2012

Friday, July 20, 2012

Role of Human Resource Management - Contemporary Time


The purpose of this report is to identify the latest trends in the “Role of Human Resource Management”. HRM is defined as “a science which manages the employees in an organization in order to achieve organization objectives.” The ‘Role of HRM’ means the ‘purpose’ for which HRM actually exists in an organization; and the ‘work’ that it is expected to do. This report illustrates how the purpose of HRM has shifted from a ‘support function for senior management’ to being a ‘key player in strategy making and strategy implementation’.  The report also considers examples of organizations who have adopted this shift in the roles of HRM, and also considers the benefits and shortcomings of the new roles.
The traditional role of Human Resource Management (or Personnel management) has been as a clerical, support function for senior management. HRM has only been expected to execute policies, deal with paperwork and administration, and do other mundane and mechanical tasks. These tasks have included only the procedural works involved in selection, recruiting, retaining, training and performance evaluation etc. Because of the nature of these tasks, senior management has considered HR to be ‘disconnected’ with the real objectives of the company and a department that does not contribute any value to the Organization.  Dissatisfaction with HR in the past has been such that organizations had started thinking of disbanding HRM completely, or outsourcing it (Ulrich 1998).
However academia has argued that, in a globalized world, competition has increased so much that the only true competitive advantage an organization can now have, is its Human Capital, and for this reason doing away with HR is out of the question. At the turn of the millennium, Dave Ulrich (1997; 1998) suggested new roles which he believed could better utilize the potential of Human Capital. These new roles were for HRM to act as ‘Strategic partners’, as ‘Change Agents’, as ‘Administrative Expert’, and as ‘Employee advocates’ for the organization. Ulrich’s model has continued to evolve over time and is still being gradually adopted by organizations (Bowen et al 2002; Ulrich 2005; Wright 2008).
Of the four roles mentioned above, the ‘Strategic Partner’ role has gained most popularity and acceptance. Strategy is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as ‘a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term aim’. It was suggested that HR personnel should focus on delivering results rather than doing tasks; the desired results being to align the employees and HR policies with the organization’s goals (Beer 1997; Ulrich 1997).

In the strategic partner role, HRM is first of all, expected to have both a deeper and broader set of knowledge and skills. They need to have in-depth understanding of particular HR areas (they need to be HR ‘specialists’ rather than ‘generalists’), and they also need to have wider cross-discipline knowledge {for example knowledge of Finance and Marketing}. Being Strategic Partners would also require HRM to have a comprehensive knowledge of the industry, knowledge of Market demands and knowledge of all of the organization’s departments.
Equipped with this knowledge, HRM is to participate in the process of building and implementing business strategy. They are to advise management on the impact of HRM strategies upon the organization as a whole, to identify how to achieve organizational goals through the workforce and to mold HR policies to achieve strategic objectives (Ulrich 1998). Many practical examples of the strategic role have been realized: for example when senior management at Colgate was working on a strategy to increase Revenues, their HRM implemented a compensation system that depended upon ‘growth in sales’, arguing that workforce will increase productivity and quality in order to achieve the growth.
Next, the ‘employee champion’ role of HRM will be explained. As has been stated before, in the current state of globalization, cut-throat competition, economic downturn and technological advancement, Human Capital is the only competitive advantage that an organization can sustain. However to take advantage of Human capital, HRM must ensure a committed, productive, satisfied and motivated workforce that is aligned with the interests of the organization (Ulrich 1998). An example of the lack of alignment can be a dissatisfied, hourly paid, worker who (acting in his own interest) will only wish to ‘pass time’ to make his salary; on the other hand an ‘aligned’ worker will think of the betterment of the company and will work to the full of his ability. To achieve this alignment, HRM needs to attend to employee needs, solve their problems, avoid confrontations and convey employee concerns to senior management. A practical example of HRM in the ‘employee champion’ role is Hewlett Packard (HP) which carries out regular surveys of employees to hear their concerns and then takes step to address them.
More recent trends in the ‘employee champion’ role includes things like: HRM introducing flexible working-hours policies so that workers can achieve better work-life balance by enhancing communication between management and employees so that issues and concerns can be quickly realized and solved, before they have any detrimental effect on workforce morale. HRM is also attempting to create a social culture in the organization that is desirable, friendly and fair so that people can fit into it more readily and feel a sense of belonging to the organization, helping employees to develop their careers independently of the organization. With these measures in place, employees would believe that the Organization is sincere and beneficial to them, and so they would be motivated to work for organizational benefits rather than in their own interests (increased productivity).   (Ulrich 2005)
Now the ‘Change Agent’ role of HRM will be considered. The world is moving at a tremendous pace and to keep up with competition organizations need to cope with continuous change. Unfortunately people always have a natural ‘fear’ and ‘reluctance’ to change and this can hamper progress. Ulrich proposed that HR personnel should be made responsible for creating a framework and strategy to allow for ‘change’ to happen easily and smoothly at an organization. To do this, HRM must take the workforce into trust, it must illustrate to them that change is actually beneficial, and that company values will always kept in mind while accepting change.
In the “administrative expert” role, HRM personnel are expected to perform its functional role (traditional role) more efficiently by taking responsibility of the results and impact on the organization. HRM should also undertake activities to reengineer the work processes and to increase the efficiency by hiring, training and rewarding those workers who achieve the desire goals of organization. (Ulrich 1997)

