January 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Commanding Good And Forbidding Evil - Discourses


 “Kufr, corruption, and disobedience are the cause of evil and strife. A person or group may fall into sin and disobedience. Then another group keeps quiet, and does not fulfill their obligation of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, and that becomes a sin of theirs. And another group enjoins and forbids, but in a manner forbidden by Allah, and that becomes a sin of theirs. The end result is division, difference, strife, and evil. This is one of the greatest sources of evil and chaos in all times, former and present.” (Taymiyyah 1440)
                             
                                 The passage above is quoted from the famous work, ‘Enjoining Right and Forbidding Wrong’, of the  great Muslim thinker,  Ibn  Taymiyyah  – who  unwittingly became the single most quoted  source lending authority and legitimacy to many of the most famous fundamentalist movements of pre-modern (Wahabbism, Salafism) and modern (Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas) times.   Moreover, this specific excerpt succinctly highlights the timeless evil that can occur, according to Ibn Taymiyyah, as a result of the inability of different peoples to act as the guardians of each others’ actions as prescribed in the scriptures and seen at the time of the Salaf. And it is in an effort to avoid such a fate that many of these popular fundamentalist movements have used the tool of Jihad to forcefully enjoin the good and forbid evil within and without Islam.

                  This paper will attempt to, first of all, outline the Quranic ayahs, in conjunction with supporting hadith, that support and encourage Muslims to enjoin right and forbid wrong.  Moreover, we will further analyze how different scholars (including Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Abd al Wahhab, Syed Qutb and Mawdudi) have incorporated this duty in their doctrine of jihad. It is important to note at this point that such a discussion would be incomplete unless the views of each on justice and Islamic state  are  taken into account. Furthermore,  the positions taken up by ‘apologists’ and ‘moderates’ will then be juxtaposed against the views of these scholars in attempt to find a middle ground or a conclusive winner.

                              In the Quran, the call for enjoining good and forbidding evil  is clearly addressed to Muslims as  follows: “Let there arise out of you a band of people (wa-l-takun minkum ummatun) inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong  (wa-ya’muruna bi’l-marufi wa-yanhawna ‘ani ‘l-munkar); They are the ones to attain felicity” (3:104). In fact this message is repeated in another seven verses of the Quran including “Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors” (3:110) and “The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practice regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise” (9:71) along with Q3:114, Q7:157, Q9:112, Q22:41 and Q31:17.

                      Now that we know that enjoining good and forbidding wrong is strongly rooted in Quranic diction, it is important to understand what this duty pertains to; what is good? And what is evil? There is no clear cut demarcation of activities that could or would constitute the performance of this duty. Similarly, right and wrong remain just as vague. However, certain educated guesses can be made by looking at related verses. For instance, Cook says that based on related verses the term ma’ruf  (right) occurs as an ethical term which then allows us to view it vis-à-vis established standards of behavior. Moreover, themes appearing in relation with commanding right include, but are not limited to: believing in God, paying alms, reciting His signs etc.(Cook, 2000)  Moving on to forbidding wrong, verses Q5:79 and Q7:163-6 gives an idea of forbidding wrong being something that ‘individual believers do to each other (Ibid 14) yet there is relatively little information to be gleaned here as well. 

                        As for who is supposed to perform this duty, different verses present different actors. For instance, Q3:104 talks of the ‘collectivity of believers’ i.e. the Muslim Ummah commanding right and forbidding wrong. Verses Q3:110, Q3:114 and Q9:71 also have a similar explanation. On the other hand, a couple of verses (Q9:112 and Q22:41) put forward the concept of believers, who are specifically engaged in holy war, performing this duty. However, in two verses (Q7:157 and Q31:17) this duty seems to be an individual one. Furthermore, we are generally unguided regarding the addressee at whom this duty is being targeted. Indeed, only one verse (Q7:157) touches upon this issue telling the prophet to command and forbid his followers.

                In case of the tradition, the hadith, “Whosoever of you sees a Munkar (an evil or wrong) let him change it with his hand, if he could not, then let him change it with his tongue, if he could not, then let him change it with his heart, and this is the weakest of Iman (faith)” (Sahih and has been used by different scholars as the foundation for their set of guidelines for forbidding wrong. Another famous, oft-quoted tradition is that of Abu Bakr recorded by Ibn Maja, Ahmad, Tirmizi, and others; authenticated by Al-Albani: “Oh people, you are reading this verse and misinterpreting it {“O you who believe! Take care of your own souls; no hurt can come to you from those who go astray if you are guided”} and I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say “if the people see the wrong and they do not change it, Allah will cover them with a punishment from him”. 

                      Hence, we know that the Quran and hadith  speak clearly of  the duty of enjoining right and forbidding wrong. However, it is important to note that the right and wrong remain obscured. We try to clue in on their meanings by referring to related verses of the Quran to find that ‘right’ is an ethical term and that the act of forbidding evil is one that is ‘performed by members of a community towards each other. (Ibid 16)
                             
                         Moving onto the discussion of the doctrines of various scholars, Ibn Taymiyyah was an embattled scholar in the true sense of the word. Indeed, in his treatise Al Siyasa Al Shariyya he described jihad as the summation of all virtues and religious duties.  Moreover, he considered the duty of forbidding wrong closely linked with jihad. According to Ibn Taymiyyah it was a collective duty but at the same time every person on the face of this Earth was liable to fulfill it, such was the scope of this duty. 

                Firstly, Ibn Taymiyyah considered that in order to perform this duty the knowledge of good and bad was of utmost importance, To this end, he defined  the good (ma'ruf) to ‘include everything both internal and external which has been enjoined by Allah and His Prophet… Enjoining people to be close together and cooperative, and forbidding them differing and dividing themselves is also a part of enjoining what is right.’(Taymiyyah 1440) Similarly, the bad (munkar) is defined as that ‘which Allah and His prophet have forbidden, its ultimate and worst form is the association of partners with Allah’(Ibid).  However, in implementing this duty Ibn Taymiyyah held that the benefits must outweigh the costs of such an action with emphasis on civility (rifq). This cost-benefit analysis would, according to Michael Cook, preclude any attempts to enact this duty through revolt. This utilitarian outlook seems to completely do away with moral absolutes allowing fundamentalists to later on use this to their benefit.

