Posted on 06/26/2002 12:34:09 PM PDT by swarthyguy
An obituary is overdue for three things died in Islamabad this week: sense, common sense and hope.
Sense died with criticism of nomination of Dr. Abdul Kalam Azad. I am not sure why our intelligentsia is so keen to smell rat in such a nomination. Missile man he might be but he is after all a Muslim. He is being made the president of India and not head of any international nuclear authority. Apart from his knack in the field he is also a good Muslim and a man free of corruption. Our hawkish doves would challenge his being a good Muslim for his services to the Hindu India.
Come on brothers! What do you want to make of Indian Muslims? We know they have to live there and we cannot shoulder their burden. Then why ask them to turn into enemies of the state? We, rather, have to learn a lesson from the nomination. In India even saffron clad Hindutva regime knows the worth of the Muslims who are true to their salt.
And what are we doing in our own realm. Apprehending our own nuclear scientists for their contributions and handing them over to the United States to explore their alleged links with the ghost of Al Qaida. When will we learn to respect our heroes? Or they all will face the fate of Dr. Abdul Salam?
Whatever the situation we must respect the nomination of a Muslim for the job and congratulate him. With position comes responsibility and I am sure that such a great scientist who has been content to stay in a single room for his whole life instead of building huge mansions will know his duty. And I hope he will voice the concerns of the poor Indian Muslims too.
To those who are against it I must remind them that the other alternative was a Jew ( P.C. Alexander) by religion and was sponsored by RSS. You know the diplomatic consequences of the alternative.
I wish our president be the first person to congratulate Mr. Azad for the job despite the Indian build up.
Commonsense also died the moment we started dealing with the issues as sensitive as Riba in such a naïve way. I am a poor man and hope I am not booked for contempt of court. I will respect the court's verdict to my death even if it is under PCO. However the statements by the government's counsel were obnoxious and odious. They are bound to increase the polarization in the society. Our Information Minister should not let any statement be aired on PTV as naked as the statement made by the government's counsel the other day. PTV is packed with friendly souls who want to contribute to the society but are in chains and are made to show such things. We all know it's a Muslim country. Let there be enough common sense that we do not offend people's sentiment in such a rustic manner. And then we all know that no Shariat Court can validate the practices of Riba ridden economy. Government should focus on buying more time instead of showing disrespect to the commandments of the Holy Quran.
Now a few words on the demise of hope. What hope can a pedestrian live with in a country where former ministers are found hanging with the ceiling. We are not sure what really is the inside story. It could be suicide as claimed by the police or an act of brutal murder. If it is a suicide then it is a telling comment on the environment created by the circumstances. Is it not a reality check of the growing frustration in the society? My readers may remember that in a past column I had written about the young unemployed man who climbed the Minar-e-Pakistan and committed suicide there. But nobody listens in the official circles regarding such burgeoning frustration. I wish we could learn a lesson from the recent incident. Only religion can help us feel secure enough that we do not resort to suicides. Why this on flow of Kemalism and 'modern Islam' then? The second possibility is a gruesome murder. I leave the debate on the readers for nothing clear has come at the time of this writing. Suffice it to say it was again a security failure. We were misinformed earlier by a news agency that he was killed in a terrorist attack. I kept my fingers crossed for the obvious reason: another act of terror in Karachi means more FBI. We need to stop this practice for we need some liberty in our own ports. We have already declared Gawader port be an open port. Increased US presence means a compromise on our proactive capacity to exchange support with our friend China. I end with a personal request to our interior minister. For God's sake go! You have failed absolutely and created enough resentment. Have pity on us.
Would've been interesting to see the reaction if Alexander, had in fact, become the President of India.
If Alexander makes it to the top Israel will give India a nice discount on all weapons purchases.
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