30 June 2013
Finally, the entire New Age Islam website has been banned in Pakistan. Readers in Pakistan informed us about an hour ago. After blocking one page, then 2/3, then 4/5, then 10 pages of New Age Islam in Pakistan, mostly pages from our Urdu and Arabic section, now the whole website is blocked. During the last week we have kept our readers informed of not only the pages blocked in Pakistan but also how our thousands of readers in Pakistan are beating the ban. Indeed, one reader sent us a video of exactly how they are able to open blocked pages of New Age Islam in Pakistan.
We found the ban of a few pages in Urdu and Arabic a good opportunity to analyse why some particular pages of the website had been blocked and what does it tell us about the mindset of people who run the Pakistan government. This led us to the conclusion that the Talibani elements in Pakistani army and the bureaucracy probably forced PTA, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, to ban some of the ‘offensive’ and ‘objectionable’ pages of New Age Islam. It was perhaps then that the Pakistan government woke up to the realisation that blocking only specific pages could send the 'wrong' message that the Talibani elements were behind the ban as the articles that were blocked only hurt the interests of Taliban and other extremist and Salafist-Wahhabi forces in Pakistan.
This would clearly show that the pages were blocked not because it hurt the interests of Pakistani nation but because the articles refuted and opposed the un-Islamic views of Taliban on suicide bombing, rights of Muslim women, on the education of girls and on the killing of Shias and other minorities in Pakistan by Taliban and on the power of peace. By banning the whole website now, they seem to be on a damage control mode. They want to create the impression that the website was banned because it published ‘offensive’ content and not specifically for publishing anti-Taliban content. But the damage is already done and New Age Islam readers globally, particularly in Pakistan, have seen the real forces and motive behind the ban.
Here we reproduce from our earlier write-up a brief review of the pages that were blocked and the possible reasons for blocking them.
First article that was blocked (according to our information) was an Urdu humorous piece on Shah Rukh Khan written and posted by a Pakistani journalist and blogger Mohammad Izhar ul Haque on his blog. The article exposed the hypocrisy of the Pakistani leaders and the social ills of the conflict-ridden city of Karachi in particular and of Pakistan in general. The issue of extortion on a big scale, the kidnapping and killing of minorities like Sikhs and Hazara Shias and the sectarian politics and violence in Pakistan was sarcastically dealt with in the article.
Another article that was blocked was an article by Nastik Durrani, a regular columnist of New Age Islamwho writes on the social, educational and religious issues of Muslims and mostly criticises the ill practices of Muslims and their narrow minded approach to their understanding of Islam, their obscurantism, their sectarian obsessions and their historical mistakes and wrongdoings. He also criticises the lack of scientific attitude and approach of Muslims in a no holds barred and irreverent style that might offend many Muslims. The article titled ‘The Elements Of Sex And Death In The Suicide Of Terrorists’ dealt with aspects of sex and death in the life of terrorists who commit suicide and embrace death only in the hope of getting 72 houris in heaven. Terrorist ideologue Maulana Masood Azhar never tires of describing how a suicide bomber goes to his target visualising what he is going to do with his 72 wives in heaven soon. Thus these terrorists do not have a broader view of a Muslim’s life in the world. The article will clearly not go down well with terrorists and their masterminds who brainwash innocent and mostly poor and unemployed Muslim youth into turning into a suicide bomb for their own political ends.
Another article blocked by Pakistan was one by renowned Islamic scholar Muhammad Yunus whose landmark book ‘The Essential Message of Islam’ co-authored by Ashfaque Sayyid was authenticated by the Al-Azhar University. The article titled, ‘The Qur’an Offers Protection and Coequal Personal Rights to Women’ asserted that Islam granted equal social, economic and even political rights to women. Since the idea of equality of women in Islam is rejected by Islamists, the article will also not go down well with them. Recently, during the elections in Pakistan, Muslim women in tribal areas of Pakistan were barred and forcefully prevented from casting their votes by Taliban and other militant outfits of Pakistan. Since the article promotes the idea of equality of women vis-à-vis men, it had to be blocked to save Muslim women of Pakistan from the ‘ill-effects’ of the’ misleading’ thoughts of Muhammad Yunus.