               Continuing in this vein, Ibn Taymiyyah felt the need to conduct jihad not against external actors (Dar al Harb) but inwards, against the infidels and heretics populating the Sunni world (Dar al Islam), in order to forbid the wrong which seemed to be rampant in the Dar al Islam at the time.  Indeed, he considered the jihad against ‘the unbelievers and those who refuse to abide by certain prescription of Shariah, like those who refuse to pay zakaah…’(Taymiyyah 2001) to be the most serious kind of jihad. Moreover, he also identified two groups in need of guidance: firstly, the group of people who did nothing and as aconsequence fell short in doing their duty; secondly, those who overdid their duty and went too far; for example, the Kharijites. 

   Moreover, the obligation to forbid bad also falls upon those who have power (qudra).  These were found to be elders, scholars along with the political and military figures.  The compulsory performance of the duty by these actors was linked with the theory that success would be assured if the Actors had the power to execute their actions.  Here, once again the role of the government is highlighted as being the provider of trust and justice. In a sense, at this point Ibn Taymiyya provides his own version of ‘an Islamic polity constructed not so much on Islamic government’(Boner 2006) but more an Islamic identity based on outwardly communal practice and rituals rather than politics.

                  Moving onto another Hanbali, Ibn Abd Al Wahab, we enter into the period of Najdi history that predates Wahhabism.  Ibn Abd al Wahab considered the Muslims of his time to have fallen into ‘shirk’ with practices that reeked of polytheism.  Hence, for him they were the perfect targets of a holy war in order to enjoin good and forbid evil. 

                      Another party without whom maybe today we would not know what Wahabbism stood for was the Al Saud family lead by Muhammad ibn Saud played a crucial role in cementing Wahhabbism in place along with the major religious revivalist movements of the eighteenth century.  As far as Ibn Abd al Wahab and Wahabbism are concerned, it is important to make a distinction between the two and carefully navigate through the multitude of diametrically opposed literature in order to understand the two.  According to De Long-Bas, an apologist of Wahabbism, the extremist tendencies attributed to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab were not so much his own as they were the legacy of the great Hanbali jurist, Ibn Taymiyyah(De Long-Bas 2004).
                       
                       On the other hand, Dallal (a critic of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab) speaks of Ibn Abd al-Wahab’s worldview being based on three concepts: tawhid, Shirk, Kufr. Firstly, tawhid, as defined by Abd al-Wahab, is of two types: tawhid rububi (professing the lordly unity) and tawhid uluhi (professing the Godly unity)(Dallal 1993). Of these two, the former was believed to be professed by most people whereas the latter, entailing ‘bearing witness to God and that Muhammad is His messenger, ridding oneself of shirk  and abandoning the worship of anything but God’(Ibid 351), was professed exclusively by Muslims.  For the fulfillment of belief in tawhid, recognition of shirk was required; this shirk included, but was not limited to, any and all acts of association including supplicating pious people, learning magic and astrology, harboring innovators as well as becoming friends with unbelievers. He blamed taqlid for a major part of the kufr that was present then. The last concept of Ibn Abd al Wahab’s was that of kufr, unbelief, which he represented as, for example, the state of someone who would, having known  both, choose the Ash’ari school over that of the school of the first generation. 

                         Consequently, on the basis of these concepts Ibn Ad al-Wahab would classify Muslims into believers and non-believers and then proceed to perform his duty of forbidding evil to these people and do justice to these people. Here, Ibn Abd al-Wahab displays a similarity to Ibn Taymiyyah in terms of the fact that both of them carried out internal jihad against apostates. Moreover, another similarity was the focus both had on the performance of external rituals as testament to a Muslim’s belief. Hence, the emphasis placed on Abu Bakr’s wars of apostasy/zakaat  in order to legitimize his fight against the ‘hidden unbelievers’. A point of departure for both is the role of the government. For Ibn Taymiyyah it was essential to have the governemet act out the duty as it had the qudra to successfully execute the duty. However, Ibn Abd al-Wahab observed a complete separation from political power in his doctrine; he just wanted the moral reconstruction of society and it was only for this reason that he even allied himself with the Saud family. Needless to say that Ibn Abd al-Wahhab also ended up successfully executing the duty thanks to the political clout of the Saud family. 

                   Moreover, Ibn Abd al-Wahab favored a literal interpretation of the Quran which restricted the corpus of Quranic teachings to only the unambiguous verses without allowing for the facility of ijtihad, tehreby undermining the authority of the ulema. This literalist interpretation also favored a more violent jihad (as would be apparent if we were to look at the verses of the sword without the historical context). 

Michael Cook provides an alternate reading which separates the man from the movement and puts forward interesting suggestions to the effect that  the duty of enjoining the right was never a significant part of  Ibn Abd al-Wahab’s agenda, restricted to just forbidding ‘innovations tending to polytheism (Cook 2000). The movement is identified as being an intolerant and belligerent exclusivist actor such that it was not spread as one of the schools within Islam. Instead it presented itself as the orthodox Islam.

The doctrine of Ibn Abd al-Wahab is also similar to a twentieth century scholar whose work was later adopted by many militant  Islamist movements and his text ‘Milestones’ influenced  the eventual assassins of President Sadat of Egypt; the scholar is Sayyid Qutb. Not only is Sayyid not a Hanbali scholar, he also does not espouse any of the teachings of Wahabbism; this similarity is purely on the basis of the following two issues: firstly, the emphasis both place on going back and indulge in direct interpretation of the Quran and the hadith; secondly, both share a streak of radical reading of Islam put forward by Ibn Taymiyyah. 

However, before going onto discuss Sayyid Qutb, it is important to include another actor in this dialogue: Abu’l-Ala al-Mawdudi, the founder of the Jama’a-i-Islami. Mawdudi greatly influenced the work of Sayyid Qutb; and by virtue of this fact, any discussion on Sayyid Qutb’s doctrine would beincomplete without ample elucidation of Mawdudi’s set of guidelines. Firstly, the principle of hakimiyya is espoused by both Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb with a slight difference in emphasis. Mawdudi starts with premise that God is the ‘ultimate and absolute sovereign of all creation (Blinder 1988). By virtue of this fact, He has the authority to ‘command absolute and unquestionable obedience (Ibid 175) of all creation; and the source of this authority is the fact that God created everything in the world. 

