyptian girls to break the moulds of customs and traditions.”
For women still hesitating to ride on their own on the streets, Mahmoud has some words of advice.
“Try not to be scared. Forget those around you, challenge yourself and just enjoy,” she said, hopping onto her bicycle and pedalling off into Cairo’s busy streets.
AFCON: Tunisia top Group B
A 1-1 draw between Tunisia and DR Congo sees them qualify from Group B while Zambia and Cape Verde's goalless draw sees their tournaments end.
UN asked to legislate on sacrilegious material
ISLAMABAD: Speakers at an interfaith conference urged the United Nations (UN) legislate to protect the sanctity of sacred personalities and the holy books of all religions.
They were speaking at a conference organised by the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) here on Monday.
The conference was attended by Federal Information Minister Senator Pervez Rasheed, Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Yaqoob Ahmed, PUC head Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, and more than 33 representatives of different religious and political parties.
The conference also urged the government of Pakistan to convene a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to approach the UN for the same purpose.
The conference also urged moderate political and religious forces to take a unanimous stance on sacrilegious cartoons published by French magazine Charlie Hebdo and other publications.
Speakers said that mocking holy figures hurts the sentiments of their followers and impinging on their fundamental rights.
The conference also urged the European Union and other Western countries to draw a line between freedom of expression and blasphemy.
“The conference believes that the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) stand for love, peace and forbearance. Killing innocent people or denying them justice and rights on the basis of their religion or sect is not only against the teachings of Islam but also antithetic to the teachings of other religions,” it said. They also condemned the Peshawar massacre and extended their support to the government and armed forces in rooting out extremism.
The conference also urged France and other EU countries to ban papers and magazines which have printed satirical sketches of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to maintain interfaith harmony and world peace.
The conference appreciated a statement issued by Pope Francis in response to the publication of offensive cartoons urging him and other religious leaders to further bolster their efforts to ensure that all holy figures were respected.
Rasheed said that millions of Christians and Jews also disagree with the stance of Charlie Hebdo, which was encouraging. United Churches of Pakistan Bishop Bashir Nazir Alam said that Christians have equally been hurt by caricatures published in some Western publications.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
The CII and the marriage question
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) decided last week to once again deliberate upon on what appears to be a favourite topic: women and marriage. Apart from the arbitrary statement regarding the appropriate age and acceptable dress of female judges, the CII opined that the practice of triple talaq or Talaq-e-Salasa, whereby a husband pronounces the requisite three declarations of divorce upon his wife at one time, be declared a crime. The former claim may invite (and probably already has) a host of critics. But surely the latter recommendation can be applauded as driven by the ‘right’ intentions.
Triple talaq, Maulana Sherani argued, is against the sunnah of our Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and ought to be treated as a sin. Criminalising the act would “save families from destruction”, protect the institution of marriage and tame the unilateral prerogative permitted to a man to end a marital union. Whatever the underlying objectives of the CII’s declaration, one may draw two important observations from it: first, the council’s preoccupation with the subject of marriage; second, the fundamental disconnect between the council’s declarations and existing laws governing Muslim marriage in Pakistan.
Just this past year, the council issued two edicts declaring un-Islamic legislative provisions that prescribe a minimum age for marriage of girls and curtail a Muslim man’s right to enter into polygamous unions. Not nearly as progressive as its most recent declaration, one could argue!
Why such focus on the marriage question? Surely, in the midst of the security crisis confronting the country and the ensuing vilification of our religion, the CII would have more pressing matters to concern itself with. However, it appears not.
At the same time, the value of the CII’s prescriptions on marriage remains questionable. For instance, section seven of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (MFLO) and judicial interpretations accorded to it, recognise the legal validity of Talaq-e-Salasa. Would criminalisation of such pronouncement of divorce, along the lines recommended by the CII, then render triple talaq unlawful and invalid? Scholars disagree on the Islamic impermissibility of the practice (often depending on the school of fiqh they associate with). To then criminalise triple talaq, even as a deterrent measure against what is undoubtedly a despised practice, whilst acknowledging its legal effectiveness would only add contradiction and inconsistencies to the law.