More recent advancements in the strategic role involve actually measuring the outcomes of HR strategies and adapting to improve the results.  For example, Huselid, Becker and Beatty devised a variation of the Balance score card method, which is called the HR or Workforce Scorecard (Husseild et al 2005). This method involves judging a certain set of categories: ‘Workforce Mindset’, ‘Workforce Competencies’, ‘Workforce Behavior’ and ‘Workforce Success’, by looking at several more readily measurable qualities. These measurable qualities could include for example, the extent to which employees identify with organization objectives (a measure of Workforce Mindset), or the percentage of employees with the most demanded skills (a measure of Workforce Competencies), or the percentage decrease in customer complaints (a measure of Workforce Success). By answering several of these questions, HRM can get an idea of where it stands in the respective categories and can then focus its effort to improve in those areas (Huselid et al 2005). For example if workers do not personally feel for the organization’s objectives then measures should be taken to increase loyalty and sense of belonging; these can include culture building activities and rewards based upon company performance. Similarly if Workforce Competency score is low, HRM needs to focus on providing training in the most demanded skill areas.
Further to facilitate the strategic role of HRM, another contemporary trend is the wide adoption of technology such as e-HRM, Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Virtual HRM (V-HRM).  The idea mainly is for automated systems and networks to take over the old functional and operational tasks and hence allow HR management more time to focus on the strategic side of their work, additionally these systems also save costs and time for the organization as a whole and boost productivity.
Additionally technology can also contribute more directly to the strategic activities. For example databases and spreadsheets can make available more accurate and relevant data on costs and value which can be used by HR management in decision making (for example doing Cost-Benefit analysis of Training.}. Similarly IT solutions exist for efficient implementation of strategy through ‘software assisted’ organization and planning.
 Surveys show that in the current age, majority of the companies have adopted some form of electronic solution for HRM (CIPD 2005). For example Cancer Research UK is using an electronic recruiting system and Marks and Spencer uses a fully automated, electronic payroll and pension system (Parry Tyson 2011). Hewlett-Packard uses interactive online training programs for its employees and British Petroleum uses portals and forums to allow communication between the employees and management (Ulrich 2005).
Nearing the conclusion of this report, we will note that the new roles of HRM have several benefits. The new roles, unlike the traditional ones, create respect, credibility and acceptance for HRM and ensure that Organizations no longer consider HRM to be expendable. By helping with framing strategies and achieving results through the workforce, they benefit Senior Management. By adding value to the organization and by improving productivity, they benefit shareholders. By ensuring that HR strategy is focus on Market demands, they benefit for customers. And finally by providing fair and desirable work-environment they benefit employees.
However whereas the new roles introduce several; benefits, they also have several disadvantage associated with them. For example, senior and line management is not always welcoming to the idea of HRM participating in strategy making; indeed they might have prejudices against the department and may tend to disagree with the HRM’s opinions. Conflicts might also arise between the ‘strategic partner’ and ‘employee champion’ role of HRM; employee interests and management interests can sometimes conflict and so confusion and suspicion can arise among the workforce as to ‘whose side is HRM taking’. Finally with so much focus on a cross-discipline knowledge, HR specialists and a strategic role for HRM, the question invariably arises as to who is left to deal with the old operational and administrative tasks of HRM, which still need to be done to keep the organization running. This is what happened in Unisys (IT services provider) when too much strategic approach was used and management found it difficult to consult the concerned HR personnel when issues relating to employees arose. Indeed several observes have reported the deficiency in operational roles that is being created by assigning new Strategic roles to HRM (Francis Keegan 2006)
 Although technology is slowly proving helpful in taking over the procedural roles, but problems exist with it as well. One of the issues is that the benefits of technology are perhaps largely theoretical and the results, especially strategic ones, have not been properly quantified, measured or researched. In the few cases in which results have been measures the findings sometimes go against expectations: showing relatively minor cost saving and indeterminate effect on achieving strategic goals. (Parry Tyson 2011)   It has been suggested that difficulty of use and resistance to accept change are some of the causes of the causes behind this lack of results. (Huub Tanya Mandy 2007).
Human Capital is the most valuable and most under-utilized asset of any organization. Human talent is the only competitive advantage by which an organization can address to new challenges of change, globalization and workforce diversity and increase the productivity not only in the short-run but also in the long-run. The contemporary trends listed above can enable management to make better use of this asset in order to increase value for all stakeholders of the organization if carried out efficiently.
Now coming to HRM perspective in Pakistan, the science of HRM only came known in Pakistan after the incident of 9/11.During the last decade huge amounts of foreign aid flowed into the country resulting in the rapid growth of economy. Thus the private sector expanded exponentially and Pakistan became an attractive place for foreign investors, including MNCs. The management techniques of HRM started being imported to the country. Therefore the need for having legitimate practices of HRM in local private sector also grew in order to sustain this development process.
The culture generally prevalent in Pakistani organizations is of centralized decision making with uneven power distribution in favor of top executive management. Moreover employees avoid confrontation with seniors and resort to sycophancy in order to get good performance appraisals and promotions. This type of culture has certainly hampered the development of HRM in Pakistan.
A female HR manager in an organization recounts her experience in this manner:
“I faced resistance from old employees and from top management too. Resistance from top management as they do not understand the true nature of HR. At one place the top management used to forward every problem to HR whether it had a link with HR or not. Production is not up to the mark, problem comes to HR. Security cameras not working, and problem comes to HR”
But even after all such limitations, the GLOBE research explains that employees in Pakistan desire more egalitarian culture and the organizations are generally moving towards the strategic role of HRM with a slow pace. Ms. Sanam Mujeeb Sheikh, Manager HR, KSB Pumps, explains:
“Scope of HR Management in Pakistan is very bright. Operationally HR has become very strong now as almost every organization is following the basic practices of HR Management. However, from a global perspective we are still at the primary stage of HR Management. The HR department of any organization should be a strategic business partner for the company. Human Resource is the bridge between the employer and employee and this makes the role of HR department important.”
The above statements of professional managers attests to the fact that the private sector in Pakistan have come to realize the importance of a fully functional HRM department in an organization. Therefore we can conclude that the role of HRM in Pakistan is still in the developing stage but the future looks promising and organizations are more willing to adopt new strategic functions of HRM. 

Written By: Asim Ali Dogar (Bsc LUMS)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Draft Law and Religion In Pakistan - Review


This article serves the purpose of highlighting the impact of religious laws in Pakistan. This article diverts the reader’s attention towards the implementation and interpretation of these laws without going into the finer and complex nuances of either law or religion. The text of the article suggests that the promulgation of legislation enacted as Islamic in Pakistan has been used by the state to control and discipline the imagination of its citizens and to limit the political choice of populace.  Unfortunately the politics on the name of Islam is also a common practice to crush political opposition and gain legitimacy, especially for autocratic regimes. The alarming issue here is that these laws served nothing good but these laws affect ordinary citizens on daily basis. Social fabric and plurality of Pakistani society is badly ruptured. Contrary to the claims only negative changes are observed after the consecutive attempts to make Pakistan an Islamic state.

The article highlights the problem of identity crisis and the confusion and disillusionment regarding the legal and political doctrine in Pakistan. The confusion in the minds of masses on the ideology of Pakistan as an Islamic or secular state is still not solved. One of the main reasons of this confusion is also the politics through which a separate state Pakistan was achieved by Jinnah and Muslim League but before the boundary commission the politics of Jinnah revolved around Islam and his 11th august speech which clearly states Pakistan as a secular state.

After creation of a new state in Muslims dominant western regions as Pakistan, Muslim league was not in position to dodge people on the question of religion. Islam was the driving force throughout the whole process of partition. The Lahore Resolution in 1940 and the elections of 1945-46 were the two prominent and notable incidents which depict the political situation at that time. These two events show a very good picture of how Islam was used to mobilize Muslims of Indian subcontinent for the cause of a separate state. This tactic for mobilization worked very effectively and Muslim league gathered a huge support of Muslims throughout India.
Soon after partition a demand for incorporation of Islamic laws in constitution and for bringing different sets of laws in conformity with Islam continued. The dominant feature in all the three constitutions of Pakistan was injunction of Islamic principles. It was assured in all these constitution that anything contrary to Islam’s basic principles would be invalid even though the state commitment in this regard varied greatly. The state used Islam as a special tool for political negotiations, legitimizing itself, and gaining political and moral support of masses for itself on various occasions.


The article informs its readers that the post-partition state of Pakistan inherited the colonial state structure as its very first constitution was ‘Government Act of India 1935’ with minute changes in it. To understand the Pakistani state structure the need is to analyze the colonial state structure as well. The colonial state structure was designed to exploit the resources and labor force of India for commercial and economic interests of the Empire. Legislation backed by force of implementing machinery was the device to control and to amend the behavior of the indigenous people in response to the colonial exploitation. The violence of state and severe penalties imposed by laws made sure that the native population never disturbs the interests of the colonial regime.