                           Sayyid Qutb’s emphasis here was not on the unity of all creation. Rather, he looked at the concept of human freedom within this context of sovereignty of God over all creation. In doing so, Sayyid Qutb came to the conclusion that the sovereignty of God was so all-encompassing that it precluded any sort of human sovereignty. Hence, Muslims are likewise slave of Allah; so, the concept of sovereignty of a Muslim over anther does not make sense. Hence, the spiritual conversion of an individual is prior to and precedes the Islamic state in importance; this spells out the anarchy of believers in the sense that the true believers cannot be ruled by other humans with their worldly laws.

           The term ‘Jahilliya’ (ignorance) refers to the conditions of the Arabs before the advent of Islam. Mawdudi took a more inclusive view of this term tending to include within its scope any and all things that are un-Islamic, whether of the pre-Islam era or current times, which are then subject to severe condemnation. In current times, two such expressions of un-Islamic things exist - and were criticized by both Qutb and Mawdudi - namely: western-influenced Muslim states which are not governed according to the rules of Shariah along with the influence of Western culture. However, Mawdudi focused more on the ignorance aspect i.e. that most of the currently available knowledge can explain everything is just plain ignorance. However, Sayyid Qutb   contrasted abstract theory with practical experience to come to the conclusion that abstract systems derived just from worldly praxis are jahili. In this way he condemnsall sorts of philosophy and the jahilliya posing as Islam. Furthermore, Sayyid Qutb also advocates fighting against these pretenders.

Jihad is the third idea which Maududi and Sayyid Qutb share in their respective ideologies. As Concerns jihad, Mawdudi considered it necessary only as a tool for gaining freedom of religious speech. However, for Sayyid Qutb jihad provided a natural way to respond to and free  the Muslims from the clutches of jahilliya societies and cultures. He called for a forbidding of the wrong, through jihad, which includes non-Muslims along with Muslims: ‘In the verse giving permission to fight, God has informed the believers that the life of this world is such that checking one group of people by another is the law of God, so that the earth may be cleansed of corruption’.(Qutb) Over here he made the distinction that jihad is only for religion never for anything else. Hence, such a use of jihad is an instance of politics in service of religion and its conclusion is the establishment of an Islamic system that would be beneficial for all people, both Muslims and non-Muslims.  The Islamic state, according to Mawdudi, would be a modernization of the classical doctrine of the caliphate (Nasr 1996) as, among other things, it would have a democratically elected leader. (Nasr 1996)

                                Regarding Islamic revolution, Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb along with  many of the Muslim theorists agree to a revolution that starts off with quiet, secret conversions, akin to the Prophet’s time in Mecca, only to keep on growing in strength of numbers until one day it is able to assert itself politically (and if need be militarily) against the status quo. Sayyid Qutb emphasizes highly on the role of the individual in such a group. 

             Now that we have covered the major pre-modern and modern Islamists, this paper will highlight what the ‘moderates’ or ‘apologists’ have to say about religious liberty, justice and the Islamic state starting with Khaled Abou El Fadl as well as other contributors to ‘The Place of Tolerance in Islam’ and moving onto Abdulaziz Sachedina and contributors to Mehran Kamrava’s  ‘the New Voices of  Islam’. El Fadl calls out the Muslim puritans as being ‘fundamentally at odds not only with a Western way of life but also with the very idea of an international society or the notion of universal human values’(El Fadi 2000) and goes on to show that they are only a minority in Islam.   

Furthermore, he argues that Puritans base their views on readings of the verses of the Quran in isolation without taking into account the moral and historical context of the verses.  However, it seems that El Fadl falls into his own trap when he argues for an Islam that allows for there to be without any reservations multiple truths  existing at the same time ignoring several ayahs, mentioned in the beginning of this paper, which talk of forbidding wrong (that which is forbidden by God) in the context of people within a single community. Instead he prefers to talk only of ma’ruf, justice and moral agency. Even so, El Fadl does point, correctly, to their being no compulsion in religion. He talks of jihad only as striving hard or struggling for a just cause and even when struggling for the just cause, Muslims must not transgress the requirement of proportionality. 

Sohail Hashmi argues against El Fadl’s proposition that Muslim Puritans have misappropriated Quranic resources. He highlights the more prevalent intolerance and exclusivity that is present in Islamic intellectual history and continues even now. However, such a gloomy view of things is a bit uncalled for;
Since, in the past many pre-modern Islamic empires  have presented exemplary elasticity in the formation of Shariah and interpretation of the scriptures.

                                 Some scholars, like Tariq Ali stipulate that actions of peoples and societies including the Islamists are motivated by political reasons. Hence, there is no point in arguing on the theological stances of the different actors in the arena as the solution necessary has to be political. Even radicalstrands of Islamic society have their foundations in the political motivations of Western powers such as the birth of the Taliban during the Cold War.  El Fadl counters Tariq Ali’s argument, by saying that theological debate is important as it denies the Islamic banner to such fundamentalist Islamist groups.

                           Abid Ullah Jan talks of an organized attempt to destroy the Muslims by the West. In  such readings of current affairs,  authors more  often  than not  indulge in the victim’s syndrome which definitely hurts the credibility of their argument.  Moving on to Abulaziz Sachedina, we find that common morality is not in  conflict with the concept of morality in Islam. Indeed if different cultures seek the universal ideal out of the multiplicity of the human experience, a common groundwork can be laid for ‘an ethical language that can be shared cross-culturally in the project of creating a just society’(Sachedina 2001). However, as far as the question of religion becoming a ‘source of democratic pluralism’ the situation is not bright at all  for Islam keeping in mind the antagonistic relations maintained by different agents, within the religion, with each other.

Next we will look at the points of view contributors to Mehran Kamrava’s reader starting with Mohamed Talbi.  In  his  article  ‘Religious Liberty: A Muslim Perspective’, Talbi  first defines religious freedom as being not only the freedom to reject a religion but also the right to espouse one. Moreover, he also cites verses of Quran including 2:256 to provide proof for this freedom of religion in Islam.  This right is preserved unless in order to exercise it one infringes upon the rights of others.  Preaching of one’s religion to others also has same caveat attached plus one must be ready to be preached to by others as well. 

