Pakistan’s Blasphemy Knife (The Huffington Post)
Posted in Op-Eds on Nov 22nd, 2010
After the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, a white reporter asked Malcolm X in reference to civil rights movement, “You feel however, that we are making progress in this country?” Malcolm responded by saying, “No. You stick a knife into my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, that’s not progress.”
Such is the condition of the likes of Asiya Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman accused of blaspheming Prophet Muhammad, facing the death penalty under section 295B of the Pakistani Penal Code. This is the same law that has subject Pakistani Ahmadi Muslims to...
Repeal the blasphemy law (The Express Tribune)
Posted in Letters to Editors, Print on Nov 20th, 2010
BALTIMORE, MD, US: I write with reference to Nasim Zehra’s brave call for repealing the blasphemy law in her article of November 17 titled “Time to repeal the blasphemy law”. General Ziaul Haq enacted this law to legitimise his usurping of power. The result has been that in the decades following its imposition, dozens of members from minority communities have been killed because of the misuse of the blasphemy law. Repealing this statute would earn Pakistan international respect.
Faheem Younus
Clinical associate professor
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Published in The Express Tribune,...
Do we even want this barbarism to stop? (The Express Tribune)
Posted in Op-Eds, Print on Aug 24th, 2010
What are some of the key features of the Sialkot tragedy? Innocent young men being mauled by a mob filled with hate, and with dozens of people standing by, including the police, all doing nothing. These are not the hallmarks of a regular terror attack where in a split second dozens of lives are lost.
There is a striking parallel between the Sialkot lynching and the massacre of more than 90 Ahmadis in Lahore on May 28 this year. Those worshippers were just as innocent — and the assailants filled with just as much hatred, even a willingness to give up their lives in the process. At the same time, there...
Blasphemy laws: the root of Pakistani extremism (The Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune)
Posted in Op-Eds, Print on May 10th, 2010
The failed Times Square bombing raises important questions.
As a U.S. Muslim of Pakistani descent, I have wondered why so many plots against America continue to be hatched in Pakistan. At least nine people with some connection to Pakistan have been charged with terror plots against the United States in the past two years. What is it that accounts for this disturbing trend?
One can’t simply blame Islam. Were that true, Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, would be the epicenter of terrorist plots against America. But it’s not. One can’t simply blame fiery rhetoric. Were that...
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