The article suggests that from jurisprudential perspective, there has been much confusion and a variety of postulations claiming the doctrine governing Pakistan’s legal structure. The most prominent is the basic structure argument, that pursuant to the events leading to creation of Pakistan, and subsequent State Acts such as the objectives’ resolution, the preamble of all constitution, the state has a certain minimal structure that may be termed its basic structure, comprising if such inherent principles as being Islamic, which cannot be changed. Another view that courts have explored is the hierarchy of applicable law, which differs under different regimes or political setups.

Under the military, the military law takes over any other, the Civil Code and Islamic taking turns in hierarchy. During the setup labeled as the civil rule, determination of norms is such a nature as may be observed same to one that is secular. The article points toward the fact that at numerous instances Islamic law is applied as a tool of interpretation of the Civil Code or the legislation and applicable law. Judges, in employing the law, have and have not used religious principles in their legal reasoning. Many a times these adjudicate political issues.

Finally, the author in his article highlights various legislations, legislative acts and amendments which are stained in the color of Islam under different constitutions and political and military regimes. The author in his article mentions objective resolution and argued that it has found expression in all three constitutions of Pakistan as a preamble. It was made as a substantive part of the current constitution under Article 2A through a presidential ordinance by General Zia in 1985. The current laws against Ahmadis were never seen before 73’s constitution. They were not even the part of original 73’s constitution. They were enacted via 2nd amendment deeming them Non-Muslims by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1974.

After, Bhutto’s government was over thrown by General. Zia a new wave of Islamization was observed in the country. The most notable legislative acts through Presidential Ordinances under Islamization process are the Zina, Qazaf, Prohibition and Property Ordinances. In 1984, an ordinance under title of ‘Anti-Islamic Activities of Qadyani Group Ordinance’ was promulgated which added something very brutal and against the basic ‘Fundamental Rights’ which are granted by the constitution of Pakistan to its every citizen. New sections 298B and 298C were introduced in Pakistan Penal Code, refraining and penalizing Ahmadis in case of proffesing their religious obligations. Several institutions under Islamic titles which are still enjoying constitution protection, like Federal Shari’ at Court and Council of Islamic Ideology, were created.

Concluding and analyzing the current legal framework of Pakistan it is evident that Pakistan’s legal system is derived from English Common Law and is based on the much amended 1973’ Constitution and Islamic law. The rule of law in this country has suffered due to the reason of holding the political setup by military. Political process and democratic governance in this country is frequently disturbed by military take over. Tensions between the inherent common Law System and the Islamic law based on Quran are also there. An unexpected outcome of all this practice was that by relying on a policy grounded in Islam, the state fomented factionalism.

PAKISTAN’S EQUITY DERIVATIVE MARKET


This article is an in-depth look at the state of the equity derivative market in Pakistan. It examines the current market state, compares its performance with those of India, and offers explanations for the problems faced by the market. In the end, the writer offers several recommendations on how the various regulatory bodies and institutions can seek to improve the state of the derivative market.
We start of by defining exactly what a derivative is. A derivative is a financial instrument whose value and cash flows depend on the value and cash flows of an underlying asset. Examples of such instruments are forward and future contracts, options, swaps etc. However, in this presentation we only consider the equity derivative market of Pakistan.
The derivatives market in Pakistan was started in 2001, with the introduction of single stock deliverable futures. Since then, various other instruments have been introduced, such as cash settled futures, index futures (based on KSE 30 index) and 7 day cash settled futures.
However, despite these developments the performance of the Pakistan equity derivatives market remains poor, as compared to India (which started its derivatives market in 2000), and other developing countries. The trading volume is 3-4% of the spot market volume, which is very low. Also, most of the investors in this market are individual and small investors. Institutional participation is very subdued, and only limited number of banks, NFBCs, and companies take part in this market. Further, the single stock deliverable future remains the most popular instrument traded, with almost 100% volume attributed to this. Other instruments like cash settled futures and index futures are traded minimally, despite their myriad advantages.
The author bases her reasons on a survey she conducted on reasons for the low participation of institutions in the market. According to her, the major reason for low institutional involvement is the lack of knowledge and technical expertise, along with internal policies prohibiting investment in derivatives. Further, the lack of liquidity is another factor, and the fact that due to technological improvements, the margin calls of derivative investments now come directly to institutions.
The author finally gives some recommendations, which include increasing investor knowledge and human capital development to increase expertise, as well as developing clear and string risk management policies for institutions. Finally, she recommends that public sector get more involved in these markets to improve liquidity.



Can China's Currency Go Global - Commentary


The article “Can China’s Currency Go Global” by John H. Makin considers whether the yuan could replace the dollar as an international reserve. The author delves into the current economic market of the Yuan and its financial viability, while also reflecting on its future. He looks at both sides of the coin, and after due deliberation reaches his conclusion.

The fact which most supports the globalization of the Yuan is China’s rapid emergence as a global economic superpower. As the second largest economy in the world, China accounted for about 90 percent of global growth in 2009. However, the author contends that it cannot be assumed that China’s economic achievements will translate completely into its financial markets. China has not yet achieved financial superiority and the Chinese securities market as yet poses no threat to the US, even though large companies such as Caterpillar and McDonald’s have issued Yuan-denominated bonds. 

Another issue that the author looks at is the growing use of Chinese currency for trade. According to Makin, China is heading towards internationalization of the Yuan and has thereby expanded the scheme that allowed imports and exports to be invoiced in the Yuan, with trade settled in Yuan between June and November 2010 equaling 340 billion Yuan. However, the widespread use of Yuan as a medium of exchange and unit of account (since goods are being invoiced in Yuan) does not necessitate its adoption as a reserve currency. The reason cited for this by the author are the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government.

The adoption of the Yuan as an international reserve must be preceded by a guarantee of full convertibility by the Chinese government. It would have to allow capital outflows and respect property rights. Essentially, lack of full convertibility means that to invest in capital (i.e. buy an equity stake, purchase an asset or take part in any merger/acquisition) in China you need to have an investment holding company in China which requires minimum capital of US$30 million.

Thus, Makin argues that for the Yuan to emerge as a global reserve currency not only is full convertibility imperative, rather it must also forego all further controls on global capital flows and avoid relentless currency intervention.


In his conclusion, the author uses the words ‘evolution, not revolution’, i.e. the Yuan will continue to flourish and develop, however, due to the aforementioned factors it cannot replace the US dollar an as international reserve currency for the foreseeable future.

Analyzing the article, and the ideas presented by the author, we can see that the author points out that steady economic growth has provided China with an opportunity to contest against the US dollar’s role as an international reserve currency and in June 2010 China’s government promoted trade to be conducted in Yuan through the ‘Yuan settlement scheme’.  However, according to our research, it would not be very wise to expect continuous economic growth in the future. As China has an export based economy, the existing global crisis could severely harm demand for its exports. In September 2010 exports rose by 17.1% but fell from a 24.5% growth in the previous month (BBC). This is in line with Makin’s view that present economic achievements notwithstanding, China’s currency cannot be seen as an international reserve in the near future. We agree with this viewpoint, since looking at the ground realities it is very difficult to expect the Yuan to supersede the Dollar in the near future.