                               Furthermore, Talibi incorporates jihad in this point of view by describing its purpose as having been ‘to pave the way for Islam, in practice Islam almost never imposed by compulsion’(Kamrava 2006).  Moreover as for the issue of apostates, Talibi brings forth multiple ayahs (3:85, 5:57, 47:38, 47:32) that all give the same message: there is no earthly punishment for apostasy and it is to be left to Allah’s judgment. There is only one case where Muslims can take up arms: when their faith  is in jeopardy and they are being attacked (2:216, 2:217, 2:194). 

Similarly, Mohsen Kadivar (Freedom of Religion and Belief in Islam) reiterates the provision in Islam of freedom of religion along with restating the fact that there is no earthly punishment for apostasy i.e. persecutions of non-Muslims not allowed in Islam. Besides, Kadivar mentions that ‘dialogue between civilizations and cultures not possible without freedom of religion and thought’ (Kamrava 2006). Hence, Islam as religion is capable of entering into intelligent dialogue with the West. 

Moreover, Kadivar highlights the points of disagreement regarding the treatment dealt to apostates, People of the book and infidels  going on to emphasize the undesirability of such alternates on the rational basis of intellectual and religious freedom. Once again, jihad  is defined as a primarily defensive act which is supposed to protect the right of people to choose their religion freely. Rather than presenting a choice between Islam and the sword.

                     Chandra Muzaffar (Islam, Justice and Politics) has focused on the importance of justice in Islam quoting 3:135 which states that justice transcends one’s bond ton oneself. Moreover, in order to be just, we need the knowledge of right and wrong which can be acquired through the study of the Quran. This study should be done personally (96:1-5) and not via someone else. This will help decrease the  lack of knowledge that currently infects the majority of Muslims. Moreover, Muzaffar speaks of the role of government in spreading Islamic education that is focused on compassion and justice. This is reminiscent of Ibn Taymiyyah’s insistence on the government acting to enjoin good and forbid wrong.

                     Having looked at the discourse of the ‘moderates’/’apologists’, we now come to the end of this discussion. In conclusion, one thing can definitely be said which is that  both the discourses of the apologists and the Islamists are set in the traditional Islamic sources and as such they have the same foundations. However, the, at times diametrically, opposed nature of two can be explained by the fact that one is conditioned by the other i.e. they react to each other and use language as well as rhetoric to sway people to their side. But one difference does exist between the two: the apologists do not wish to establish an Islamic state and they do not have a textual approach to the scriptures, which is commonly espoused by Islamists. 

As for the middle ground, no such solution is probable until and unless they start talking to each other rather than against each other, since right now both have their shortcomings either in reasoning of the scriptures or methodology of study.

Works Cited
Binder, L. (1988). Islamic Liberalism: A Critique of Development Ideologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Bonner, M. (2006). Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Cook, M. (2000). Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dallal, H. (1993). Origins and Objectives of Islamic Revivalist Thought. Journal of American Oriental Society , 113 (3), 349-352.
De Long-Bas, N. (2004). Wahhabi Islam. New York: Oxford University Press.
El Fadl, K. A. (2002). The Place of Tolerance in Islam. (K. A. El Fadl, Ed.) Boston: Beacon Press.
Kamrava, M. (Ed.). (2006). The New Voices of Islam: rethinking politica and modernity: a reader. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kurzman, C. (1998). Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nasr, S. V. (1996). Maududi and the Making of the Islamic Revivalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Qutb, S. (n.d.). Milestones. Kazi Publications.
Sachedina, A. (2001). The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Taymiyyah, I. (1440). Enjoining Right and Forbidding Wrong. Al-Madrasah Al-Jauzia: Mawhoob ibn
Ahmad ibn Hilal As-Saalihiy Al-Hanbaliy. <http://www.java-man.com/pages/books/alhisba.html>
Taymiyyah, I. (2001). The Religious and Moral Doctrine of Jihad. Birmingham: Maktabah Al Ansaar Publications.

Written By: Neelam Sohail (LUMS)



Wednesday, January 11, 2012

12 Angry Men: In Light Of OB Theories


12 Angry Men (1957) is a gripping and an engrossing examination of 12 jurors who are deciding the fate of a young Puerto Rican boy in a murder trial. It is phenomenal that a movie with a running time of just 96 minutes and shot in just one room could be so impactful and so intellectually stimulating that it could be a source of immense learning for generations to come in the field of psychology, social psychology, Organizational Behavior anddecision making.
In this paper, we will be exploring 3 wide dimensions/theories in the field of OB and their application in the movie by citing specific examples from the film. We will start off by exploring the phenomenon of Perception and Individual Decision Making where we would be exploring the decision making process at an individual level, explaining the underlying theories and biases involved in individual decision making and try to map those to specific instances in the film. This will be followed by a discussion on the phenomenon of Group Behavior with particular emphasis on group formation, group decision making and Groupthink. Finally, we will explore how Personality influences the decision making environment.

Perception and Individual Decision Making

One of the theories that were seen at play was Attribution Theory. Attribution theory is a phenomenon that is characterized by individuals observing behavior followed by an attempt to gauge whether the event was externally or internally caused where internal causes under the person’s control while external causes are not. For example, the architect made more external attributions to the boy’s behavior, citing that the boy had been slapped around all his life and was of the view that external attributions could not provoke something as grave as murder. On the contrary, the angry juror who ran the messenger service and was a distraught father made internal attributions about the boy’s behavior, reflecting that kids these days don’t respect their adults and have lost their sense of morality. Furthermore, the old loud mouthed bigot stubbornly advocated a guilty verdict just because the young boy was from a slum and hence his reasoning that all slum kids are inherently rotten; a classic case of stereotyping whereby judgments are made about the person just because he belongs to a particular group.

               One of the most startling observations in the film was the manifestation of fundamental attribution error. Fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others. In simple words, we blame people first, not the situation. For example, the distraught father cited the boy’s shout “I’m gonna kill ya” as an indication of the boy’s murderous rage. However, when he was enticed by the architect later in a discussion after being called a sadist, he too shouts, “I’m gonna kill ya” but he does not really mean it. It was just the situation that elicited such a response. Similarly, the stock broker assumed that the boy’s inability to recall the movies he went to meant that he was lying and not that he may have not been able to recall it due to the situation, trauma and mental stress. The realization came, when he himself was not able to recall the movies he went to just a few days back even when he was not under any stress.

