<nettime> Sanity and Irony from Karachi, Pakistan

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha@sarai.net>]

Dear nettime Readers 

This text - 'The Burden of Sanity'  is a message that the Sarai Reader-List 
received, forwarded by one of the subscribers, who in turn received it as a 
result of it being circulated by a group of people in Karachi, Pakistan, who 
have been involved in 'alternative organizing for a while' . 

I thought that it would be important to share this voice of sanity, from 
Pakistan and point to the subtle ironies within it. It is important to keep 
in mind that Pakistan,  and the rest of South Asia, will soon be the 
frontline states of the coming conflict.

Shuddha
_______________________________________________________________

THE BURDEN OF SANITY, from Karachi, Pakistan

In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pantagon on 11  
September 2001, there is a real danger of the US government and people  
bahaving  irresponsibly and putting the world peace in danger. Apprehension 
have  been  expressed regarding a deterioration in the treatment of Muslims 
living  the US as  a result of these tragic events. The following is an 
appeal to the US  authorities and citizens for maintaining sanity.

 1. Although the FBI's initial investigations are reported to indicate  that 
the  hijackers, who delibrately crashed the commercial aircrafts with  
civilian  pasengers on board, were Arabs who had entered the US and gained 
access  to the  training facilities in flying inside the country abusing the 
laws in  force, the  entry of people of the Arab or other Muslim origin and 
their access to  such  training and other facilities  in the US must not be 
curtailed.

 2. Although the Taliban have ordered all non-Muslim foreigners to leave  
Afghanistan at once, the US authorities must not consider deporting  Arab  
Afghan, Pakistani and other Muslims living in the US. 

 3. The US legislature must not make law that would result in the  
discriminatory  treatment of the Muslim immigrants living in the US in the 
manner Pakistan's Qadianis are treated after the country's National Assembly 
passed the  famous  amendment to the constitution in 1974. (Qadianis , also 
known as Ahmediyas, are a religious sect. mainlly located in India and 
Pakistan, who consider themselves to be Muslims)

 4. The US citizens must not attack the settlements of the Muslim  immigrants 
as  Qadiani settlements are occasionally attacked in Pakistan resulting in  
death and  injury to men, women and children and damage to their property. 
 
 5. In case of any such attacks on Muslims in the US police must not  arrest 
the  victims of the attacks just as several Qadiani families (men, women and  
children) - victims of an attack by Muslims in a town in Punjab,  Pakistan, a 
few  weeks ago - were arrested and locked up inside the police station  
because,  according to the police, "they were not safe outside."

 6. The Muslims living in the US must not be regularly killed in ones and  
twos as  those belonging to the minority Shia community are being killed in  
Karachi and  other cities of Pakistan these days. 

 7. The people of USA should refrain from harassing Muslim consulting  
physicians and surgeons working here the way Shia consulting physicians and  
surgeons are  being threatened regularly in Pakistan. Several such doctors 
were given three  days to sell off their property and leave Pakistan (on pain 
of getting  killed)  in the last few months. Most complied and moved to the 
US. It would be  rather  unjust if they are asked to leave the US and return 
to Pakistan where  they are likely to be murdered.

 8. The angered people of the US must not attack the places of worship of  
different sects of the US Muslim community in the manner these people  attack 
 each other's places of worship in Pakistan, resulting in multiple deaths  of 
people praying inside.

 9. The religious freedom of the Muslims in the US must continue to be  
guaranteed. In the incident mentioned in 5 above, the Qadianis were  planning 
to  watch on satellite TV a speech by their religious leader, which the  
majority  community did not allow them to do. They shifted their gathering to 
a  private  house, on which their place of worship, which they are not 
allowed to  call a  "masjid", was attacked and damaged. There should be no 
such treatment of  the  Muslims in the US.

 10. The US citizens belonging to the majority community must not scare  the  
Muslims by conducting public meetings inside their neighbourhoods with  
speakers  making derogatory remarks againts their religion and religious 
leaders  such as  the Pakistan's majority commuinity routinely does inside 
the settlements  of Qadianis and Shias.

 11. In general, the US (and other western countiries) must continue to  
grant visa,  immigrant status and nationality to the liberal minds of the  
Muslim countries because they have a danger to be persecuted, harassed and 
even  killed  in their native countries.

 The US authorities and citizens should display sanity and do the above  and 
much  more. And, they must not ask the present sermonizer why the governments 
 and  citizens of Muslim countries should not be urged to do the same with 
the  "aliens" living there. 

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