Also, currently China’s USD reserves amount to a high proportion of the total reserves, because China has been buying dollars in order to keep the exchange rate low. However in order to successfully globalize its currency it needs to build its metal reserves (gold and silver). China’s current Gold holdings are 1,054 tonnes while China needs around 8000 tonnes to surpass US’ holdings of 8,133 tonnes. In last ten years China has accumulated only 550 tonnes. If China starts buying gold from the international market, rise in demand of gold would result in high prices which will increase china’s cost of purchasing gold. So China’s claim to buy 10,000 tonnes in next 10 years seems unlikely. (International Business Times)

The author further points out that in order to promote internationalization of Yuan, China allowed banks in Hong Kong to accept deposits in Yuan. However, China’s restrictions on capital flows leave people with no incentive to hold Yuan as a reserve currency. We agree with this point completely which is further validated by John Peace, chairman of the British bank Standard Chartered, "I don’t see in the short term the Renminbi replacing the Dollar, what I do see the Renminbi becoming as important as the dollar”.(Voice of America) Also, according to a New York Times article (New York Times), the banking sector in China is not at a mature enough stage to be able to handle the load of full convertibility which does not bode well for the Yuan’s role as a global currency.

Another fact which supports Makin’s view is that the acceptability of Yuan as a reserve currency in the future would depend a lot on the expected inflation rate in China. The fact that China’s inflation is expected to rise in the future, primarily because of artificially fixing exchange rates at a low level, does not place China in a position to contest against USD. Rising inflation would reduce the purchasing power of Yuan. On the other hand USA’s current and expected inflation rates are less than China’s. So it makes more sense to invest in US dollar denominated securities rather than Yuan. (Forecast Chart.com, Trading Economics.com)

Hence, in conclusion, for a currency to turn global it needs high liquidity, central bank credibility, strong internal financial market, and strong bond markets. China has not fulfilled these conditions completely yet. Its financial markets are government controlled and people’s Bank of China does not hold the required credibility. Consequently Chinese currency has a long way to go before it turns global. However, we cannot completely dismiss the Yuan.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 “China's trade growth decelerates amid global slowdown”. October 13, 2011. BBC Com. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15285105)

“Gold Reserves: Tough for China to beat US”. April 13, 2010. International Business Times.

Heda Bayron , China Pushing for Yuan to be Global Currency. January 24, 2011. Voice of America.

David Barboza, “China Pushing for Yuan to be Global Currency”. February 10, 2011. Global Business,  New York Times.(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/business/global/11yuan.html?_r...)


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Remembering the Legend - Dev Anand

It is easy to mimic those that set themselves apart. Perhaps few have been mimicked, caricatured and parodied as much as Dev Anand and that too over several generations. It is testimony to the longevity of the man, the actor, the writer, director, and producer. To be considered as one the triumvirate of the Indian film industry in the 50s and 60s along with Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar speaks volumes of his popularity and contribution.

Dev Anand's career spread over three innings. The first innings was pre-70s and defined him really and catapulted him as one of the three superstars. I have little re-collection of this period, except for a few movies I saw much later in life. 

His second innings, started with a bang with "Johnny Mera Naam" in 1970. Some film historians also claim it was this movie that made Hema Malini famous. If Rajesh Khanna had teenage girls and married woman swooning over him, Dev Anand had his fair share too. And then were guys like Amar, my next door neighbour, who would insist on wearing these ghastly yellow bell-bottom trousers that Dev Anand wore and made famous in one of his movies.


1971 saw the release of the cult movie "Hare Rama Hare Krishna". I recall being on a boat ride at the "Gateway of India" with my family on a dark Sunday evening and they were playing "Dum Maro Dum" the famous song from the movie during the ride. It was a surreal experience. A very topical film (showcased hippie culture), based on a terrific and moving storyline, backed by excellent acting and music that achieved instant cult status, it also gave the Indian film industry its first glamour girl - Zeenat Aman. I dare say, I consider this to be one of my personal favourites. 

Dev Anand continued to make several movies through rest of the 70s, but the one that I enjoyed was the 1978 Des Pardes. Again, highly topical, the movie was based on illegal immigration and exploitation of labour from Punjab to the UK, the movie had everything that one came to expect from a Navketan starrer (the name of his production banner). Above all, it shot to fame Rajesh Roshan, the music director, and introduced Tina Munim.

Dev Anand's third innings that I place in the 80s and onwards is pretty much forgetable. True to his production banner - Navketan, which means newness, he continued to make movies that had different and topical storylines, but somehow he seemed to have lost his ability to connect with the audience. Some of the movies were so bad, I could not sit through its entire length. When asked on his reaction to repeated box office failures and criticism, he would often respond that he did not care as such and would continue to make movies based on his convictions. An artist that does not care for audience feedback is a narcissist, but I dont think Dev saab was one. I think his sheer passion for film making overshadowed everything else, and he just had to go on and go on till death stopped him.

It was on a Shivrathri night, that my college hostel gang and I were watching Guide at a theatre in Vadodara. The song "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai" burst forth on the screen. In unison, most of us were out of our seats, throwing coins at the screen - it was the first and only time, I did such a thing, but now, looking back it perhaps was a good way of paying tribute to this evergreen entertainer.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Terminal Illness and Religiosity: Finding the Link

Religion has been given a paramount importance in cultures across the globe. It has been considered an integral part of cultural beliefs system. Religion plays a significant role in shaping individuals` worldviews. However, the level of attachment with one`s own religious beliefs varies from person to person. The level of attachment with religion has a strong relationship with one`s life experiences. Certain life calamities can take one closer/away to/from religion. As religion often concerns questions related to life hereafter, individuals tend to develop an intimate relation with it whenever they face life-threatening crisis in their lives. Terminal illness is one such unfortunate life events which makes people to search for answers to questions related to death. This paper seeks to investigate the role of religion in the lives of terminally-ill people. Based on the findings of our research on three terminally-ill people, this paper will argue that people tend to turn towards religion more when they are faced with life-threatening illness. The level of religiosity of patients increases during the course of their illness in terms of their greater engagement with different religious practices (religious text and rituals etc). While the role of religion in the lives of terminally–ill people has been studied mostly from psychological perspective, this article seeks to counter the balance and tends to look into the role of religion in the lives of terminally-ill people from an anthropological point of view. This implies to investigate in what different or similar ways religion plays out its role in the lives of terminally-ill people and what kinds of meanings people attached with it.

            A two months fieldwork was carried out for this article in Lahore, during which three terminally-ill patients were interviewed. Two of the research participants were cancer patients while one was a patient of AIDS. Lahore, the capital city of the province Punjab, is an important economic hub of Pakistan and hence attracts a large number of people from the surrounding areas for its better job prospects. Majority of the population is middle and lower-middle class and most of the earning people population either has government jobs or have their own small business set-ups. Like elsewhere in Pakistan, a large part of the population is Muslim with Sunnis making the bulk of them. Other sects among the Muslims in the city include Shias, Ahmadis, and a small number of Ismailis. All of these sects follow various Islamic tenets in various different ways from one another. However, our research only focused on Sunnis mainly because of their greater proportion and hence easy availability in the city. While most of the people strongly identify themselves as Muslim, it is their specific sect within Islam to which they feel much strongly. As compare to other sects, in Sunni Islam the prime importance is given to Quran and the sayings of prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in religious matters. They are required to pray at five specified times in a day. Quran is the holy book and its recitation is considered an act of great value and piety.