Such contradictions however, are not unknown to the legal regime governing family laws in Pakistan: arranging and solemnising the marriage of a girl child under 16 years of age (a practice endorsed by the council) is, as highlighted in an earlier column, a crime under Pakistani law. Yet, the law will not question the legal validity of such union, particularly where it has been consummated. Likewise, the failure to fulfil the mandatory requirement of registration of a nikah with designated nikah registrars under section five of the MFLO, does not derogate from the legitimacy of the marriage contract and instead is treated by the courts as a mere ‘irregularity’ punishable with imprisonment or a fine. The procedure surrounding divorce is as complex. Talaq pronounced in violation of the mandatory provision of notice to the chairman of the Arbitration Council under section seven of the MFLO, though subject to a penalty, does not necessarily invalidate the divorce proceedings.
Our family law regime then poses an interesting conundrum: conduct designated by it as criminal is nonetheless accorded legal recognition. The justification: To prescribe otherwise would amount to a direct violation of ‘accepted’ injunctions of Islam, for which procedural niceties legislated into law are of no relevance.
Such complexity is actually symptomatic of a larger problem. Muslim family law is burdened by dualistic and conflicting loyalties, of adherence to accepted religious norms and the need to progressively reform and regulate social practices. It is this dualism that (in addition to other factors) permits the CII continued room to comment on questions of marriage, in both (ostensibly) progressive and more conservative tones. Though its commentary is entirely advisory in nature and carries limited legal force, the articulation by the CII of an alternative narrative that undermines the legitimacy of the family law regime is problematic. Until such dualism in the law governing Muslim marriage is reconciled, legally incongruous edicts passed by the CII shall persist and will also continue to claim an audience.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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India: It wasn’t a terror boat
According to Indian news outlets, on the night between December 31 and January 1, the Indian Coast Guard reported that a boat had sunk after catching fire at a place which was 15 kilometres inside Indian waters off the coast of Porbandar. The guards had chased it for an hour and fired warning shots, intending to interrogate the people on the boat. The boatmen failed in their attempt to flee, went below the deck and then there was fire. The boat sank, leaving no trace of men or equipment.
The issue was instantly taken up by Indian government officials and the Indian press and another yarn was quickly woven to drag Pakistan in. How can India lose a possible opportunity for negative propaganda against Pakistan? The Indian defence minister insisted that it was a terrorist boat, a claim which he suggested was proved by circumstantial evidence. He, however, forgot to mention what the circumstantial evidence was.
A retired Indian admiral has said that the photographs of the burning boat definitely indicate that there were no explosives on the boat because that would result in a white-hot blast and not the orange glow emitted by the ignition of diesel flames. The Indian Express reported that the boat was actually on a smuggling run carrying dates, alcohol and heroin for a Balochistan-based smuggler. A noted Indian defence analyst and retired military officer, Ajai Shukla, has said that as it stands, the coastguard’s story of the high seas encounter doesn’t stand scrutiny.
How does the Indian defence minister know that it was a boat from Pakistan with not a shred of evidence of any sort? Why is it that no debris, even small pieces of wreckage, were not collected by the coastguards for a forensic examination to determine the cargo on the boat? How is it that a boat with a small engine could not be overtaken by four highly-powered coastguard ships?
