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.

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)  

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 30^th 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. 

Works Cited

 . "Blasphemy laws in Pakistan ." Offenses relating to religion: Pakistan Penal code . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan 2012. <http://rationalistinternational.net/Shaikh/blasphemy_laws_in_pakistan.htm>.

. "Blasphemy Law in Quran and Sunnah and Ijma." Justice, Huminity, Self Esteem. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan 2012. <http://www.insaf.pk/Forum/tabid/53/forumid/1/tpage/1/view/topic/postid/98014/Default.aspx

. "History of Blasphemy Law in Pakistan." Discuss PKPolitics Discuss Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan 2012. <http://pkpolitics.com/discuss/topic/history-of-blasphemy-law-in-pakistan>.

"Jailed Christian mother Asia Bibi." DAWN. N.p., 4 Jan 2012. Web. 6 Jan 2012.   

 <http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/04/jailed-christian-mother-asia-bibi-well- 

husband.html>.    

. "Salmaan Taseer assassinated." The Express Tribune. 4 Jan 2011, n.d. Web. 6 Jan 2012. <http://tribune.com.pk/story/98988/salman-taseer-attacked-in-islamabad/>.

. "Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated." The Express Tribune. N.p., Mar 2 2011. Web. 6 Jan 2012. <http://tribune.com.pk/story/126287/shahbaz-bhatti-attacked-in-islamabad/>.

. "Sherry Rehman submits bill in National Assembly for amendment to blasphemy laws." Let Us Build Pakistan. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan 2012. <http://criticalppp.com/archives/31087>.

 "The current Blasphemy Law is mis-used for injustice." Jinnah Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan 2012. <http://jinnah-institute.org/events/196-the-current-blasphemy-law-is-mis-used-for-injustice->.

"The history of the blasphemy law." The Express Tribune. N.p., 5 jan2011. Web. 6 Jan 2012.

            <http://tribune.com.pk/story/99414/the-history-of-the-blasphemy-law/>.

The Qur’an. Translation. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickhall. New York: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an,

            2006.Print.

. "The Story of Ghazi Ilm Din Shaheed ." Siasat. 3 jan 2011, n.d. Web. <http://www.siasat.pk/forum/showthread.php?53028-The-Story-of-Ghazi-Ilm-Din-Shaheed>. 

American and French Revolutions- Comparison

The study of human history reveals that man is greatly influenced by revolutions. Although the revolutions witnessed in the past had some effects on nations but there are some that changed the philosophies of this world completely. Among these the widely discussed are American and French revolutions. Although both the revolutions occurred in the same century and both rose against the established monarchies of that particular time, yet there were differences regarding their ideologies, type of regimes and their ultimate aftermaths.

    

          Both American and French revolution occurred in the same century. The American revolution started in 1763 and ended in 1775. In American revolution, French people helped the Americans both economically and militarily. When the French returned from America after the American revolution, they felt same situation of injustice and unfairness among the people as it was in America, which became the most prominent reason for the occurrence of French revolution. French revolution started in 1789 and ended in 1799.  There was the difference of only fourteen years between the ending of American revolution and the beginning of French revolution. Actually the occurrence of French revolution was primarily influenced by the American revolution.

     

            The rebellious nature of human beings is natural and obvious when they are oppressed and subjected to brutality.  The American and French revolutions were the result of the said nature of human beings. French revolution occurred because the local aristocrats and monarchs were very biased with the lower class. The lower class was not getting its rights. Similarly, in American revolution, the citizens were fed up of their ruling monarchs because of the biased attitude of monarchs towards them.

     

              On the contrary, both these revolutions were based on different ideologies. The French Revolution occurred because the people of France were tired of their miserable life which was due to the variation of rights by monarchs with them. The poor people of France were demanding the following three words agenda “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, and later on these three words became the slogan of the revolutionists of France. Although the slogan of people of France comprised of three words “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” yet they mainly focused in the term “Equality”(French Revolution, an over view). As there lived three different classes of people i-e monarchs, aristocrats (middle class) and common people, this was their slogan that every class should enjoy same rights and enlightenments and should share all types of burdens. Montesquieu, the most important political philosopher of the French Revolution, in his masterpiece “L'Esprit des lois” first published in 1753 claimed that a liberal constitutional monarchy was the best system of government for a people who prized freedom, on the grounds that by dividing the sovereignty of the nation between several centres of power, it provided a permanent check on any one of them becoming despotic (Cranston).

Similarly Locus stated:

In the eighteenth century, the French bourgeoisie had become aware of the increasing disparity between its wealth and social usefulness, on the one hand, and its social prestige and opportunities on the other. It way was blocked and recognition of its worth was denied by a decaying class of parasitic, hereditary privileged, noble landowners. Its vitality was further jeopardized by a monarchy not only committed to antiquated aristocratic values, but also incapable of giving the country that firm yet benignly restrained direction under which the initiative of men of business might flourish(“A Comparison of the French Revolution and American”).