The Turning point
Forty-years-old Munir* was living a normal life with his wife and three children in a small house near the main market. He was happy with his life as he was able to run his family smoothly because of his government job. It was in December, 2011 when he got diagnosed with blood cancer and all of a sudden a happy life became a pipe dream for him. He could not believe what had happened to him but it was a bitter reality which he had to accept anyway. However, except his wife, he did not tell anyone about his illness. He calls his life prior to being diagnosed with cancer a “normal” life. He was not a “religious” man whom as he said “prays five times a day and recites the holy Quran”. While he was not regular in his different religious practices, he would consider religion as an important part of life. Religion was important for him in theoretical terms but not in terms of performance and practice. He considered himself to be distant from the religion prior to his illness.  

Salim is fifty-five years old and lives with his wife, two daughters, and three sons. He owns a footwear shop from which he earns enough to support his family. Two of his sons also work which makes it easy to fulfill household expenses. Salim was diagnosed with lung cancer in June, 2011 and since then he has been living a fearful life as doctors have declared his cancer to be in an advance stage. Like Munir, Salim too recalls that he was not regular in his religious practices. Though he would follow religion, he never gave it the degree of importance that he started to it after being diagnosed.

Adil is forty-three and until recently worked overseas as a labor. He was abroad when doctors told him to get a diagnostic test for AIDS and unfortunately his test results were positive. Soon after being diagnosed with AIDS he decided to return home and pursue his treatment in Pakistan because of relatively cheaper treatment expenditure here. In Pakistan his family consists of his wife, two sons, parents, and a sister. However, his wife left him soon after she came to know that Adil has return with an illness which she linked, as Adil said, with his bad relations with other women abroad. Adil suspected that his wife might have left him because of her unpleasant relationships with his sister and mother as she would complain to him about his (Adil`s) mother and sister behavior towards her. In terms religious life, Adil calls himself to be distantly away from religion prior to his illness. He did not consider religion as an important part of his life and always thought of it as a fazool, useless thing. Religion became of a secondary importance to him when he went abroad nine years ago. Adil blamed the circle of his non-religious friends for him being a non-religious.

Prayers: an essential component**
Munir sees praying five times a day an integral of part of Islam. Ever since he got the illness, Munir always makes sure that he does not miss any prayer. Hearing about his illness the first thing he did was to go to a nearby mosque and offer nafl, extra (optional) prayer. He said that he knew that his life would never become like before. He stayed in the mosque until the zuhr, afternoon prayers and all of that time he just kept on praying and asking Allah for his pardon. To Munir, it is not just parying five times a day rather it is all about praying from the core of one`s heart. Also, he thinks that praying at home does not bring that much sawab, reward which a prayer offered in the mosque does. Munir would rarely, generally only on Friday, go to the mosque nearby his home. Before his illness, going to mosque and saying prayer was one of the hardest things for Munir to do. He would spend his lunch and zuhr prayer break in talking to his colleagues at his job place. Some of his colleagues were regular in prayers and they would offer their zuhr prayer during the prayer break. Though Munir would sometimes offer his prayer at office, he never went to mosque during his prayer break, except on Fridays.  However, this has changed ever since his being diagnosed with cancer and now he finds going to mosque a source of great satisfaction. Pehle masjid jane ka dil nahi karta tha lekin ab masjid se bahar dil nahi lagta, earlier I would find it hard to go to mosque but now I do not feel good outside the mosque, he says. Now he is one of his colleagues who regularly go to mosque for offering prayers. He prefers to remain in mosque rather than talking with his colleagues. Praying at mosque is not only a source of comfort for Munir but it also helps him to spend his whole day in a scheduled way. His life has become more productive with it as he is able now to manage different tasks more wisely. Earlier he would not be able to carry out his daily tasks according to schedule, he would often lag behind in completion of different tasks but now it is completely different for him.

Salim, too, has started offering prayer more regularly as compare to earlier when he was not diagnosed with the disease. Although he prefers offering prayer at mosque to home, he is not punctual in going to mosque. Ever since his illness, Salim tries not to miss any prayer and to go to mosque as often as possible. But sometimes it is not just possible for him to go to mosque especially for isha, evening prayer because of the mosque being away from his home. It is not just offering the prayer which has been increased for Salim, the pattern of offering the prayer has also changed for him. As compare to earlier, now he prays for a longer time. He says, the more time he spends on praying the more he becomes oblivious of his illness. Also, he has started telling his children to pray regularly and often takes his youngest son to mosque with him. With going to mosque Salim has developed a new habit of attending bayaans, religious sermons which are often given at after maghreb prayer. Attending these sermons is a way for him to learn about Islam, es se bohat si nai cheezon ka pata chal jata hai, it (sermon) helps in getting know a lot of new things (about Islam). After being aware of different new things, Salim tries to incorporate those things in his life. He tries to follow what has been said in the sermon. However, his not being punctual in going to mosque makes it impossible for him to attend every session of the sermons and hence he has bought Fazail-e-Amal, a book which contains sayings of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH) concerning different religious matters. One of his sons reads excerpts from the book each night at home while all the family members are present to listen to it.     

 For Adil, his attitude towards prayers has not been changed much since his illness. He considers himself not a religious man who “spends most of his time in mosque”. Owing to his life abroad where he had friends circle consisting of both Muslims and non-Muslims and where his Muslim friends never cared about offering prayers, Adil too had never offered his prayer abroad. Even after his illness he did not feel the urge to pray. It was not until his return to Pakistan that he started offering prayer regularly. Most of the times, Adil prays at home but sometimes he goes to mosque when his parents ask him to do so. He thinks of prayers to be of no good. Offering prayer does not offer him any comfort and most of the times he just go to mosque because his parents have asked him to go.          

Search for deeper meaning
People faced with an unfortunate life event are more likely to use religious scripture as a way of comfort and feeling better about their life (Koenig 2002). Religious scripture being consider a divinely thing gives people the hope that it may help them in their trouble. Munir regularly recites the holy Quran. He gives a paramount importance to Quran and considers it a great source of knowledge for people. Although he gives importance to the whole Quran, he recites certain selected verses from the Quran on daily basis. He has made it his routine to recite the ninety-nine names of God twice a day, in the morning and at night before he goes to sleep. However, he further gives more preference to certain names of God over others. He has memorized certain Quranic verses which he reads on daily basis. About the selection of certain verses he said that he chooses the verses with meanings which he thinks suit his purpose, mein woh ayats hifz krta hun jes ki maani muhje sahi lage, I only memorized those verses the meaning of which seem relevant to me. Similarly, Munir has memorized certain names of the God which he thinks have meanings relevant to his illness. His memorized names of God included names like Al-Mohyee (the life giver), Al-Momeet (the life taker), and Al- Razzaq (the provider). However, when asked why he recites the name Al-Razzaq, as its meaning does not concern illness, he replied that as his children are too young and he is the sole breadwinner of his family he wants God to provide for his family after his death.  Along with this, Munir has also memorized certain Quranic verses which he recites whenever he finds time for it. Again, his reason for choosing certain Quranic verses was the relevance of their meanings with the purpose for which he would recite those verses. Among the Quranic verses he had memorized Sura-e-Mulk, which he thinks would protect him in his grave.  

