Challenge of the Islamists -DAWN Magazine; May 18, 2003

May 18, 2003

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Challenge of the Islamists THE Musharraf government has only itself to blame for the electoral success of the MMA in the last general elections (Challenge of the Islamists, May 11). With Nawaz Sharif and Benazir debarred from contesting, the field was left open for the alliance of six religious parties to not only win an unprecedented number of seats in the National Assembly, but to also form a government in the NWFP and to share power in the Baluchistan government. A distinction must, however, be drawn in the ideology of the constituent parties of the alliance. They are a mix of what Oliver Roy in his book The Failure of Political Islam calls Islamists and neo-fundamentalists. The Islamists as represented by the Jamaat-e-Islami believe in the individual’s right of interpreting the Quran and Sunnah, and can thus be said to be anti-clerical. They permit women a role in society, and the right to work and study. The neo-fundamentalists on the other hand have surrendered the individual right of interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah. They believe in an orthodox Islam as was practised by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Women are not allowed to seek education or employment, and must wear the veil. There is undue emphasis on dress, ritual and appearance. Most of the MMA MNAs were, or are associated with the madrassas (religious schools) as teachers or administrators. The pattern in NWFP and Baluchistan assemblies is the same. Recently, the NWFP assembly passed a resolution declaring the shirt and trouser as an un-Islamic form of dress for men. However, sanity prevailed, and this bit of inane legislation was withdrawn. The Islamists must be encouraged to prevail over the neo-fundamentalists because they promise a purified form of Islam that may put an end to the corruption and apathy endemic in our society. ASAD SIDDIQI Via email America invades France WITH reference to the piece in Mosaic, America ‘invades’ France (May 4), I just want to point out that America will never invade France. Reason being that France does not have oil, at least in the quantity that Iraq has. Thus, this takes care of any reason that America may ever have of wanting to go to war with France. If there was Saddam Hussien in control of the French Presidential Palace and France’s nuclear arsenel, even then, America would not send GIs into Paris to liberate the poor French from the wrath of this ‘tyrant’. Simply because France does not have any oil. MUSTUFA AHMED Lahore Bad advertising MR ANVERY’S enigma at the advertising trends of the country (What do you think of advertising?, May 11) are quite right. I, too, think that advertising in Pakistan has lost its sense of direction. It now knows only one theme and that is to get the consumer to buy the product, by hook or by crook. Look at the models, with their plunging necklines and horrible smiles. The decline in the quality of advertising is also because in the past there weren’t any professional institutes in the country that taught advertising. Anybody and everybody could have entered the world of advertising whether he was qualified or not. OMAR KHAN Karachi Learning from history REFLECTING on the performance of the Pakistani cricket team (Learning lessons from histroy, May 11), it would be safe to say that the Pakistani team has yet to learn to play like a team. Their batting is still spineless and though Shoaib Akhtar has learnt to be responsible bowler, his onfield antics need to be checked. His shouting and flashes of clenched fists and muscles make him look more like a spolit brat than a responsible member of the team. ANWAR HUSSAIN Karachi

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