India’s Congress party is repeatedly saying that it could not be a Pakistani boat and that there ought to be a full inquiry of the issue. Pakistan has, of course, denied any sort of involvement simply because there wasn’t any. What I can surmise from whatever has been said and done so far is this:
1) The Indian Coast Guard is either extremely inefficient (by their own admission) or has most likely concocted a story under the direction of the BJP government, that also done very poorly; 2) If the persons on the boat were terrorists, they would most likely have wanted to take some of the coastguards with them rather than die alone and meekly. That is what terrorists would have done; 3) What if there indeed was a boat of smugglers, defenceless against the Indian coastguards, who attacked and sunk the boat. The BJP then decided to capitalise on the incident to continue its relentless propaganda against Pakistan, particularly so in the wake of Barack Obama’s visit; 4) Alternatively, Indian authorities could have planned the whole episode and executed it with prior intentions to malign Pakistan. India is known to have done that previously.
The Pakistan government must lodge strong protest against this irresponsible and provocative conduct by Indian authorities. It should be impressed upon the international community that whereas Pakistan is actively fighting terrorism, Indian efforts to sabotage these efforts are against international peace and harmony. Closer to home, what are our diplomats doing about it?
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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Is liberté absolute?
Europe may never be the same again. Even while Chancellor Merkel extends an olive branch to Muslims, the Pegida protestors, swelling in numbers on the streets of Dresden, chant full-throated slogans against them. Despite French President Francoise Hollande’s extended outreach, mosques in France seem to be under siege. The Kouachi brothers’ bizarre and brutal act to supposedly ‘avenge’ the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) has created a huge wedge in Europe. Charlie Hebdo, in blissful ignorance, always claimed that by depicting the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), no law was violated, but had no qualms about the deep hurt this continues to cause.
The savage attacks against the French weekly and the Jewish supermarket, resulting in the loss of so many lives had the obvious jihadist footprints that had links far beyond France. Muslims all over France and in many parts of Europe are in utter shock and disbelief, with lurking fears of being subjected to more profiling, more stereotyping and more social intimidation in times to come. France, as a country with a rich cultural heritage, has readily fallen back on its spiritual foundations — linking its national resolve to the three eternal principles of the French Republic: liberté, égalité, fraternité. It is indeed going back to the philosophic plank of the French Revolution — an event that transformed the course of modern history. The recent brutal attack is being considered as an attack on these key pillars of the Republic. It was liberté which guaranteed free expression, the manifestation of man’s individuality. Ever since the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, liberté had been the ultimate end — the excellence to think freely and the freedom to do anything that did not harm others.
The same declaration also underscored the significance of égalité — equality before the law. Liberté was the higher end and required a clear pathway in order to be achieved. Keeping the intent and spirit of the declaration intact, the means to achieve this ideal was only through fraternité — which requires an unflinching bond with the community and fellow beings. While liberté was the end, fraternité was the way forward, which could help achieve it. This mandated meeting the obligations to the community one lived in.
While liberté is both a right and a privilege, fraternité is the obligation and responsibility. In this continuum, one cannot enjoy any right without sharing the commensurate responsibility. Nothing is more relevant today than a correct understanding of this nuance in a complex multicultural society like France. The country, as of today, is a diverse mix of different races, religions and cultures, with each group seeped in its own traditions. For instance, the bodies of the four French Jews, who lost their lives in the shootout in the supermarket, were airlifted to Israel for burial. This is just one glaring example of cultural particularism in France. The country has the largest Muslim population in the European Union of over six million. It has the largest black population, which exceeds two million. It also has the largest Jewish population, mostly Sephardic Jews. Multiculturalism in France, in a way, is deeply rooted in the history of the extractive relationship between the country’s colonial outposts and Metropolitan France. Unlike the ‘economic colonies’ of the British Empire, France boasted of ‘settlement colonies’. At one stage, nearly a million French men had been living in Algeria even during the civil war. With decolonisation, a process of immigration from the colonies gained pace.
