Which
Country Threat To Neighbors, Unstable, Terrible To
Women?
By Imran Anwar
The cell-phone video of three
"brave" strong males holding down and ravaging a young northern-area
woman (who may be Pakistani
or Afghani)
with a public flogging was shameful by any standards of decency, morality or
humanity.
Even more shameful was the timing of the video's release. It was apparently
leaked not to call attention to a serious crime, and dozens of atrocities like
it that are committed by spineless, dishonorable, Taliban every day, but to complicate Pakistan's nearly complete peace deal in Swat.
The Internet communities like Twitter
are, for lack of a better word, atwitter (!) with this particular video being
used as an example of what must be happening to every woman in every part of
Don't get me wrong. The scourge of the Taliban, the cancer of AlQaeda and the
repulsive puss-filled sore of Pakistani-killing terrorists brazenly attacking
people in Pakistan are serious threats to every Muslim, every Pakistani. But
they are, in many cases, byproducts of other fundamental problems that need to
be solved by
For example, a history of letting some parts of
They found it easier to buy the peace with a warlord or Maliks or Emirs of the
region, even at the cost of not giving the local populace there a vote or a
voice in its own destiny.
Even the money given to areas where natural resources were found, and consumed
nationwide, the "royalties" did not go to benefit the people of the
area, but to enrich the tribal leaders, who became even stronger and more vile forces, somewhat like Stone Age Godfathers
even without the semblance of a competition or law above them.
They ensured that murder, rape and other heinous crimes remained their tools of
administering their subservient population. Ensuring lack of education, lack of
basic facilities, even medical care for the poor was
another way to keep a population barely surviving and not daring to speak up,
or even knowing that speaking up was an option.
That is why, though I went to school with many scions of such "wadera" or
"tribal chief" families sons, I did not shed a tear when a certain Nawab, who was as
much an enemy of Pakistan as of his own people, was wiped out by General Musharaff (in one of
the few good things he did as Chief Dictator Officer in Pakistan).
My hope was that many of the tribal leaders' kids going to school with me at
I guess power, especially generations old almost godlike power, has its own
power to corrupt. Many of my friends went on to have professional careers but I
did not see or hear of any of them being the power of change I had hoped they
would.
Thus, it is easy to see why the international media, the global community,
including God-fearing, law-abiding, everyday Pakistanis, being horrified and
angry at the crimes being committed by the sewer rat Taliban fanatics. It is
easy to see why decent people around the world, especially on the Internet,
would distribute the story to everyone who would hear.
But what gets my riled up is the way the tragic story is used not to influence
positive change or to discuss the reasons such groups exist. There is no talk
of the role of the
Ignored is the double standard of
The worst examples include the repulsive and thankfully long dead General Zia and
moderately pleasant but still Constitution-raping General Musharaff in
The most disgusting to me personally is the concept of all American
administrations supporting a monarchy in Saudi Arabia, where Islam brought the
earliest concept of people deciding who would rule them after the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) passed away.
During this time, the fact is that online communities like Twitter have a flood
of messages screaming that the sky is falling in
They are maligning
If you ask a loaded question, "Which
Country Is A Danger To Its Neighbors, Is Unstable And
On The Verge Of Breakdown, And Is Terrible To Women?" I am
sure
The triple irony is that just today's news shows three of
The vile Zionist state of nuclear-armed
The latest repulsive news from
Lastly, the mother of all daughter-selling countries, Thailand, a favorite
destination for child-porn seekers and pedophiles from Europe and America, not
only continues to peddle its wares, and its daughters, it is also now in a
state of emergency, in addition to political unrest in various regions around
it.
Let's be fair. All these nations also have insurgencies of one kind or another.
It is time that
Imran Anwar
is a 
and imran@imran.com.
You can respond to his live comments on Twitter at http://twitter.com/imrananwar
© IMRAN 2009
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