                      A confirmation bias in decision making is referred to as selecting and using only facts that support our expectation and ignoring disconcerting facts. Since all but one of the jurors had an expectation of a guiltyverdict, they all confirmed their biases by continuously reiterating those same twisted facts that confirmed their expectations and nobody but one stopped to question. As a result of this bias, they genuinely overlooked certain pieces of information that would have caused confusion and chaos in their minds. For example, they did not realize that the old man was walking with a limp and thus he could not have reached the door in a mere 15 seconds. Secondly, they failed to see the marks on the old woman’s eyes who testified to have seen the killing. Thirdly, that the knife that was used for the killing was not all that unusual and finally, that it would have been impossible for anybody to hear, “I’m gonna kill ya” at the same time as a noisy L train was passing by.

Group Behavior

It is interesting to note that the five stages of Group Development Model can be quite clearly captured in this film. In the first stage that is of forming members feel much uncertainty. This uncertainty was evident up until the first vote when all the jurors were trying to get to know each other and trying to ascertain how the others felt about the case. For example, the angry man who ran a messenger service had first interacted with the timid bank clerk and had expressed his frustration over how the lawyers would keep on talking and talking on an “open and sure case like this”. There was an air of uncertainty even when Mr. Foreman was ascertaining a seating arrangement and the loud mouthed bigot questioned as to what difference it made. In the second stage that is storming, there are lots of conflicts between group members. This was seen from the first vote which resulted in an 11:1 in favor of guilty to a 10:2 vote after which the other members started to shrug of the environment of forced conformity and genuinely were interested in discussing further. During the storming stage, many conflicts arose such as the argument between the loud mouthed garage owner and the guy from the slum and then Mr. Foreman getting upset how irreverent the garage owner was in his effort to try and keep things organized. In the norming stage, members have developed close relationships and cohesiveness. This was seen from the 10:2 vote to a 6:6 vote when members chose to identify themselves closely with the members who were supporting their decision. It started when the architect gambled for support by calling for a vote through secret ballot. In the performing stage, the group becomes fully functional. This was seen from a 6:6 vote all the way till a unanimous “not guilty” verdict. This period was characterized by clear argumentation from both sides, save a few instances such as the unreasonable change of vote by the baseball fan and the ridiculous shouting by the garage owner. The architect was making clear and consistent arguments and casting a clear doubt in the testimonies of each of the witnesses and being supported by others who favored a “not guilty” verdict such as the old man who very astutely identified the marks on the woman’s nose who testified to have seen the actual killing.

       One of the most important aspects of group behavior that is depicted in this film is the idea of Groupthink and Groupshift. Groupthink is depicted in situations where group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically appraising unusual, minority and unpopular views. When the initial vote was taken public, several jurors, who later expressed the uncertainty over a guilty verdict, chose to comply with the group in an effort to confirm to the majority and the architect was the lone man standing.  For example, it seemed as if the guy from the slum was unsure and he did not say much but just went with the majority at the beginning. Furthermore, the old man also initially confirmed with the group but switched when the vote was private and finally the baseball fan very blatantly went along with the majority or the dominating group which was seen when he changed his vote to “not guilty” just to break the deadlock and because the “not guilty” group was gradually getting stronger. Groupshiftoccurs when discussing a given set of alternatives and arriving at a solution, group members tend to exaggerate the initial positions that they hold. This causes a shift to a more conservative or a more risky behavior. This was seen when the angry, distraught father brought in his prejudices about teenagers in general which was followed by seemingly vindicating facts highlighted by the astute stock broker further pushed the group towards a risky “guilty” verdict. Even the architect came under pressure and agreed to comply if everyone voted “guilty” by a secret ballot.

Personality

The personality of the architect is particularly of interest. One of the attributes that he demonstrated was consistency which encompasses loyalty to a particular idea. Throughout the film, he always remained consistent in his opposition to the majority which essentially made other question their judgment. For example, the old man changed his vote simply because he felt that if someone is defending his vote with such conviction, then he may have some important points to make. He also scored high on agreeableness because he was good-natured, cooperative and trusting and did not appear rigid. For example, he pointed that he didn’t necessarily think that the majority was wrong. He just wanted to talk more about it which showed that he was consistent, yet open minded. He also scored high in emotional stability because he was calm, self-confident and secure under stress. It is difficult to remain calm and cool under a stress offered by personalities like the astute stock broker, the loud mouthed garage owner and the angry man who ran a messenger service. His counterpart and the antagonist scored relatively low on emotional stability simply because he lost his temper on a lot of occasions which swayed the group against him. For example, in his emotionally unstable state, he wrongly accused the guy from the slum for changing after a “golden voice starts preaching”. Moreover, he started to bring his own downfall when he said things in an emotional burst such as when he himself concedes that the witness was an old man and couldn’t have been positive about anything. And then when he was enticed by the architect himself, he shouted, “I’m gonna kill ya” and hence disproved his own arguments about how this very statement could actually lead to murder. The architect also scored high on conscientiousness because he was responsible, dependent, persistent and organized. He would look at each testimony and very make a conscious effort to investigate the little details for any evidence of inconsistency that would lead others to have a reasonable doubt in their minds. For example, he ordered the blueprint of the old man’s house and emulated his limping walk to the door the exact distance so see if the old man could really reach the front door in 15 seconds.
The application of the following three areas of organizational behavior helps us to give an academic bent to the film and helps us appreciate the true genius behind a 1957 drama film.


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

HIV/AIDS In Pakistan


                            
Introduction:
In this research paper, I want to explore the reasons for spreading HIV/AIDS and difficulties faced by HIV/AIDS patients in Pakistan.  For this research I have reviewed the published and second hand literature to obtain the available data on HIV/AIDS in Pakistan. I have searched the electronic databases and read the books provided by LUMS Library. I picked this topic i.e. HIV/AIDS, because people feel reluctant in talking about such diseases and there is a social taboo that patients of AIDS must have done illicit sexual discourse and are thus socially shunned by the relatives and friends. Also, this virus is a recently spread one in Pakistan and mostly people are unaware of this disease and feel fear in discussing sex related topics with families and life partners. In the end, I would tell that what are those difficulties and how those difficulties can be overcome and government and non-government organizations can provide an appropriate treatment to the Pakistani people.