The value of the three abovementioned principles needs to be seen in the ever-evolving multicultural context. The three values are closely inter-connected while opinion-makers in France wish to see the principal of liberté on a standalone basis. In a pluralistic society, liberté and freedom cannot be sustained over time while overlooking the broad overlap of the principal of fraternité. The persistent irreverence of Charlie Hebdo cannot be condoned in the name of free speech, with intense and persistent protests by mainstream Muslims. A line has to be drawn between free speech and hate speech. What if someone comes up with a counter-narrative on the Holocaust? Would the French media and state organs tolerate that narrative? A rare display of fraternité was given by Ahmed Merabet, the Muslim policeman who laid down his life while trying to stop the Charlie Hebdo attackers from escaping. The bravery of yet another Muslim, Lassana Bathily was also an enviable display of fraternité. At the Jewish store where Bathily worked, a scene of hostage-taking on gun-point, he risked his life by whisking away terror-stricken customers to a chiller to save their lives. Fraternité is not what Charlie Hebdo stands for. Fraternité is what Merabet and Bathily did for the Republic.
France needs to take care of its backyard. The Kouachi brothers were the products of a ghetto culture where the ideology of hate and revenge flourished, which is what ultimately fosters violence and militancy. Muslims in France must also mull over the problem of strengthening their compact with their homeland. They have reasons to feel hurt but there are more persuasive ways to bring the state and society to understand their point of view.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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Facebook unveils ‘lite’ app for emerging markets
WASHINGTON: Facebook said Monday it is testing a lightweight version of its mobile app for mobile phones with poor-quality internet connections in emerging markets.
A spokesman told AFP in an email that the “Facebook Lite” Android app is designed “for people on 2G (second-generation) connections or in areas of limited Internet accessibility.”
The move expands Facebook’s efforts to grow the world’s biggest social network, which already has more than a billion users.
Most of Facebook’s growth is coming from emerging markets, but many people lack the phones or computers needed for the full-featured app.
The “lite” version can allow users with low-cost Android handsets to quickly load Facebook feeds and photos.
Technology news website TechCrunch said the app was launched in several countries in Asia and Africa over the weekend, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Facebook has previously launched a version of its service for people with simple mobile phones.
The social network has launched a project called Internet.org to help bring connectivity to undeserved regions of the world.
Syriza shows the failure of ‘cartel politics’
Alexandre Afonso says Syriza's victory in Greek elections signals the failure of the "cartel politics" used to implement austerity measures in the debt-ridden countries of southern Europe.
The King of Hearts — an obituary
The Australian musician Nick Cave, who often touches on love and death, once mused on a great man’s last rites (his own), “The motorcade will be ten miles long, the world’ll join for a farewell song … they’ll sound a flugelhorn, and the sea will rage, and the sky will storm. All man and beast will mourn. When I go.”
And so it was, if in a land far from Mr Cave’s jazz riffs: the desert sands of Riyadh. Last Friday, the world woke in panic to find Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Leading Light of the Ummah, had passed away.
The anguish spread far and wide through Muslim lands. Particularly despairing were Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Iraq, and Syria — united only by their love for the king (and unrelated battles with terrorism).
But beyond sites of civil strife, a man is also known by his friends. George H W Bush called him a “dear friend and partner”. Israeli President Rivlin mourned that “his wise policies contributed greatly to our region and to the stability of the Middle East,” a statement that states the obvious.
Egypt’s Sisi was most earnest, “The Arab nation (has) lost a leader of its best sons.” Many noted the general’s subtle self-praise — Sisi himself was one of the king’s best sons. In bringing back the military in Cairo, the general owes much to the king. Long live his swagger stick over those Brotherhood-electing Egyptians.
And Nawaz Sharif, in agony over the King’s health, rushed to Riyadh the second time in weeks. The king had a “special place in the hearts of every Pakistani,” said Mr Sharif, and Pakistanis everywhere wept along. In the king, Mr Sharif may have seen a kindred soul: a gentle reformer with an image problem, in a land where power is shared between brothers.
The obits were, as always, unjust. They qualified the king’s reforms with feeble adjectives: the IMF called him “a discreet but strong advocate of women”. The New York Times said he “nudged” Saudi Arabia forward. And Reuters called him a “cautious” reformer.