Another article that was blocked was by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, titled ‘The Power Of Peace Is Greater Than The Power Of Violence’. One wonders how such an article that stresses on the power and importance of peace affect the peace and harmony of a country that boasts of its Islamic identity and legacy. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s article only emphasized the message of peace brought by Islam and the gist of the article was that ‘Peaceful methods are far more effective than violent methods. Constructive goals can be achieved only through peaceful means, while violent ways lead to destruction and ruin.’ Such an article or message can only be disturbing the peace of mind of the group that believes in the ideology of violence and bloodshed. By blocking the article of a world renowned Islamic scholar and exegete of the Quran means that those controlling the policies of the Pakistan government are illiterate morons who are unaware of the teachings and ideals of Islam and are far removed from the understanding of the Quran. Anyone who equates Islam with violence has no business calling himself Muslim.
Recently, the Urdu daily Jang, Pakistan had carried an advertisement from Pakistani inviting prospective buyers for pieces of pall of Kaaba (the covering of Kaaba) worth Rs 4 crores in his possession. The advertiser said that he was selling it due to financial constraints. An Urdu columnist of Pakistan has penned an article on the advertisement criticizing the mindset of those who do not hesitate to even sell the pall of the holy Kaaba for money. The pall of Kaaba is removed every year and the old one is cut into pieces and gifted to influential pilgrims, foreign dignitaries and politicians. Since the pall of Kaaba (Kiswah) is embroidered with gold and silver threads, it is very costly. The website of the Ministry of Hajj only says that the old Kiswah is cut into pieces and gifted to pilgrims.
However, the fact is that ordinary pilgrims are not gifted the pieces of removed Kiswah and only influential and rich dignitaries coming to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj qualify for the gift. An email was sent to the Ministry of Hajj, Saudi Arabia on behalf of New Age Islam asking them to provide us the names of people or dignitaries who received the sacred pieces of Kiswah last year but there was no reply from the ministry. It seems the advertiser is some influential dignitary of Pakistan who received a valuable piece of Kiswah by the Ministry of Hajj and now wanted to sell it off. This was the first time Kiswah was put on sale. There also seems to be a scandal involving the old pieces of Kiswah that are going in the hands of unscrupulous influential persons who get it and then sell it in the market, making money out of Kiswah. This article titled ‘Kiswah, Pall of Kaaba for Sale in Pakistan’ written by Fazal Hussain Awan in Urdu and published in an Urdu daily was also blocked because it apparently tarnished the image of Pakistan and pointed to a Saudi scandal.
The Urdu translation of an article by Faiz ur Rehman titled ‘Towards a Progressive Interpretation of Islam’ was also blocked. The article argued with references from the Quran that Islam did not advocate Polygyny and it puts conditions for more than one marriage. It also referred to a recent judgment by an Indian court that held that Islam did not profess Polygyny. The article argues that the Quran mentions Polygyny only once in the Quran but Muslim men took this exception as a rule and made it a dominant practice. The author also argued that the Quran disapproves multiple marriages and therefore the practice of Muslims having more than one marriage was against the ideals of Islam. Since this article also struck at the root of a rampant practice in which the mullahs believe and who see women as an object of sex, the article was blocked too.
An Arabic Translation of an article titled ‘How Terrorism Lures Youths in the Maghreb?’ was also blocked. The article exposes the fact that the terrorist organizations in the Maghrebi states of the Arab peninsula lured the youth with the promise of houris and paradise and trained them to become suicide bombers. Such an article could only affect the prospects of a jihadi or terrorist organization and therefore we will not be wrong if we infer that those blocking the page must belong to some terrorist or extremist organization practicing the same. Do we need to name the organizations? Since the article was in Arabic, it might alert the Muslim youth of the Arab countries and expose their un-Islamic ideas and ideology to them, the article needed to be blocked...
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