HIV/AIDS:
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus which attacks on the immune system of the individual and makes it so weak that it cannot resist the weakest attack by any germ or bacteria and leads to the death of that individual. HIV can spread through the use of contaminated syringes, blades, improper screened blood transfusion, unprotected sex with male (MSW, HSW)or female and also from an infected mother to child and infected husband to the wife. (Altaf, Abbas, Zaheer; 2008).

HIV/AIDS in Pakistan carries a negative connotation and people think that AIDS can only be spread through illegal sex and thus are reluctant in discussing sexual health issues in open because of the social taboo. Being a Muslim country, people in Pakistan consider sex a big fault in religious terms, HIV is mostly considered in Pakistan caused through illicit sexual discourse which makes people reluctant to share their views and even patients from seeking the treatment. This helped the virus in spreading more easily through the community and effected many people in Pakistan.
 
Social Context:
Pakistan and its people is the subject of my research. Pakistan is situated in South Asia, towards its east is India, in north is China, in north-west is Afghanistan and in west is Iran. Pakistan is a developing country and is struggling for its welfare and a place in the list of developed countries. A large portion of Pakistani population is still unaware of HIV/AIDS, especially in rural areas.  Religious, social and cultural factors impact on HIV/AIDS patients, in acquiring a quality treatment and their survival in such a conservative society like Pakistan. These factors also play a vital role in spreading this disease and not letting people get the appropriate treatment and also keeping them unaware of the precautionary measurements like safe sex, using of sterilized blades and syringes.
 Pakistan has recently found this virus in its Injection Drug Users (IDUs), according to the reports HIV first found in 2003 and its ratio increased to 31% in 2007, in Karachi (HIV/AIDS Surveillance Project; 2006-7).

     The issue of HIV/AIDS prevention in Pakistan is a complex problem and requires a multifaceted approach with particular attention to cultural norms. In order to revise harm reduction strategies for HIV prevention in Pakistan, it is important to study the social dynamics and practices of the populations at risk.

Philipson and Posner [19] note that human actors make rational choices aimed at maximizing the expected utility of the outcome. The subjective welfare of the actor and presence of uncertainty are two inherent components of expected utility maximization. When acquiring information is costly, an uninformed choice – one that underestimates or overestimates the risk to health of some contemplated action – may still be expected utility maximization. Therefore, when education and counseling services are not readily and cheaply available, or when accessing such services means that the user has to disclose risk behaviors and is afraid to do so, he/she has no course but to make uninformed decisions. Effective counseling and education have been shown to change sexual behavior and reduce the risk of HIV transmission even in high risk groups.

The Pakistan National AIDS Program (NAP) was set up in 1987 by federal government, assisted by donor agencies, to coordinate HIV/AIDS surveillance and control activities (8,12). The NAP has established HIV testing centers in the country and screened more than one million people (10 15). Despite these important contributions, the data regarding HIV/AIDS in Pakistan has not been utilized effectively to inform proactive health policy. While activities at the provincial level, particularly in the province of Sindh have been productive, the other provinces have not followed as rapidly (8).
In 1995, the four provinces of Pakistan were encouraged to form their own AIDS control programs with support from federal government. However, political issues and disagreements over program components have resulted in disparate success in the provinces. However a decade has passed since the recognition of HIV in country, groups at higher risk have been identified but still there are certain challenges and hurdles which are creating difficulty for the government as well as non-government organizations to offer a proper treatment and awareness regarding HIV/AIDS in Pakistan and also playing a significant role in spreading the disease across the community. These hurdles are education, economic conditions, misconception or low information regarding AIDS, gender inequality, stigma and discrimination.

Challenges faced by HIV/AIDS Patients and Reasons for spreading of HIV/AIDS:
              In the Muslim World, religion defines culture and the culture gives meaning to every aspect of an individual's life. Being a Muslim country, Pakistan has also a culture defined by Islam and has influenced each and every aspect of individual’s life. Following are the reasons for spreading of HIV/AIDS and are challenges and hurdles came across the appropriate treatment provided by governmental and non-governmental organizations in Pakistan, which need particular attention when designing HIV prevention programs for Pakistan:

1: Gender Inequality:
In Pakistani society, there is imbalanced power between men and women, which is apparent in heterosexual relations as well as in the economic and social spheres of life – with men having greater power than women. For most women, the private life within the sanctuary of their houses is their whole life. Due to such cultural settings of Pakistan, women remain uneducated and deprived of resources, unaware of their civil, legal and sexual rights, economically dependent on men. Due to these inequalities, women are more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS as they are less likely to be able to negotiate with their partners infected with HIV/AIDS. Women also are easy targets for abusive relationships and are less able to cope with illness once infected.

2: Stigma and Discrimination:
The social stigma attached to HIV/AIDS that exists in all societies is much more pronounced in Muslim cultures due to the religious doctrine regarding illicit sex and drug related practices. There are greater negative sanctions for sexual conduct than drug use. Even if there is a suspicion of illicit sexual conduct, the affected person(s) is discriminated against and shunned by the family as well as by the community. This stigma and discrimination attached to HIV/AIDS, discourages people from coming forward for appropriate counseling, testing and treatment, as this would involve disclosure of their risky practices. This results in creating barriers to successful implementation of prevention and treatment strategies where they do exist.

3: Ignorance/Misinformation:
In developed countries, a majority of the population is aware of the modes of transmission for HIV infection, whereas in the developing countries, misconceptions about the disease and its causes are prevalent. Most of the Pakistani population consider that all HIV infections are transmitted only through immoral sexual behaviors and are unaware that it can also be transmitted frequently through mother-to-child, accidental pricking of skin and contact with contaminated blood (as in the case of health care professionals) or the possibility of an innocent spouse getting infected by the husband who may have acquired HIV though sexual or drug related contact with other infected persons. Therefore, due to lack of information and misconception regarding HIV/AIDS, lead to acquiring and spreading the infection and also deprive people from getting an appropriate care and treatment.