Munir searches for the deeper meaning of whatever he recites. For him it is the meaning of the text which makes him decide on what is to recite and what is not to. As mentioned earlier, Munir looks for such verses which he thinks have some significance and could help him through his illness. After being diagnosed with cancer he bought a copy of the Quran with Urdu translation and started to recite it with translation ever since then. He does not pickup random verses from the Quran.Whenever someone suggests him a verse from the Quran to recite the first thing he does is to look for its meaning and if he feels that the meaning of the suggested verse suits his purpose he adopts it. Ever since he has started reciting the Quran with translation, Munir has never felt the need to seek help of religious scholars for interpreting to him what has written in the Quran. Munir does not prefer translation of the Quran merely for the sake of selecting verses from the Quran for wazifa, repetitive recitation, but he prefers it also for understanding what has God asked people to do.  He tries to regulate his life according to the teaching of the Quran.  He also has a tafseer, an elaborated interpretation of the Quranic verses. He uses it whenever he finds any difficulty in the meaning and hence he thinks of himself as a person who does not need to consult maulis, Islamic religious scholars for an issue which he can resolve by himself through his interpretation guide.  

Embodying the text
The religious text is engaged with not only through recitation but also through embodying it through wearing amulets. Although Salim was not Quran literate, he uses different Quranic verses in the form of wearing amulets. Wrapped in black leather, Salim wears two amulets attached to a single thread hanging down through his neck. Unaware of the amulets` text, let alone its meaning, Salim has a strong belief that whatever he is wearing is of great significance. He claims, es ka bohat faida hai, mein acha mehsoos krta hun, it has an advantage, and I feel good with it. He says that had the amulets not of any good to him he would have thrown it. Salim believes that God never makes things harder for people; rather He provides comfort so that people could not complain of the difficulty of the din, religion (Islam). Salim talks of Amulets` advantage in terms of its being easy to carry and that one can have it all the times. One does not need to recite it or something it is just to be worn. For Salim, the efficacy of Amulets lies both in its being sacredness (the use of sacred Quranic text in it) and its presence with the person all the times. He does not seem to be much concerned with the meaning of his amulets` text. Rather he considers that all the verses of the Quran are equally sacred and important. To him, one can never prefer certain verses to others. That`s why he thinks of his amulets in terms of the whole Quran, ye Quran-e-pak ki trha hai, these (amulets) are akin to the holy Quran.
        
       Apart from wearing amulets, Salim also keeps Surah-e-Yasin in his chest-pocket. Although he cannot read it by himself, he often asks his daughter or son to read it to him loudly at night before going to sleep. In order uphold the sanctity of the amulets and Surah-e-Yasin, Salim puts them at some higher place while going to sleep. However, he has memorized certain short kalmats, verses, which he recites at specific times as told by people who have suggested those verse to him. Still, because of his unwariness with the Quran, he does not believe in himself to able to read those verses in the way in which they need to be recited. Owing to that, he prefers wearing amulets and keeping the Yasin in his pocket. He keeps the Yasin in his chest-pocket because he thinks that it’s the ‘heart’ of the Quran so one needs to keep it near his heart.

Medicines vs. the sarkar`s company
Salim regularly visits a local saint, which he calls with the name of Sakar. Whenever he finds time he visits Sarkar`s where he sits with him for hours. Salim came to know about Sarkar three months ago through one of his friends. At first he would visit Sarkar`s once in a week but later on he got too close to him and started visiting him more often. Sarkar lives nearby so it is not an issue for Salim to meet him. Sarkar has a great influence on Salim`s life and he (Salim) thinks of Sarkar as a leader and guide to him. The Sarkar`s company provides so much solace to Salim that he sometimes abandons his medicines because they do not give him that much satisfaction which the Sarkar`s company does. Salim says that he does not find the degree of comfort in medicines which he finds in the Sarkar`s company. When asked if Sarkar has asked him not to use medicines Salim said that he (Sarkar) would never ask him what to do and what not to do. It bothers Salim`s family a lot when he does not eat medicines. But to Salim, medicines are meant to provide comfort which he finds in the Shah Jee`s company rather than the medicines.

Social pressure
Adil is not so keen about being more religious. He does not want to be in mosque all the times, neither does he want to recite or wear any kind of amulets. For all of his life he has never been enthusiastic about religion. But despite all of what have been said, his orientation towards religion has been increased since his illness. He has been going to mosque more frequently now and tries to stay in mosque as long as he can. Now he recites the Quran, which he said he had read for the first time since completing his Quranic education from a local mauli, Islamic religious scholar. But he does all of this because his parents and neighbors expect it from him. He adheres to religious matters to escape people`s criticism because, due to his serious illness, the surrounding people expect him to be more religious, offering prayers and reciting the Quran. By adhering to religion, Adil also escapes the unwanted comments of people about his character, nemaze shemaze parhne se ye hota hai ke log ye nahi samajhte k mujhe AIDS es leye huwa hai ke mein parhezgar nahi hun, because of offering prayers people don`t think of my being inflicted with AIDS as due to my impiety (unreligious). However, whatever may be the reason behind his being more religious now, Adil thinks that religion does provide him some kind satisfaction and by following religion he feels more like a member of his community. But still, the level of satisfaction that he gets from being religious is not of significant amount. That is why he says that if he were living somewhere else where people would not expect him to be religious he would have not cared about it (religion) as much as he does now.

Re-visiting the role of religion
After being diagnosed with their diseases, the orientation of all the informants towards religion has been increased. But despite the fact that all of the three informants have the same socio-economic and religious background their attitude towards religion is profoundly different from one another. Each one of the informants puts to fore a different religious aspect. One (Munir) emphasizes on the personal relation to religion. He does not need religious scholars to interpret to him what has been written in the Quran. To Munir every person should learn by him/herself. He adheres to such religious practices which are of individual nature, such as reciting the Quran and memorizing different Quranic verses for the sake of reciting them at different specific times. He translates the Quran by himself and always checks the relevance of different Quranic verses to his illness. The other (Salim) emphasizes on embodiment of the Quranic text without any concern for its meaning. Also, Salim seems to be giving more importance to religious authorities. He sees Sarkar as a guiding persona for him. Unlike Munir, Salim is more likely to follow on what other people suggest to him. He believes that his own knowledge about Islam is not enough to decide on his own about following different religious matters.
            
         The case of Adil provides a very different attitude towards religion. Despite the fact that he follows religion to escape people`s criticism; it, however, would be difficult to say that his terminal-illness has not any effect on his relation with religion (McGrath 2003). Neither can we say that Adil has developed negative attitude towards religion after being diagnosed with AIDS (Lavery et al 2009).  However, it is important to point out that in the case of Adil religion provides him with a sense of being member of his community. By adhering to religion, Adil makes sure that he has been seen as a “good” member of the society. Still, when asked if he would have followed religion in the same way if he were not inflicted with AIDA, Adil answer was in negative. This provides us with a clue that his terminal-illness and religiosity has a positive link. 