     

      Unlike French revolution, American revolution was most likely as the war of independence. The Americans wanted to get rid of the operation of British Colonial System. Unlike French revolution as it was within the country against their rulers, American revolution was against those rulers which were not inhabitant and were governing them from miles away from America. They wanted to make their own rules and regulations to live their own lives. They wanted their own government and policies to run their country. Thus there was the difference between the ideologies between people of France and people of America, because of France were fighting for their rights while the Americans were fighting for independence.

    

                     Both these revolutions also differed from each other in the regime type. In French revolution, there was monarch system which was governing the country. The king held the absolute power, and he was controlling the whole system. No local person was the part of the government. On the other hand, American revolution started because of the unrest that was found among the masses due to the British colonization. The British Colonial System was controlling the whole America. There was almost no share of the local inhabitants in the government. The British Colonial System was a foreign system, so they were treating the Americans very harshly. In this system, the whole government was controlled by British governor, who was elected by the Queen of England and in turn he was bound to follow the orders of Queen. The unjust behavior of the British governor with the American masses caused the American revolution against the British rule.

   

                 Although both American and French revolution occurred on the basis of their own distinctive ideologies, yet only American revolution achieved its respective goals. After the American revolution, the Americans fought war of independence. The Americans were now self-determining. American revolution gave birth to the democracy. They made their own laws and rules to govern their country. They made their own constitution and made their own government. Unlike the consequences of American revolution, the outcomes of French revolution were quite different. Although the French were able to abolish the system of feudalism yet they were still unable to get rid of the monarchy system. After the French revolution, France was again governed by the aristocrats and then by a dictator. So the people of France were unable to achieve their ultimate goal of liberty from monarchy system.

    

               The American and French revolution had a huge impact on the pages of history. These are the  revolutions without which our society would never have achieved the milestones which we have achieved today. A thorough and systematic study shows that American and French revolutions have some aspects in common like they occurred in the time spam of fifty years and raised against the monarchies system but they differed in ideologies, types of regimes and their aftermaths. 

Written By: Haris Khan

Case Against Religion: A Critique of “Religion Poisins Everything”

Christopher Hitchens is an Anglo American author. He is famous for his atheist views and has written on topics ranging from politics to religion. Due to his atheist views, the author remains a controversial figure among many scholars. “Religion Poisons Everything.” is an extract from the book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”.  This book was published on April 25^th 2007 and later on was published in the weekly magazine “Slate”. This specific article targets the academic society and is against the religious dogma surrounding the present society. The author informs the audience about the drawbacks of religion, the chaos it causes in the society, its detrimental effects and how it plagues our society, and how it is a man-made concept.

     

       Christopher Hitchens starts his article by criticizing religions and discussing four main flaws of religious faith. In the article, the writer has discussed how religion has badly affected the personal and social lives of people. He insists that science must be the base of all ethical values and he openly argues that religions make us conservative and compel us to perform such actions which readers would otherwise regret.

          Although the writer employs proper use of language and ethos to impress the audience, the writer jumps to hasty generalizations and uses illogical reasons to establish hi arguments. The offensive tone of the article leaves the believers offended and may produce doubt within the reader’s mind about the credibility of the author.

   

               The author employs ethos and logos to build on his argument. Referring to the historical practice of the Aztecs to sacrifice a human being so that the “Sun would rise”.  The author, through this, tries to strengthen his point that religion is the cause of violence and in essence, it causes discord as well as anarchy. Similarly, referring to the atheist, the author tries to use statistical figures to imply that if a survey was conducted with authenticity, incidences of “greed and violence” amongst the believers would far exceed the number of instances among disbelievers, who does not even believe in the concept of the “after life”. The author mocks the paradox of the believers, who call themselves as the “virtues” and the “all-knowing”. The author gives support of his argument when he implies that it is the view of science that he prefers over all other concepts and not the ideas or concepts that the believers of religion have, which are in discord with each other. The author tries to humor the fact that when new discoveries in science come to surface, the religious believers try to link them with their religion and tries to explain these new concepts with the help of their “contortions” and to “fit” the new insight of science through their religion. The author also tries to logic by referring to the believer’s incapability to leave the atheists alone. The author explains that the atheists are logical, living their lives with their own concepts and not infringing upon the lives of others, while believers find it very hard to accept this simple concept. He supports his argument by referring to believers planning the “destruction” of the author and his co-workers.