4: Poverty and Economic Condition:
About one third of the total population of Pakistan live below the poverty line and economic conditions of Pakistani population are getting worsen day by day because of low job opportunity and low business markets of Pakistan. Poor people in Pakistan cannot afford the costly treatment or diagnosis of the disease. People living in rural areas do not even afford the travelling cost to urban cities in search of appropriate treatment. Poverty and poor economic condition of Pakistani population create difficulty for them to acquire a quality treatment for the HIV/AIDS.

5: Internal Conflicts:
Now a day Pakistan is facing many internal conflicts like Taliban, suicide bombing and Shia-Sunni conflict in Chitral (Emma Varley’s article). In conflicted zone, medical facilities get affected in many ways; difficulty in mobility or reaching in hospitals, availability of doctors, peaceful place to carry out the treatment, limited supply of medical equipment and medicines. Hospitals and doctors both get affected from such conflicts and senior or experienced doctors do not go into such conflicted areas.
      
6: Social Taboo:
Due to the social taboo in Pakistan, people feel shame or fear while talking about topics relating to sexual health in Pakistan. Also marriage partners cannot share their experiences regarding such diseases and women due to patriarchal society cannot go herself to seek the treatment because she is dependent upon her husband and her husband in return also don’t step forward to take care of her due to the social taboo that men never poke their nose in female health problem.

7: Other Issues:
            In addition to the issues outlined above, the main challenges to instituting an HIV prevention approach include, wars, refugees, migrant labor forces, intimidating role of religious leaders and activists, and lack of healthcare resources and infrastructure.
Social, religious and cultural barriers in Pakistan are the major hurdles for Pakistani people to acquire an appropriate diagnosis and treatment for HIV/AIDS. While a cautious approach will be suitable initially, giving proper information regarding the symptoms and adding some basic information in the educational syllabus of early education and social awareness regarding the symptoms, precautions and treatment of HIV/AIDS. 
Conclusion:
I have come across the reasons for spreading and challenges faced by HIV/AIDS patients through my secondary research are social, cultural and religious factors. These reasons and challenges can be removed or overcome by taking proper steps towards the removal of HIV/AIDS completely from Pakistan. Those steps are that people with AIDS should not be shunned or socially out casted from the community but should be treated with more care and affection and should not let feel alone. As HIV/AIDS is a life threatening disease, patients of HIV/AIDS feel more psychologically stressed because they afraid from being publically known, leading to be shunned by their friends, family and society from the community. They are fighting at the same time with themselves as well as with the community and during this fight they lose their life.   
In the context of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Pakistan, the principles of harm reduction or harm minimization can certainly be utilized to prevent or minimize the spread of HIV infection. However, a clear distinction needs to be made that this approach does not advocate illicit drug and sex related practices. The harm reduction concept can be applied to other high risk groups, such as commercial sex workers (MSW, HSW, and FSW). Because consistent condom use has been linked to reductions in HIV seroincidence [15,20,21], and because reductions in frequency of unprotected sex also predict lower levels of HIV infection incidence, the behavioral effects of the intervention carry considerable public health importance. In addition to counseling, IDUs could be provided needles at reduced prices or even free of charge. Regular screenings for HIV/AIDS should make significant contributions to HIV prevention, early detection, and appropriate treatment where required.

Written By: Saqib Rehman

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Khamosh Pani ( Silent Waters ) - Movie Review


                Khamosh Paani is a movie primarily set in 80’s, during Zia’s regime, in the Punjab region of Pakistan, briefly traveling between different time zones. It is about a community facing the oppression of a military dictator, communist-capitalist war of ideas, poverty and disorientation.The partition of Indian-subcontinent was indeed a tyranny for women. They were savaged, killed, raped, killed by their own family member to save honor, forced to do suicide again to save honor and traded. The central character is of  a Sikh women later named Ayesha  snatched from her family during the partition riots, had no choice but to marry a muslim in the Muslims-dominated Pakistan, had a child named Saleem and ironically she ends up teaching Quran to Muslim kids four decades after partition. Her kid grows up in love for a girl his mother is very fond of. Things are rosy till Zia-ul-Haq comes up with his brand of Islam in a country that is marred by a failing economy and a fairly young environment which turns from secular to so-called Islamic in the space of ten years of Jihad against Soviets. The life of Saleem follows the pattern of a typical lower middle class youth of a country struggling with religion and geo-politics. It was indeed no wonder when young Saleem who had fallen head over heels for Ayesha found solace in the extreme ideology of religion and a confused lifestyle. It is not only a look at personal lives of some individuals in difficult circumstances but it is also a commentary on the absurd government controlled religious propaganda radicalizing Pakistan It was interestingly part of the narrative how the young boy changed from a romantic lover to a radical cleric who was serving a higher purpose and had no space of love in his life. The same people with beards, the boy made fun of, gradually fascinated him with their lofty ideas. The flamboyance and energy of the youth turned a corner and started serving something which was beyond comprehension. A woman is forced to marry and a woman decides not to marry in a space of 60 years, from partition to one dictatorship and to another dictatorship, the movie was indeed ironic to begin with and to end up. It also shows hypocretic character of “chaudry “(land lord of certain area) . Movie shows that landlord is allowed to do his anti-islamic activities ; like watching mujra (girl dance show)  at his place . The next day  the Land lard addresses people and ask them that you people are deviating from Islam and there are some people sent by government to preach you, people are expected to follow their teachings.It shows that purpose of the Government was not to implement Islam in the whole country but purpose was to gather people. This movie also shows that the women were very much effected by new ruling. The movie beautiful portrays different basic human emotions like love, hate, anger, anxiety and confusion. It succeeds in touching upon a difficult time in the history of Pakistan.   

           
    Khamosh Paani is a film having a fictional story based on the true events that changed the course of history for Pakistan during the 80’s era when a military dictator toppled a civilian government. The events that followed included soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan and U.S.A joined hands to counter the spread of communism through introducing a Jihadi ideology in Pakistan. The military dictator Zia-ul-haq suited the needs of this new policy shift. Until then the ‘Mullahs’ were in the back seat just concentrating on religious education of the population. This new policy shift pushed them to the driving seat where they were handed the task of introducing the youth to the ‘jihadi brand of Islam’.    