All of the three informants related religiosity with hope, overall satisfaction, and psychological well-being (Heo 2009 and Jones 2004). The fact that people terminal illness are faced with the fear of looming death leads one to think that the positive relation between religiosity and terminal illness is due that fear (Hoelter et al 1979). From our findings, however, we can conclude that none of the informants seems to explicitly link religiosity with the fear of death. Munir, says mujhe maut se darr nahi hai, I don`t fear death. Similarly, Salim considers his illness a message from God. To Salim, God has inflicted him with illness because He wants him (Salim) to know the real purpose of his life. And to him the real purpose of life is to worship God and make Him happy.  However, choosing certain verses of the Quran by Munir with their meanings concerning life, death, and illness, it can be stated that fear of death does play an important motivational force for being more religious.
       
     In conclusion, the meaning and understanding of religion varies from individual to individual. Every person tends to emphasize that aspect of religion which s/he thinks would be of certain importance to her/him. Religion provides people with a tool to make sense of their own lives. However, it would be an exaggeration to term religion as an important aspect of terminally-ill people lives. Terminally-ill people`s attitude towards religion varies just like the “healthy” people`s attitude towards religion. It would not be right to say that terminally-ill people have the same kind of motivation, that is, their illness and fear of death, behind their being more religious. Like other people, terminally-ill people might have been following religion for a lot of different reasons, which may include their personal motivation (like in the case of Munir and Salim) or a social pressure (like Adil in this case).  

Written By: Waleed Khan (LUMS)  

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Blasphemy Law of Pakistan


Blasphemy means irreverence towards God, religious people, religious books and other religious things. Most of the religions have also some punishments for blasphemy. These punishments are assigned in blasphemy laws. Different religions have different blasphemy laws. In the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, which is the authority for both the Jews and the Christians, it is stated as “And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: (Book of Leviticus 24:16). Similarly in Manusmriti, the Law book of Hindus, it is stated “If a man born of a lower class intentionally bothers a priest, the king should punish him physically with various forms of corporal and capital punishment that make men shudder.” (Manusmriti 9:248). In Islam, the law is stated in the Holy Quran as ““The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;” (Surah Al-Maidah 5:33).

     Despite of these religious laws for blasphemy, different muslim countries have different blasphemy laws. Some countries have made amendments in the blasphemy laws. Among these countries, one is Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Although Pakistan is a muslim majority state, the blasphemy law of Pakistan is different from other Islamic countries. Pakistan has blasphemy laws in constitution comprises on the articles 295-B, 295-C, 298-A, 298-B and 298-C. In article 295-B, it is mentioned “Whoever willfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran or of an extract there from or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for life”. Article 295-C states that “ Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment of life and shall also be liable to fine.”  . Article 298-A states that anyone who passes any offensive remarks about companions of Holy Prophet (PBUH), about wives or member of family of Holy Prophet (PBUH) should be punished with three years punishment, or should be fined or imposed both. The other two articles 298-B and 298-C are some specific groups like Ahmadis and Qadyanies. (Pakistan Penal Code)


     In 1927, the British Government said that any deliberate and malicious act intended to infuriate religious feelings of any religious group by insulting its religious belief will be mentioned as crime act. The maximum punishment for breaking this law was 3 year imprisonment. In 1984, Ahmadies, a minority sect were banned from calling themselves muslims. In 1986, death penalty was introduced for those who pass any derogatory remarks against Muhammad (PBUH) and this amendment made Blasphemy Law of Pakistan the harshest in the world. In 1992, resolution was passed in parliament for the death penalty in blasphemy law. (PKPolitics Discuss Forum)

     Pakistan is an Islamic state and it represents Islam. Islam is the religion of peace. As Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran You who believe! Enter peace (Islam) totally. Do not follow in the footsteps of satan. He is an outright enemy to you.” (Surat al-Baqara). The blasphemy laws of Pakistan consist of six sections but the main concern are the two sections, 295-B and 295-C, because these are the laws with the strictest punishments of death and life imprisonment.  Actually the blasphemy laws were made to protect Islam from any type of desecration and for the betterment of Pakistan, but it has been largely misused since 1986. Many people including important politicians and religious people have talked about the matter as the blasphemy laws should be revised or not. Although many people argue that any amendment in blasphemy laws will encourage unislamic practices in the country, these laws should be revised as they are poorly defined and thus it has become the weapon of hatred used by muslims against other muslims and minorities to intimidate and harass. The purpose of the amendment is not to abolish the law which is basically the perception of the religious people but to make the law in such a way that the frequent abuse of law should be avoided and to find a way forward for our society so that the persecution of the minorities and the innocent Muslims in the name of this law should be stopped.

     Many critics say that amendments in blasphemy laws of Pakistan will not be tolerated. It is because they say that this encourage unislamic practices in the country. But the question arises have these unislamic practices decreased after the implementation of these new laws? The answer will be negative. It is because if we go through the statistical data of cases reported of blasphemy before the introduction of death penalty and life imprisonment, there is a great increase in the number of cases reported. Before 1986, when there was blasphemy law in Pakistan which was made by British Government, there were only 13 cases of blasphemy reported in the Pakistani courts. But after 1986, the year of introduction of death penalty in blasphemy laws, this number have reached 647.( Express Tribune) Why this number has increased in such a large proportion? Despite that people should be frighten of these tough laws and should be careful about these things, the number of blasphemy cases have increased. So the critics’ argument is not valid. Firstly it is that these laws are used in our country sentimentally not judicially. People when just only hear that somebody has passed derogatory remarks about our Holy Prophet (PBUH) or about Quran Majeed, they do not think anything about whether one has really said or done malicious things about Muhammad (PBUH) or Holy Quran and they just take harsh steps against those individuals.
     
             The people do love Muhammad (PBUH) and the Holy Quran, and thus mad in love every one want to become Ghazi Illmudin Shaheed, and in the struggle of becoming Ghazi Illmudin, both innocents and criminals are pissed off.  Ghazi Illmudin was a Pakistani muslim who killed Indian writer Raj Pal in 1929 for publishing a book “ Rangeela Rasool” which contained derogatory remarks about Muhammad (PBUH). When Ghazi killed him, he was declared hero by muslims and even by personalities like Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal.( Siasat.com) People go in sentiments and do not go for logical. Recently, Punjab governor Salman Taseer was killed by his own guard Mamtaz Qadri on Jan 4, 2011. He only talked about that the law need amendments because it is largely misused. Although, he himself did not pass any type of offensive remarks about Muhammad (SAW), he was killed because he said that the blasphemy laws are misused and should altered. Now this approach is wrong. He was right and the law is misused in the country. But that does not mean that Islam is so harsh that the one who only talk about the law should also be killed. And the interesting part is that millions of people represented Mamtaz Qadri as a hero. On Jan 4 2012, people were ready to give Rs 100 million for his gun and named it as “Hole Gun”. People threw flowers on him and lawyers were fighting with each other to fight his case without taking a penny from him.(Express Tribune) In the same way, minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a non-muslim minister was also killed in 2011. He also spoke for the same thing about blasphemy law. After the execution of Shahbaz Bhatti, the minorities really felt themselves unsafe in Pakistan.(Express Tribune)
     
            Mainly the problem is not with blasphemy laws; the problem is with its judgment. How should it be investigated whether someone has really broken these blasphemy laws? This is the place which needs a lot of attention. Because without proper investigation; both innocents and criminals are pissed out. Sometimes criminals are not punished even he would have broke the law and sometimes innocents are punished who do not even know about blasphemy.
     