‘Discreet’, ‘cautious’, ‘nudged’; as always, the non-Khaleeji press played it safe. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria tried the mostest — “an extraordinary figure,” he managed.
Let’s see the facts. Abdullah was crowned in 2005, but by the grace of the ailing Fahd, was running the place 10 years yore. He allowed women the vote, but forbade them from driving — a fatherly figure who knew the line between right and wrong.
Which was why justice was swift under the king. So lawful was his reign, state executioners complained they were overworked (and late in coming home to their families). A blogger was lashed 50 times, two weeks ago. And a rape victim was sentenced to 90 lashes soon after King Abdullah’s crowning.
Lo, unvarnished justice.
And with justice came accountability. When 15 schoolgirls died in a dormitory fire, because the religious police hadn’t let them escape (they weren’t appropriately dressed), the king was Significantly Upset. He went as far as sacking the head of women’s education (presumably male).
Yes, the king had his finger on the people’s pulse: even as he flew in fleets of jumbo jets, he directed that princes pay all their phone bills. He was also the first royal to be photographed visiting the shack of an impoverished Saudi citizen, such was His Majesty’s humility. No pharaoh was he: he swatted the heads of petitioners with a ‘slender’ bamboo stick, were they to attempt bowing or kissing the royal digits.
But King Abdullah was also a staunch supporter of the Bush family — the al-Sauds’ personal friends — in their crusade against Moslem terror. Following 9/11, King Abdullah famously wrote to George W., “God, in his mercy … (enables) us to transform such tragedies into great achievements.”
That great achievement proved the War on Terror: so close were their ties, the Bushies forgot 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, and invaded Afghanistan and Iraq instead.
Yet even in a complex world, the king never forgot House Saud’s DNA: the Wahhabi School, a doctrine rooted in warm tradition. Famous alumni (under Provost Abdullah) include the Taliban, al-Nusra, and Boko Haram, all beneficiaries of the kingdom’s vast wealth.
But many proved ungrateful. Like evil stepchildren, ISIS and al Qaeda strayed from the righteous path, and were excommunicated by the Saudi clergy. Shame on them.
Speaking of shame, Pakistan’s current leadership was equally blessed by His Majesty’s petro patronage. WikiLeaks uncovered the true extent: as of 2008, says a cable, 100 million dollar cash injections were making their way to Pakistan on a yearly basis from Saudi Arabia — for religious charities in Southern Punjab. The king’s investment has since reaped rich harvests, and Southern Punjab has changed beyond recognition: an oasis of peace between the sects.
Forgetting the philanthropist, hard it may be, and we find Abdullah the statesman. He brought peace to tiny, troubled Bahrain, through excellent ‘military advisers’. He proposed to John ‘Waterboarder’ Brennan that terror detainees be implanted with e-chips, to track their movements via Bluetooth. It worked on horses and falcons, the king said. Brennan replied, “Horses don’t have good lawyers.”
Many laughs were had, and the USA and the KSA grew ever closer — two free nations brought together by oil, arms, and former friend Saddam Hussein.
But none of it comes close to capturing the king’s belovedness, or the universality of his admirers — from Texan tycoons to Yemeni criminals. According to Robert Lacey’s book, Osama bin Laden once told a fellow jihadi about a dream that stayed with him (Abdullah had yet to be crowned). In his dream, Bin Laden heard the sounds of celebrations and “looked over a mud wall”, to see Abdullah arriving — to the joy of cheering throngs.
“It means Abdullah will become king,” Bin Laden said. “That will be a relief to the people and make them happy. If Abdullah becomes king, then I will go back.”
Yes, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud ruled in the hearts of all: the sheikhs and the Sharifs, the Bushes and the Bin Ladens, the Israels and the Egypts.
So blinding was his light, it may be greedy to wish for more of him in the world.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2015.
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