    

      The author employs several modes of development such as narrations, examples and descriptions. The author tries to imply a personal touch in the essay to further support his purpose. Referring to the absurdity of religion, the author explains that not even before his “boyish voice” had broken, he was convinced that religion was the fabrication of man and that it did not contribute to the society on any level, let it be social or moral. Also, the author talks about his experience of meeting several people that believed in the fabrication of religion. These people belonged to different backgrounds and had different believes to begin with. The author explains that religion poisons everything not according to him only, but to the beliefs of hundreds of people, ranging from common men , to literary scholars. Furthermore, the author describes and refers to the “bar mitzvahs” (the ceremonial celebration Jews have, when a boy turns 13) (Peter) and “Gothic Cathedrals” of the Christians. With these descriptions , the author further augments his point that he is willing to go to these ceremonies and places of the believers, that he is ready to continue his relations and daily life activities with these believers, lest they leave his beliefs and his life alone and free from their influence. The author uses exemplification when he talks about Professor Stephen and Professor Richard and their arguments about the evolution of life. The author explains that although these literary scholars have disagreements with each other, these disagreements are based on “real science” and not the fabrication of man. Each of the scientists gives support to their arguments through science which has solid proofs behind it.

     

                    The article is constructed through effective use of language, tone and style. The author implies heavy use of metaphors and sarcasm. Referring to the believers, the author tries to explain how the beliefs of these religious people fail to make any sense when they grovel before deities and pretend that they are “part of a divine plan”. The author further mocks their beliefs that they need to feel unworthiness and servility so that they then think of themselves as a part of something bigger, perhaps a divine plan. Referring to atheist as “infidels” , the author ridicules the behavior of the believers who believe that they are the only people in the world who know about the morals and ethics of life and that the “infidels” , who do not believe in religion , are somewhat of a lesser class of people in the society. Through the use of this word, the author also questions the strong impressions of the believers about the atheists. The author adds to the arguments in his essay through the use of demeaning and strong words. Referring to the atrocities committed by the believers in the name of religion, the author implies that even “brothel keepers and ethnical cleansers” would think twice about committing these atrocities. The author conveys that those who commit these atrocities are in a way even worse than the individuals who believe in deity greater than man. The author employs repetition in the essay to further strengthen his argument. The use of “We” is extensive in the essay. Through this word, the author links all the people who share his school of thought and implies that he is not alone in believing in the concept that religion poisons everything.

     

              Author talks about the distortion of ethical values by religious believe. He says that believers are less ethical than non believers. This happens due to the belief of the believers that the deity they follow is “all-knowing” and that their chosen path is the true path to follow. However, ethical values in every region of the world are different due to different social and moral backgrounds. Therefore, an action can be considered ethical by someone and unethical by another. For example, sex before marriage is considered not as abhorrent in the western society as it is in the eastern societies. Therefore, to have common ethical values, religion is necessary for the establishment of these values. Furthermore, the writer once again enforces his own school of thought on the readers by using the term “We” in place of “I”. This gives the readers the idea that the article is an opinion of many atheists and not the author alone. He cannot use “We” because not all atheists may agree with his ideas and thanking. As the arguments in the article are the writer’s personal views and not necessarily of others, he should not use the term “We”. The writer also tries to convince his audience by giving references to different scientific theories and different scientists and philosophers. He uses names of great writers like William Shakespeare, Schiller, and Tolstoy. The writer says that compared to moral values presented in Holy Scriptures, the logics of these people in their masterpiece works are more convincing and effectual. This may be true as far as the beliefs of the author are concerned, but deep analysis shows that the work of these personalities was more fictitious than real and by no means can be related to any ethical values. Real life cannot be ruled with fictitious school of thought. The audience is influenced by the writer’s point of view due to combination of many literary techniques. He uses logical reasoning to support his assertions very effectively. He uses ethos and pathos to prove his points and support his claims. He explains the inhumane nature of religious beliefs by emotional support which explains the reliability of his assertions. He gives many examples and provides many names of personalities to increase his credibility. The mixture of narration, examples, rhetorical analysis, description and assumptions makes the article very appealing, interesting and fascinating. On the other hand the tone of this article is very informal and degrading. The writer uses terms like “foolish people”, “brothel-keepers” and “ethnic cleanser” while explaining the religious class. He also uses many words and phrases which are disdainful and sarcastic. Also, he mocks the religious practices of many religions and explains that atheists do not need to follow them. In response to Hitchens article, the scholar Mark D Roberts says that

“I want to take the point of Hitchens that I am deeply concerned on present conditions of world and the extent to which the ridicule and its cousins are hurting us. Even if Hitchens is right that God is not great and religion poisons everything, I would say that this tendency to be little people will not make the world a better place to live. And if those who follow him do the same, it will make matters worse”. (Christopher)

     

               The audience is usually offended by this tone of the writer because in this world there are millions of people who follow certain type of religious belief while atheists, who do not follow any type of religious belief, are comparatively low. The writer somehow achieves his purpose in making his audience realize the severity of this topic by his harsh and demeaning tone. Moreover, the tone of this article also decreases the article’s appeal. The writer conveys his message which is hate for religious beliefs by giving many examples.

     

         The author expresses his point of view in a very biased manner. He organizes the essay with many fallacies and jumps to conclusions with vague arguments. He also switches between different topic without proper use of transitions. The essay could have been improved and the audience could have been more convinced if the author had given the counter argument and then refuted it.  This would have further strengthened the audience assertion that the author is not biased and that he has researched both sides of the coin.

Written By: Haris Khan