            Country is already on a fragile turn and this violence would really push it over the edge if this is not controlled.  The blasphemy laws needs to be reconsidered. The punishments that are given should be properly investigated and made with proof. Vague terms in the laws have caused these laws to be used for purposes other than their intended use. The long sentences in the laws give the leeway so that these laws can be used for other uses. The long sentence’s meanings can be changed to suite one’s purposes. These laws should be revised in the way so that the concept for justice is made clear. For example, these words have been used by people for their own purposes and to convict people in their innocence, to take revenge and for other purposes. The material evidence in these cases was not enough but the cases were won by the use of these sentences. This is against the clause that one is innocent until proven guilty.
     
                 The claims of the Pakistani officials which state that none of the prisoners or other people has died under these laws are also wrong. They fail to take in account the scores of people who are accused unfairly under these laws and then executed unofficially. Also, the killing of minorities who are accused is not also recorded by these officials. The wordings of these laws have been used to carry out injustices and have been used for purposes other than their original purpose.       The real time when these laws would be considered is when a famous personality and specially those who are against the revision of these laws are accused under this law and then the wording of these laws would be brought under the attention of the parliament. It is not far away these wordings start being used in sectarian violence, when a shia would yell “blasphemy” against a sunni and a deobandi would use it against a berelvi. So this law actually becomes the source sectarianism as well.
     
                 Since 1986, Pakistan authorities have charged 647 people under offenses of blasphemy law. There are thousands of cases who have not been registered which were not reported in the court but are rather deal by police or by local people. The court or anyone cannot even ask about that why the law is taken by police or by other civilians in their own hands. If someone asks that it is the simplest reply that Islam also allows that anyone who breaks blasphemy law should be executed. While the law under Islam is that if someone is caught under offenses of blasphemy law should be tackled by the government or state. (Justice, Huminity, Self Esteem)
     
               The second problem is that the criminal intent is not taken in account. The judge or others jury members do not find out why some individual has passed derogatory remarks about Holy Prophet (PBUH) or defiled The Holy Quran? Due to this reason as well the law is misused. Recently, Asia Noreen, a Pakistani Christian woman was accused for passing offensive remarks about Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) on June 2009. She was brought to the court of Sheikhupura. Later on judge Muhammad Naveed Iqbal sentenced her to death by hanging and charged her fine of $1100 additionally. This news spread in the whole world like fire in the jungle, and this was because if she would have died, she would have become the first women in Pakistan to be killed lawfully for blasphemy. The case was later on sent to Lahore high court. (DAWN)
     
                Asia has spent one and half years in the jail and still the case is not finalized. When the investigation went forward, this result came in front that she did abusive language against Holy Prophet (PBUH) but after accidents. The story was that Asia worked at a farm hand with other muslim women. She then went to drink water from the pot belonging to muslim women. When she touched that, the other women started to abuse her and that you are “napak” means unclean, and why have you touched our equipment? They started to abuse her and later on the mater went on to such offensive level that she said offensive things about Holy Prophet (SAW). “Did she blaspheme Muhammad (SAW)?” If this was the mater, one cannot punish her because the criminal intent is not to heart the feeling of the muslims or to defame Holy Prophet (SAW), but this offense is done in sentimental way.  It looks like that it was just a sentimental debate about each others religion and such debates are actually common. Whatever the situation was, the law is executed in an improper and an unjust way over the powerless people of the society and also hinders the freedom of speech in the society which is the basic right of an individual.
     
                   Under this scenario a large agreement was there that there are some problems with the applicability of the law. Therefore the law needs some amendments so that it can bring culprits under the prosecution and also to keep the balance of tolerance and freedom in the society intact.For this purpose on 30th November 2010 Jinnah institute arranged a seminar where the members of civil society, religious scholars, lawyers, NGO representatives and the Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, gathered to discuss the amendments to the Blasphemy Laws in light of the recent case of Aasia Bibi and the blatant abuse of the legislation to persecute minorities. The whole purpose was to make the law in such a way that it should provide justice and protection to the people but not the persecution of the minorities. In this seminar a bill was submitted by Sherry Rehman, former federal minister, and President Jinnah Institute. The Bill seeks to amend the Blasphemy Laws, sections 295A-C and 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCrP) as amended under General Zia. It is intended, that the Bill will ensure that all citizens of Pakistan have an equal right to constitutional protection and that miscarriages of justice in the name of Blasphemy are avoided at all costs. (Jinnah Institute)

 Sherry Rehman, president of Jinnah Institute, stated in the conference regarding blasphemy laws:
“The law currently stands the definition of the term blasphemy is vague, yet it carries a mandatory death sentence under section 295C. The Amendment to the Blasphemy Laws Act 2010 will not only rationalize the punishments prescribed for offences relating to religion provided under section 295-C and 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code but ensure that the concept of criminal intent is taken into account when charging an individual with this offence. Other amendments include new sections (198E and 203A) to ensure that charges brought frivolously under the Blasphemy Laws will be punished. Similarly, advocating religious hatred will be penalized. Cases brought under these sections will be heard in the High Court to ensure more public scrutiny” (Let Us Build Pakistan)

                   Ali Dayan Hasan (Human Rights Watch and Board of Advisors Jinnah Institute) compared the ongoing persecution of minorities under the Blasphemy Laws to apartheid in South Africa. Dr Anis Haroon (Chair NCSW) also spoke in detail about this mater. Anis Haroon said that “We live in such an intolerant culture where mosques take over the role of the judiciary…any laws which take away the rights of any culture should be repealed.” (Let Us Build Pakistan) Asia’s case is an evident example of how innocent and powerless people can be unjustly charged and sentenced to death under the unfair execution of these laws. The important thing to note in this seminar was that all parts of the society were represented in it. In it civil society representatives, NGO’s representatives, minorities’ representatives, lawmakers and most importantly religious scholars were also present and they all agreed about the vagueness of the law and they also agreed that this law need to be amended.
     
                    The amendments in the judgment of the blasphemy laws should be done. All cases of blasphemy law under section 295-B and 295-C should be brought to high courts rather then Session Courts because in Session Courts the lawyers and jury members may have pressure from mobs.   In High Courts, there will be no such cases and further more cases will be judged more thoroughly. Moreover High Courts are always under a higher degree of scrutiny.
     
              It is the need of the day that Pakistan needs a new way to judge these laws to put off religious motivated discrimination. The new way of judgment of laws will be very different from that of present ones and will help in defending religious minorities equally with Muslims. Pakistan is amongst those countries which prohibit brutal and demeaning and unjustified punishments. Now it is the time we should honor the commitments of the Pakistan and stand up to stop radical purveyors’ f hate. As Pakistan is made In the name of Islam so we should respect and follow the laws of Islam but in the proper way. By proper use of laws we can tell to the world that Islam is the religion of peace and should show the real face of Islam to the World. 


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