Day: December 26, 2012

By: MUBUSHAR ALI SULEHRIA

Many hearts were torn asunder at the news of Sister Birgitta’s death. The 71-year-old Swedish woman, who had spent her youth to ameliorate the living conditions of the destitute women of Lahore, was shot by some immoral persons at the doorsteps of her residence. She gave more than half of her life to serving the poor and to remove privation from their lives. Whatsoever committed this heinous murder of killing an old woman who had helped others all her life must be a mentally sick person? Sister Birgitta who belonged to Christian Missionary had helped the poor of the sub-continent for many decades be it the department of education or health. Great men like Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and Muhammad Ali Johar were all educated in Missionary Schools. Almost two weeks have elapsed when Sister Birgitta was shot but no tangible progress has been made by the police who should have been able to catch the perpetrators by now.

Let us not expect any miracle from the government to catch the murderers as the present government in Islamabad has miserably failed to unearth the assassins of Ms Bhutto, the wife of the Head of the State who has almost completed five long years as the President of Pakistan. My heart goes out to the Christian Missionaries all over the world and I express my heartfelt condolences on the ruthless murder of Sister Birgitta with all those who are serving the humanity.

At the same time, I strongly condemn such elements, be they among Christians or Muslims, who hurt people who work for humanity, when Islam is the religion of humanity and peace. I earnestly beseech the government of Pakistan to make a judicial commission to probe into the murder of Sister Birgitta. The responsibility of the murder is being imputed on the terrorists groups which may well be an indiscreet thing. Other possibilities like an attempted burglary should also be given gravitas.

The Nation

By: Abdul Razaque Channa

CANBERRA: The Pakistani education system has been influenced by various factors ranging from the subcontinent’s historical background, a shared geography and cultural history with India, colonisation by Britain and so on.

Among the many reasons, the dictatorial era of General Ziaul Haq played a significant role in shaping today’s educational system through its impact on education policies and syllabus of state institutions. Policies and curriculums designed during that time were based on a rigid representation of Islam. Educational policies in general and textbooks in particular were designed in a way that reflected and disseminated gendered messages favouring males and discriminating against women.

Promulgation of the Nizam-i-Mustafa helped Zia unite people and control growing political turmoil. It is believed by many experts that his initiatives were driven by certain political objectives rather than religious ends. One academic wrote in 2005 that “Zia used the ‘women’s card’ as the first and most obvious symbol for his Islamisation plans, knowing that a large majority of the male population of the country would have little difficulty in digesting for a moral and puritan Islamic society.” This process of Islamisation had a direct impact on the lives of women since the programme adversely affected the areas of civil law, education and employment. Not only this, it touched upon administration, judiciary, banking, trade, education, agriculture, industry and foreign affairs and this meant that just about everyone was affected.

Islamiyat was made compulsory as a course of study from the primary level right up to college and university. The teaching of Arabic from class VI was required and thousands of madrassas were established. One expert noted that laws and Quranic verses were repeatedly disseminated publicly so as to influence public perception of women. Besides this, the popular discourse during the Zia era may have appeared Islamic but actually was society’s patriarchal voice speaking and subjugating women. Such discourse favouring males and discriminating against women encouraged the more orthodox class of society to speak openly under the power of state. This meant people openly saying that women should stay at home and avoid working in public places. This not only meant stopping women from working in a government or private sector job, but even meant preventing them from taking part, say, in sports, the arts or any other activity where males were in the audience.

The Express Tribune

FAISALABAD: A man beat up his former wife and cut his nose at Satiana on Tuesday. Police said Faiz Rasool had divorced Sajida Bibi, a resident of Chak-34 GB, a year ago.

On Tuesday, Rasool and his accomplices attacked Sajida Bibi in a street. They beat up her and, later, Rasool cut her nose with a knife. Sajida Bibi’s family took her to the Allied Hospital. Police have not registered a case. They said no one had submitted an application for it.

The Express Tribune