      It is also the story of disoriented and disgruntled youth looking for a higher purpose in life. Zia was deemed as some kind of holy savior of the only country founded on the name of Islam or such is the prevalent perception. Saudi money was pumped in and a parallel system of education i.e., Madrassah system was set across the country. People were sold the idea of radical islam in the name of global domination of islam, renaissance of the glorious past and exit from, evil and failing capitalist economy. Poor People found it logical to donate one or two kids of theirs to madrassas, some respite from the poverty and a service to Islam; killing two birds with one stone that is to say.In the reign of dictatorship of Zia-ul-haq there were few historical which were changed.for example actually Mohammad Ali Jinnah ideology was secular. Zia-ul-Haq removed secular tag from the ideology of Pakistan and presented Islam as the actual reason of creation of Pakistan. Mohammad Ali Jinnah first speech as Governer general of Pakistan was wrongly quoted. Zia-ul-Haq showed Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a upholder of Islam. Zia-ul-haq also spread that Islamic character was as important as security of  Pakistan was. Zia’s Islamization was actual turn of islam towards voilence. There was no tolerance when some work is about islam.  Women were victimized by these new so called Islamic laws. Women were intolerated in any case,if its against the Islam. 
                  Dr Javed Iqbal said about the ruling of Zia-ul-haq in his book “Islam and Pakistan’s Identity” that “Zia’s Islamization was based on personal restrictive interpretation of Shariah Laws and it was never subjected to Ijtehad in the parliament. The bulk of Islamic criminal legislation was merely decorative or cosmetic. These laws done nothing but worsened the conditions of women who were victimized under these laws. In brief, the form of Islamization introduced by Zia was a complete departure from the interpretation of Islam favoured by founding fathers of Pakistan. It disseminated intolerance and sectarianism which increased to such an extent,that the rival group of sectarian terrorist did not hesitate to slaughter their fellow muslims even while they were praying in mosque”
             In short Zia’s take over and execution of Bhutto was another setback to the democracy in Pakistan. Zia made changes in the constitution which were suitable to him. Major change in constitution was that president had powers to dismiss prime minister. In this way he took over all the powers from the prime minister. Military was supreme compared to parliament in Zia’s era.

Review of “Burma VJ"




Documentary “Burma VJ” is directed by Andres Ostergaard. This documentary provides the images and video clips of the mass demonstrations held in 2007 in Burma against the military dictatorship. A small group of video journalists known as Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) secretly filmed those demonstrations and then smuggled them to Oslo, from where those films would be sent to international news channels like CNN and BBC for screening. This group of journalists risked their lives to get the footage of protests against the military government. The protests started in early August 2007 when the government increased fuel prices. People of Burma already sick of the military government came out into the streets of Rangoon and demanded to ouster the military dictator. This was the first protest of its type after the 1988 protests against government which were led by the students and more than 3000 people were killed in it (Burma VJ, 2008). In order to keep themselves safe and hide from the intelligence police, these journalists would spread out during protests and would take footage from different sites. However, on 15 August 2007 police arrested Joshua (a reporter) with a camera during the protest. He was sent to the police station for investigation and released after taking his camera. Soon after his arrest Joshua left Burma and went to Thailand. The Buddhist monks joined the protests too and after screening the footage of protests on CNN and BCC the size of demonstrations increased day by day as people from different walks of life joined the protests. As the protests were getting more and more attention of the international media, government banned internet in order to halt the flow of information to the outer world. Situation got worst day by day and the government announced curfew and banned on mustering more than five people. Many monks were arrested and even killed by the military regime; a Japanese journalist was killed during protests. It became risky for the journalists to shoot proceedings of the protests and, at last in December 2007 Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) was discovered by secret police. Three reporters were arrested while the rest managed to hide.

          
                        This documentary provides very good insight into the idea of collective behavior during the uprising of 2007 in Burma. As the demonstrations started when the government increased the fuel prices, which was a common concern for all the Burman people and that`s why they all reacted promptly and collectively. Documentary also shows that how a small group of video journalists get success in giving coverage to the protests. Media coverage of the protests helped the protestors to get their message across and get more attention of the world community. Although, DVB had very scarce resources but still they managed to improvise all of them and got the best output. This documentary gives two important points to reckon. One is about the role of new communications technologies and other is about the role of religion in the social movements.
     
                      To start with the role of new communication technologies in the social movements, now social movement activists are able to get their message across the globe much conveniently. And because of the media coverage, international community’s attention is drawn towards the conflict. This also puts pressure on the repressive governments because their repressive tactics are disclosed, hence they are threatened to be left alone in the International community. As in the case of Burma we see that at the beginning of protests people did not participate at large number but when they saw the video of protest on international news channels like CNN and BBC, only after that they decided to participate in demonstrations. They got the hope that now their voice could be heard and that’s why after screening the videos the number of protesters increased dramatically. Use of technology like filming protests has a lot to do to impact on the scope of a particular movement. Along with many other impacts globalization has greatly impacted the resource mobilization of movements, thanks to new technologies which have enabled social movements’ activists to get the attention of much more people as compare to earlier times. For instance, as shown in the documentary that the protests of 1988 in Burma in which 3,000 people were killed did not get much of the world`s attention and the main reason for that was because there was no  media which could have shown the world what was happening back then.
         
                          A second important point which this documentary is propagating is the role of religion in the social movements. We see in the documentary that people welcomed the participation of Monks in the protests. People were hopeful with the participation of the Monks that now their struggle to get rid of military government will be successful. As one of the man in the documentary while watching the protest of Monks on television saying “only monks can put an end to the government… they won`t dare shoot the monks” (Burma VJ, 2008). People put their trust in the monks and the monks succeeded in gathering large number of people who took part in protests. People apprehended their religious obligation to support the monks, also; people knew that participation of the monks in protests is going to benefit their struggle. Similarly, monks also emphasized on peaceful protests as Buddhism strongly discourage the use of violence. Similarly, we can connect the participation of the monks with the political opportunity structure theory. As mentioned earlier, monks were the ones whom the government cannot oppress like common people. So; this was an advantageous for the movement to have such people whom the government could hardly oppress.
          
                        The work Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) really succeeded in its attempt to let the world know about what was happening in Burma. As Joshua says in beginning of the documentary “I feel the world is forgetting about us that`s why I decided to become a video reporter…. to the world that Burma is still here” (Burma VJ, 2008).